Childhood Abuse In Childhood

There are many examples of individuals who commit crimes or murders who were raised in harsh environments, which caused their mindset to change in a way that made them think that hurting others is a viable option to fulfill your desires. John Wayne Gacy was a serial murderer who was raised by abusive parents both physically and mentally ( Rebecca Taylor LaBrode, 2007). On the contrary, the killer Ted Bundy had a completely normal childhood, but started showing interest in weapons and looking through windows at a young age, so was he born to kill? Many psychologists have tried to answer the question on nurture vs. nature for years, but it’s still an ongoing debate on whether people kill because of how they were raise or simply because they were born with it.

The past violence that the subject and his brother suffered through is a large factor in their need for violent satisfaction. The lack of emotional support and adoration can connect with the subject’s sexual gratification that he achieves through killing. Relentless abuse ongoing throughout childhood backed by neglect in school (often connatural with social mistreatment) can “create a violent, deviant personality” (Pakhomou, 220). Children are greatly impact with what surrounds them. The negativity and violence that are exposed to them will form lasting flashbulb memories that can shape not only their actions in the future but how they understand and perceive life. Violence plays a big part in developing the characteristics of a serial killer, but there are also other components that can lead to a distraught and homicidal person. In a research composed by James Beasley, he presents several different factors of development into becoming a serial killer through the case studies of seven offenders. Offender number three had multiple challenges that led him to become as aggressive and hostile as he was. As a child, his mother was completely absent and was an alcoholic. His stepfather, who physically and verbally abused him, lacked the comfort and attention any child would need. After learning that he would repeat the third grade, his behavior became hostile and he showed a lack of self-esteem. At the age of seven, the subject already began to show

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The concept of psychopathy originated in the 1800s to describe individuals that consistently failed to conform to societal norms and exhibited antisocial behavior that did not fit the concept of mental illness of the time period. While, psychopathy was a common term used to describe individuals suffering from this disorder other descriptions were coined such as “Pinel’s term “manie sans delvie” meaning mania without delirium in the 1700s, to describe patents whose ‘affective faculties were disordered’” or Pritchard’s term “moral insanity” (Ogloff 520). In the 1930’s Partridge argued that psychopathy was a social rather than a mental disorder and proposed that the concept of sociopathy be introduced as a more accurate description. The American Psychological Association adopted Partridge’s term for their Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel in 1952. However, in 1968 the American Psychological Association changed the diagnostic label from sociopath to “personality disorder, antisocial” for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel – II that continued through to the DSM - III in 1980 and the DSM - III-R in 1987 and the DSM - IV in 1994. Today the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel categorizes antisocial personality disorder as a personality disorder and it is named as such. Unfortunately, not much research has been conducted

In “The Making of a Serial Killer,” Berit Brogaard explains the genetics and brain-work behind psychopathy. Brogaard examines studies that show psychopathy may be hereditary, furthering the idea that there must be a problem with the brain, which also means it could possibly be correctable. Psychopathy could, along with other mental disorders and illnesses, develop in one’s childhood. Psychopathy is often confused with other disorders and illnesses, which is understandable because of the various similarities. Although studies have shed light on some possible causes of psychopathy, much of the disorder remains a mystery.

Of all the psychiatric disorders, none are more chilling to the world then the psychopaths and sociopaths. These two disorders, categorized as antisocial personality disorders, bring about the absolute worse people and killers that the world has ever known. The infamous serial killers, the people who do the unimaginable, were all psychopaths. The ability of these people to do what they do and know that what they are doing is wrong, is perhaps one of the most chilling and shocking characteristic of these people. Psychopaths and sociopaths are very often thought by most to be the same disorder, yet they are different when classified by many psychiatric researchers. The people classified as psychopaths and sociopaths are separated by one main difference, and that is if they were born with a lack of the ability to empathize or if they were affected as children in a traumatic environment. Although both of these horrible disorders derive from a different area, the reality is that they are unpredictable, undetectable and most importantly, they can be very dangerous.

