Who Is Serial Killers?

This essay aims to examine weather serial killers are born a certain way and their genetics define their psychotic tendencies or whether they're a product of a bad environment that they grew up. This essay looks at recent killings in the late 20th century as there is more information on the killers from this period and it's easier to gain details about their childhoods. Whilst I will look at various different killers to reach more rounded conclusions (see appendix for comparison table), this essay will focus on four in detail to examine the debate; Ted Bundy (1946-89), Jeffery Dahmer (1960-1994), John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994) and Gary Ridgway (1949-present).

The same psychiatrist, Johnathan H. Pincus examined 14 other death row inmates who had murdered when they were under the age of 18 and realized that they all had the same factors of neurologic damage, abuse, and paranoid thinking (Pincus, 29). A study done by Lisa Marshall and David Cooke shows the differences between the childhoods of psychopath criminals and non-psychopath criminals. They used the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse to show how much the environment your surrounded with as a child can affect your adult life. Not only did they study the results of familial childhood factors such as neglect, physical abuse, and psychological abuse but they also looked into societal factors such as negative school experience and negative school performance. Results showed that “Inadequate or incompetent parenting leads to insecure attachment bonding that forecasts low levels of empathy, compliance, cooperation and self control.” (Lykken,199). The most obvious differences in the childhoods of psychopath criminals and non-psychopath criminals were in parental discipline, parental neglect, and negative school performance. (Marshall and Cooke, The Childhood experiences of psychopaths). Another environmental factor that should

What causes an individual to become a serial killer? Bio-psychologists believe that starting from birth the human mind is a “tabula rasa” or blank slate, and the individual learns behaviors and socio-cultural norms from individuals around them. This concept of nature versus nurture was based upon the idea that it is how you are brought up (nurture) that governs the psychologically significant aspects of child development and the concept of maturation applies only to the biological. The theory that explains the nature aspect of the nature versus nurture principle is called the attachment theory, which views the bond between mother and child as being an innate process that ensures survival. It is a biological need that has ensured the survival of many species including the human race; because of the need to protect and be protected humans as a species has been able to endure. It is also a psychological need to want to be cared for as well as care for others a study done by Harry Harlow (1950s). The concept of nurture focuses mainly on the effect that the environment has on the development of human beings and whether it is more important than nature. Several studies have been generated to try and settle the ongoing debate of nature versus nurture.

Larson in “Serial murderers: The Construction” states that socialization is said to begin after birth. The social learning theory is a theory that uses the childhood of serial offenders to identify the main reasons for causation. The social learning theory examines the offender’s past for clues in explaining aggressive behavior. The central idea of this theory is the relation of childhood victimization or observation of violent acts to future activities in criminal behavior. According to Hickey, stress caused by childhood traumatization may be a trigger to criminal behavior in adulthood. It

In an article called “The Traits of A Serial Killer,” by Simon (2004), psychopaths are not “created” over night, but rather their behavior can be connected all the way to their childhood. What trauma a child experiences plays a major role in the rest of his or her life. A serial killer, most of the time,

Serial killers are the byproduct of many different things: trauma, death of loved ones, abuse, neglect, adoption, and even witnessing abuse (Are Serial). Serial killers have had to endure a massive amount of something such as trauma or abuse to an unimaginable extent to become what they are; the extent of the abuse, the trauma, the psychological damage they endure is incomprehensible to many. The destruction of one’s innocence can occur at any given time in his or her life, but he or she is more impressionable in his or her youth by the negativism of someone else’s actions (Scott, Shirley L. What Makes Serial Killers Tick ~ Childhood Event). People are susceptible to what they endure in their adolescence, and cruel upbringings, such as

Ever heard of the zodiac killer? He was a serial killer who operated in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in 5 states between December 1968 and October 1969. The general profile for a serial killer is a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. There are many types of serial killers. There are natural born killers who are born willing to kill someone, insane killers which have mental and physical disorders and criminaloids who do not exhibit specific traits. The childhood of a serial killer would typically be someone who is neglected by their family mainly their mothers. They tend to be antisocial and have anger issues. Poor families often cannot provide what the child always wants so they might commit crimes to get want they want. Abused children have a higher chance of being killers also because they have a lot of built up aggression and anger. All can lead to substance abuse which is never a good thing to mix in with a potential serial killer in the making. General behavioral progression from pre-crime to post-crime are that they use killing as a source of relief. Before committing a serious crime they could have built up anger and hatred. They is a high possibility that they are suffering from depression and anxiety too. After killing someone the killer feels relieved. They also feel

