Jeffery Dahmer is arguably the most notorious cannibalistic serial killer in history. Targeting men and boys, Dahmer's life of crime began with drinking and sexual offenses. His murders were exceptionally gruesome, often involving rape, torture, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. The media often commented on how "normal" Dahmer seemed. Jeffrey Dahmer made everyone wonder how anyone could become such a monster. At the time of his arrest, Dahmer had sodomized, murdered, and cannibalized at least seventeen men, mostly black, Hispanic, or Asian, in the Milwaukee area between 1978 and his arrest in 1991 (Williams, p. 1). Jeffrey Dahmer was born in Milwaukee on May 21, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. Despite the difficulties of Joyce's pregnancy, he was desired and adored from childhood. By all accounts, Dahmer displayed the features of a happy and bubbly young person. However, several events from his childhood indicated that the young boy was increasingly disturbed. When Jeff was four years old, his father swept the remains of some small animals under the house. As his father gathered the tiny animal bones, Jeff seemed oddly amused by the sound they made (Bardsley Ch. 13). At the age of six, Dahmer suffered a double hernia and required surgery to correct the problem. After the operation, he was no longer the same socially. Adding insult to injury, the family then moved from Iowa to Ohio where it became apparent that Dahmer had become distant, shy, and almost uncommunicative (Bardsley Ch. 13). As a young student, Dahmer was very fond of one of his elementary school teachers. , brought him a bowl of tadpoles that he had caught. Soon, Dahmer learned that his teacher had given the tadpoles to his friend Lee. It ...... middle of paper ...... "journeying" process, in which the patient and therapist examine the same issues repeatedly over several sessions, each time with greater clarity. This process is sustainable and generally lasts several years (Comer 41). Due to the presence of such a multitude of abnormal behaviors, the most useful form of psychodynamic treatment available would be short-term psychodynamic therapies focused on an individual. problem at a time. Perhaps the anomalies could have been deciphered and treated separately through this type of therapy in order to improve his behavior. It's impossible to say for sure, but if Dahmer had sought or been forced into treatment for his many abnormal behaviors, therapists could have reasonably been successful in identifying the underlying causes before he felt compelled to kill innocent people..