If you go and ask murderers “How did you come to be a violent person?”, without fail, every single one of them will respond with a horrific tale of trauma in his childhood. If you look into the life of any violent man or woman, you are likely to see a horrific past created by moments of terror and suffering. Not every traumatic event will create a killer, but most killers are created from some sort of trauma. Psychologists break down what makes a murder into two categories, nature and nurture. The nature argument tells suggest that we all possess the ability to kill because we evolved that way. The nurture argument says the environment that we are raised in shapes our personalities. This paper will prove that murderers are created, not born.

This study dissected personal reports of childhood abuse that were received from 634 outpatients that were suffering from bipolar disorder (Post et al., 2014, p. 324). These participants were drawn from clinics in Dallas, Cincinnati, Bethesda, and Los Angeles and the impact that verbal and other type abuse had on them is looked into. The participants were asked questions about experiencing any one of the three types of abuse and were told to rate it from 0-3 with 0 being never, 1 being rarely, 2 being occasionally and 3 being frequently. The researchers counted verbal abuse as not present if the person scored it a 0 or a 1 and counted it present if it was a 2 or a 3. All the patients were questioned through a clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID)

I discovered that early abused children have shown alterations in electroencephalogram (EEG) activity in the frontal cortex. Along with this, abuse can also lead to reduced neuronal activity, resulting in a decrease in neurotrophin (family of proteins that aid in development and function of neurons) production and neuronal survival resulting in an abnormal brain structure (Perry 2002 is a supporting study) Therefore childhood abuse can lead to differences in the structure and physiology of the brain.

“Whoever inquires about our childhood wants to know something about our soul.” I chose to start with this quote from Alice Miller’s book because I think it epitomizes the impact a childhood has on an individual later in their life. Childhood is a practice run for adulthood in some ways, in that we learn how to behave in certain situations and we learn about human nature and how to deal with adverse situations by developing coping mechanisms. We are effectively building a resilient (or non-resilient as it may turn out) soul while we are children. We learn to trust others, or we don’t. We learn how to love and how to share ourselves; or not.

Elarousy, W., & Al-Jadaani, M. (2013). Emotional abuse among children: a study in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 19(10), 869-75. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1467531170?accountid=158790

Childhood abuse can come in the form of sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse or can be combined with more than one. There can be various things leading to the abuse of a

This study examined the extent to which being abused or neglected in the childhood increases a person’s risk of promiscuity, prostitution, and teenage pregnancy. Clinical and behavioral reports and research studies have linked childhood victimization to a variety of negative health and behavioral consequences. A prospective cohorts design was used to match on the basis of age, race, sex, social class, cases of abuse, and neglected children from 1967 to 1971, with non-abused and non-neglected children subjects were followed into early adulthood (Widom & Kuhns, 1996).

Life is completely different as a child. Life choices, people around you, stories you are told, and encountered feelings determine the formation of the identity of a child. Because children still have their innocence, they are often unaware of the dangers surrounding them in everyday life. Sexual abuse is a very serious factor that can destroy a childhood. These unfortunately common occurrences strike at alarming rates effecting unaware children at the worst times in their developmental stages. While undergoing these important changes, confusion, stress, happiness, and sadness all affect a child’s development differently than these emotions affect the adult. Because of this, sexually abused victims are often affected mentally, physically, and

It seems like every other day there is another story on the news about a child who was found tied up in a yard, or locked in the closet, or killed by their parent. These abused children are then being placed in the foster care system with other children who were given up by their parents, with no guarantee that they will ever be placed with a family again. Why is it that our society continues to allow children to be born to unfit parents? Why do the current laws in place in America not protect our children until after something bad happens to them? Action must be taken to protect these children as early as possible, even before they are conceived. Parents should be required to obtain a parenting license prior to conception to ensure that children are conceived by competent parents who want them, which will lead to fewer instances of child abuse and adoption, both of which are damaging to developing children.