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We assessed the relationships between elements of the Macdonald triad (i.e., enuresis, cruelty to animals, and fire setting) and parental abuse (i.e., psychological, physical, and sexual abuse) within a population of serial killers. Data from 280 serial killers were retrieved from the Radford/Florida Gulf Coast University Serial Killer Database. This unique source of information was compiled from biographical books, newspaper articles, court documents, self-reports, and online sources. A series of chi-square tests for independence and binary logistic regression analyses were used to assess goodness of fit and regression relationships, respectively. The findings indicated significant statistical relationships among enuresis, fire setting, and animal cruelty to key dimensions of parental physical and psychological abuse, respectively. The use of binary logistic regression not only validated these joint associations but also elucidated the very potent relationships of fire setting and enuresis to that of psychological and physical parental abuse within this unique sample of serial killers. Associations between enuresis, fire setting, and animal cruelty to parental sexual abuse were not statistically significant. From a diagnostic perspective, enhanced awareness of these toxic relationships reinforces the importance of clinical interventions that may preempt adolescent delinquency.
From its inception, components of the Macdonald triad (1963) and parental abuse have been considered contributing factors to severe psychopathy (e.g., serial killing). To date, however, research regarding the unique relationship between each element of the triad (i.e., enuresis, cruelty to animals, and fire setting) and specific dimensions of parental abuse (i.e., psychological, physical, and sexual) among serial killers has been somewhat vague. The purpose of this study was to provide greater clarity through an analysis of these discrete associations within a select population of serial killers.
Serial Killers
The term "serial killer" was first used in the 1970s when FBI Special Agent Robert Ressler coined the term "serial murderer" during the notorious Son of Sam killings (Miller, 2014a). This definition established serial murder as distinctly different from that of traditional murders. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines serial murder as "the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender in separate events" (FBI, 2008). All serial killers in the database used for the present study met these criteria.
Historical prototypes of modern-day serial killers include the Roman Emperor Caligula (1st century),...