American Corner Innsbruck

    Lecture by Christine Nagel

    CRIMINAL PROFILING: LOOKING BEHIND THE MASK OF AMERICA'S MOST CRUEL SERIAL KILLERS

    Dec. 12, 2007, 7 p.m.



    In front of an audience of more than 50 people, Christine Nagel gave her academic debut lecture at the American Corner Innsbruck on December 12, 2007. The event was part of the public lecture series in the research area law and the humanities, one of the special foci of the ACI. After welcoming remarks by ACI director Prof. Gudrun Grabher, who delightedly noted, “The American Corner community is growing,” Ms Nagel gave a compelling 45-minute talk about America's most cruel serial killers.
    In her talk, she focused on the psychological background of serial killers and argued that childhood abuse is one of their most important common biographical features. Another shared characteristic of serial killers are their fantasies which center upon sex and violence and can never be fulfilled in reality. As they usually hide their fantasies from society behind a “Mask of Sanity,” most of them lead a normal life in the cooling off periods between the murders. Ms Nagel ended her talk saying that neither neurological findings nor social background can entirely explain the phenomenon of serial killers. She finally referred to the renowned profiler Robert K. Ressler, who believes in “the concept of the evil in every serial killer.” The talk was followed by an engaged and inspiring discussion.
    (text: Philipp Prantl)

     


     




     

     
     
     
     
    aci_logosmall
    American Corner Innsbruck
    Department of American Studies
    Herzog Friedrich Straße 3, 1. Stock (Altstadt, Claudiana)
    6020 Innsbruck

    T +43 512 507-7064, F +43 512 507-2879
    americancorner@uibk.ac.at,
    http://www.uibk.ac.at/americancorner