A serial killer is a person who kills multiple people in a certain manner, this might include raping, shooting, stabbing, choking, etc. Richard Trenton Chase, most known as “The Vampire of Sacramento” was an American, male serial killer who was responsible for the death of six people within a month in Sacramento, California. He was given the nickname of “vampire”; he was known for drinking his victims blood and even eat the remains. He was also guilty for going around neighborhoods and trying to open unlocked doors, claiming unlocked doors represented an invitation for the murderer to go in. It was also stated that he had a disturbing childhood which led him to become a sadistic and mental killer, also the cause for developing hypochondria

According to FBI Special Agent Robert K. Ressler, more than 60 percent of serial killers went the bed beyond the age of 12. Many are involved in vicious activities. Frequently, serial murders come from dysfunctional families, where the father is almost absent and the mother is often passively domineering. (Julieta, p.2, N.D.) Families of serial killers will often have criminal, psychiatric or alcoholic histories. Family members often abused the serial killer as they were growing up, physically, emotionally or sexually.

Throughout history, serial killers and murderers have received a significant number of news articles dedicated to them and have attracted audiences all around the world; however, the question that nobody can seem to answer is, “Why?” What causes people to grow up with the desire to kill and what can we do to prevent others from becoming serial killers in the future? “All serial killers are murderers, but not all murderers are serial killers,” as stated on The Undergraduate Times. A serial murder is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as “the unlawful homicide of at least two people, carried out in a series over a period of time,” while mass murder is the

The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Are serial killers born with the lust for murder, or are their desires developed through years of abuse and torment? Many believe it is impossible for an innocent child to be born with the capability to commit a horrible act such as murder. But at the same time, how could we have corrupted society so much as to turn an innocent child into a homicidal maniac? Forensic psychologists have picked apart the minds of serial killers to find an answer as to what forces them to commit such perverse acts. Their ultimate goal is to learn how to catch a serial killer before

The psychic of the young person is shaped by social interactions as well as the parental training. Often the young murderers were brought in pathological environments, they did not experience the parental love and acceptance, and they forced themselves to drown particular emotions so as not to appear weak. All these factors results in social dysfunctions that triggers violence and violence becomes the perfect self-defense mechanism, because it brings attention. According to the FBI’s list of traits that describe young murderers the most common syndromes are the feeling of isolation, the narcissist disorder, and depression6. A perfect example to support the above argument will be a background check of Jeff Weise, a young sixteen-year-old boy who killed 9 people and committed suicide in the Red Lake Senior High School in Minnesota in 2005. Weise’s family was the kind of pathological one, his parents were separated, his mother had a habit of drinking too much being an abusive alcoholic, what is more Weise himself was often bullied at school7.

This documentary specifies that there is no easy answer to what is going on inside the mind of killers, and we cannot simply place these individuals into “neat diagnostic boxes” that explain why their actions turned so violent. However, the investigators present research studying different avenues regarding ways to “predict” the likelihood that an individual will commit violent crime, will maintaining that no method is perfect. Throughout the presentation, viewers are offered mountains of research highlighting a mix of nature and nurture ranging from neurologists from Harvard studying brain patterns affected by genetics, to psychologists studying maternal care and attachment during infancy.

Studies show that traits of a serial killer can be seen in a person at a very young age. Most warning signs go unnoticed which is why the growth of the killer continues. A thing such as animal cruelty is one of many clues inside the growth of a serial killers mind “They often start out their careers by maiming, harming, and torturing small animals.” “In extreme cases, they have been known to spend hours inflicting a slow death on animals...this is a form of control that allows them the power to crave” (Kocsis,2008) . Many future serial killers also show a major interest in setting fires. Even though it is common for most young children to show a slight interest in fire, those with serial killing in their future are somewhat pyromaniacs.

During the early stages of development, if a child witnesses a distressing event, their personality will be transformed to a personality that does not depict the child at all, but how the child now acts because of that distressing event. Ed Gein, “The Plainfield Butcher,” was a murderer who was “abused by his mother whenever he tried to make friends. Because of this event, as he grew up his personality caused him to be isolated, withdrawn, and antisocial” (Frese, 2014, n.p). The child’s brain will also change when damaged; their brain will affect how the child acts, whether it is emotionally or mentally. Ted Bundy was a “charming and charismatic young man who lured, assaulted, and murdered a countless number of young girls and women.