Editing Jeffrey Dahmer (section)

=== Return to Ohio and relocation to West Allis, Wisconsin ===
After his return to Ohio, Dahmer initially lived with his father and stepmother and insisted on being delegated numerous chores to occupy his time while he looked for work. He continued to drink heavily, and two weeks after his return, was arrested for [[public intoxication|drunk and disorderly conduct]].{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|p=114}} He was fined $60 and given a [[suspended sentence|suspended 10-day jail sentence]].{{sfn|Norris|1992|p=125}} Dahmer's father tried unsuccessfully to wean his son off alcohol. In December 1981, he and his second wife sent him to live with his paternal grandmother, Catherine Dahmer, in [[West Allis, Wisconsin]]. As she was the only family member to whom Dahmer displayed any positivity or affection,{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=82}} they hoped that both her influence and the change of location might persuade him to quit drinking, find a job, and live responsibly.{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|p=115}}{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|p=117}}

Initially, Dahmer's living arrangements with his grandmother were harmonious: he accompanied her to church, willingly undertook chores, actively sought work, and abided by most of her house rules (although he continued to drink and smoke).{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|p=83}} In early 1982, he found employment as a [[phlebotomy|phlebotomist]] at the Milwaukee Blood Plasma Center. He held this job for a total of ten months before being laid off.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=82}} Dahmer remained unemployed for over two years, during which he lived upon whatever money his grandmother gave him.{{sfn|Norris|1992|p=135}}

Shortly before losing his job, Dahmer was arrested for [[indecent exposure]]. On August 8, 1982, at [[Wisconsin State Fair Park]],{{sfn|Norris|1992|p=134}} he was observed exposing himself "on the south side of the Coliseum in which 25 people were present including women and children". For this incident, he was convicted and fined $50 plus court costs.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=86}}

In January 1985, Dahmer was hired as a mixer at the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory, where he worked from 11&nbsp;p.m to 7&nbsp;a.m. six nights per week, with Saturday evenings off.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=125}} Shortly after he started this job, an incident occurred in which Dahmer was propositioned by another man while reading in the West Allis Public Library. The stranger threw Dahmer a note offering to perform [[fellatio]] upon him. Although Dahmer did not respond to this proposition,{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=88}} the incident stirred the fantasies of control and dominance he had developed as a teenager, and he began to familiarize himself with Milwaukee's gay bars, [[gay bathhouse]]s, and bookstores. He also stole a male [[mannequin]] from a store,{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|pp=119–120}} which he briefly used for [[sexual stimulation]], until his grandmother discovered the item stowed in a closet and demanded that he discard it.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=91}}

By late 1985, Dahmer had begun to regularly frequent the bathhouses, which he later described as being "relaxing places", but during his sexual encounters, he became frustrated at his partners' moving during the act. Following his arrest, he stated: "I trained myself to view people as objects of pleasure instead of [as] people".{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=92}} For this reason, beginning in June 1986, he administered sleeping pills to his partners, giving them liquor laced with [[sedative]]s. He then waited for his partner to fall asleep before performing various sexual acts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jeffrey Dahmer's Inferno|date=November 1, 1991|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/1991/11/jeffrey-dahmer-dennis-nilsen-serial-killer|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=April 24, 2021|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509190624/https://www.vanityfair.com/style/1991/11/jeffrey-dahmer-dennis-nilsen-serial-killer|url-status=live}}</ref> To maintain an adequate supply of this medication, Dahmer informed doctors he worked nights and required the tablets to adjust to that schedule.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=93}} After approximately 12 such instances, the bathhouses' administration revoked Dahmer's membership, and he began to use hotel rooms to continue this practice.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=94}}

Shortly after his bathhouse memberships were revoked,{{sfn|Norris|1992|p=136}} Dahmer read a report in a newspaper regarding the upcoming funeral of an 18-year-old male. He conceived the idea of stealing the freshly interred corpse and taking it home.{{sfn|Schwartz|1992|p=96}} According to Dahmer, he attempted to dig up the coffin from the ground but found the soil too hard and abandoned the plan.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=97}}

On September 8, 1986,{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|p=131}} Dahmer was arrested upon a charge of [[Lascivious behavior|lewd and lascivious behavior]]{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=99}} for masturbating in the presence of two 12-year-old boys as he stood close to the [[Kinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River)|Kinnickinnic River]].<ref name="Bardsley-7"/>{{sfn|Norris|1992|p=137}} He initially claimed he had merely been urinating, unaware that there were witnesses, but soon admitted the offense.{{refn|group=n|Dahmer also confessed to having committed the same offense on "four or five" previous occasions.}} The charge was changed to [[disorderly conduct]] and, on March 10, 1987, Dahmer was sentenced to one year of [[probation]], with additional instructions to undergo counseling.{{sfn|Norris|1992|p=139}}