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This social, media and professional impact is even worse when the serial murders are perpetrated by either young people or women, since reality is greatly softened in the case of these populations, the more unpleasant aspects of the crime tending to be mitigated. In addition to the difficulties that this supposes for criminal investigation by the police and judicial systems, serial murder cases attract excessive attention from the media, mental health experts, the academic world, and the general public. In this sense, we use the terms child, juvenile and youth without distinction, as in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to refer to those under the age of 18 when which they committed homicide. The phenomenon of serial murders occupies a unique place in the field of Criminology and the criminal justice system, especially when the perpetrators of this and other kinds of violent crimes are underage. The research works consulted provide evidence of the special relevance of psychopathy in the generation of serious juvenile delinquency. It is important to consider psychopathy as an influential factor in the various forms of serial criminal conduct committed by children and young people. Some authors consider that it is not uncommon for the first murder of this type to occur in adolescence. Although official statistics indicate the low prevalence of juvenile serial killers, childhood is a period in which antisocial behaviour can have its beginning. The scope of the problem of serial murders perpetrated by minors is controversial because it often depends on how the number of real cases is counted.

The performed review concludes the importance of psychosocial factors to better understand the process by which children and young people commit crimes as serious as serial murders. This issue is prevalent enough to conduct a review. The homicides perpetrated by children and young people point to a social panorama that is alarming due to their young age. Given that the study of the variables that could be the basis of such multicide criminality is not conclusive, the need for further research is evident. Young serial killers are a topic of relevance in areas such as psychology, criminology, and the justice system. However, serial murder is also committed by young people, although to a lesser extent.
Types of serial killers manual#
According to the nomenclature of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crime Classification Manual and Academic Researchers for the Classification of Violent Crimes, most serial killers are adults.

Most of the most famous documented serial killers were active in the 20th or 21st century-coinciding both with increased public interest in serial killers’ stories, as well as with a heightened understanding of what motivates them, how they develop, and how, perhaps, their violent crimes can be prevented.Serial murder is a specific type of violent crime that falls into the crime category of multicide.

Though Jack the Ripper-an unidentified murderer who was active in the late 19th century-is often called the "first modern serial killer," the term “serial killer” itself was popularized in the latter half of the 20th century, when such murderers began to receive more significant media attention and drew heightened focus from increasingly sophisticated law enforcement agencies. In ancient and medieval times-long before the concept of a “serial killer” entered popular parlance-such murders were often thought to be the work of monsters, werewolves, or witches when they were caught, many serial killers of the time were accused of (or even confessed to) committing the murders for " supernatural" purposes. Historians argue that serial killers have existed throughout history.
