Editing Serial killer (section)

====Fantasy====
Children who do not have the [[Power (social and political)|power]] to control the mistreatment they suffer sometimes create a new reality to which they can escape. This new reality becomes their [[Fantasy (psychology)|fantasy]] that they have total control of and becomes part of their daily existence. In this fantasy world, their emotional development is guided and maintained. According to Garrison (1996), "the child becomes [[Psychopathy#Sociopathy|sociopathic]] because the normal development of the concepts of right and wrong and [[empathy]] towards others is retarded because the child's emotional and [[Social change|social development]] occurs within his self-centered fantasies. A person can do no wrong in his own world and the pain of others is of no consequence when the purpose of the fantasy world is to satisfy the needs of one person" (Garrison, 1996). Boundaries between fantasy and reality are lost and fantasies turn to dominance, control, sexual conquest, and violence, eventually leading to murder. Fantasy can lead to the first step in the process of a dissociative state, which, in the words of Stephen Giannangelo, "allows the serial killer to leave the stream of consciousness for what is, to him, a better place".{{sfn|Giannangelo|1996|p=33}}

Criminologist Jose Sanchez reports, "The young criminal you see today is more detached from his victim, more ready to hurt or kill.  The lack of empathy for their victims among young criminals is just one symptom of a problem that afflicts the whole society."{{sfn|Tithecott|1997|p=38}} Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of ''Gangster'' (2001), explains how potential criminals are [[Labeling theory|labeled by society]], which can then lead to their offspring also developing in the same way through the [[cycle of violence]]. The ability for serial killers to appreciate the mental life of others is severely compromised, presumably leading to their dehumanization of others.<ref name="Silva-2004">{{harvnb|Silva|Leong|Ferrari|2004|p=790}}, {{harvnb|Tithecott|1997|page=43}}</ref> This process may be considered an expression of the [[intersubjectivity]] associated with a cognitive deficit regarding the capability to make sharp distinctions between other people and inanimate objects. For these individuals, objects can appear to possess animistic or humanistic power while people are perceived as objects.<ref name="Silva-2004"/> Before he was executed, serial killer [[Ted Bundy]] stated media violence and pornography had stimulated and increased his need to commit homicide, although this statement was made during last-ditch efforts to appeal his death sentence.{{sfn|Hasselt|1999|p=162}}