The 1978 National Honor Society photo incident involving Jeffrey Dahmer’s blacked-out image (above) was written about in Catherine Purcell and Bruce A. Arrigo’s 2006 book “The Psychology of Lust Murder: Paraphilia, Sexual Killing, and Serial Homicide.” In the book, Purcell and Arrigo outline that Dahmer was known as a prankster and class clown while in high school — he faked epileptic seizures and drew chalk outlines of bodies for attention. As a young man, Dahmer was known to kill and store animal skeletons in formaldehyde, and he drank heavily while still a teenager. His home life was also erratic, as The New York Times reports.
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Speaking with The New York Times, Dahmer’s former classmate, Martha Schmidt, said, “Whatever had gone on in Jeff’s life, he couldn’t talk about. It seemed so clear all along that it was someone saying, ‘Pay attention to me.'” That Dahmer was a prankster and a class clown is consistent with traits of many serial killers outlined by the FBI, though the federal law enforcement agency also clarifies there is no single template to explain what motivates serial murder. According to the FBI website, many serial killers are impulsive, generally irresponsible, and seek stimulation in their behaviors — what Dahmer might have felt when he pulled those pranks. Serial killers are also known to show poor control of their own actions, and all the behavioral issues mentioned, among others, most often show up in childhood.
