Nature vs Nurture Research

Nature vs. Nurture: Are Serial Killers Born or Created? “A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them.” (Federal Bureau of Investigation 1). Serial killers are some of the most interesting criminals of them all, but many professionals debate on whether they are naturally bound for crime, or are they a result of our current society’s faults. One side believes that serial killers are solely born with a genetic disposition while the other, in contrast, believes in the influence of their environment. Most serial killers have been studied on and the professionals found that most of them have a genetic disposition to antisocial personality disorder. (Psychology Today 1). Some people with this illness do not always become a killer. Serial killers are born with a genetic deposition, but only through trauma, social isolation, and physical abuse. This gene can be triggered and cause psychological disorders. However, due to the research and data that has been collected, serial killers seem to have natural psychological orders which are furthered worsened by environmental triggers. Most serial killers have a psychological disorder that allows them to be able to kill with no remorse and feeling towards their victims. Psychological disorders can be passed down through genetics, but not all everyone the is predisposed gets the disorder. If a child is born predisposed to a disorder, it takes the environment to trigger the gene. (Psychology Today 1). If the child went through a traumatic experience, social isolation, and/or physical abuse there is a high chance that the child will form into a killer. A traumatic experience can be see someone killed, a life or death experience, or sexual assault. These experiences make the person form these disorders, like antisocial personality disorder, become a psychopath, or sociopath, which can sometimes lead to the person becoming a serial killer. (Feminism & Psychology) . Some people learn to control their behavior and disorder which allows them to live normal lives. That's why there not every person with these disorders become serial killers. (Feminism & Psychology) . This is why the argument, nature vs. nurture can not work for either sides. It can not be either one or the other. It is very rare for a person to become a killer with just the predisposition to the disorder or just have the environment trauma. (Psychology Today 1). You need both to have the possibility of a person become a serial killer. The environment of the child is what triggers the psychological disorder to begin to appear. Children that are put through traumatic experiences learn to hide their emotions and people that are predisposed to the disorder being to show signs. Our society has changed to were child abuse is seen as no longer seen as socially acceptable. So the children that do get abused, and are not cared for, feel even more unwanted by society because of the harm they endure. These children begin to feel like it is their fault for their abuse and search for attention and love anywhere else. They begin to resent the people that do no love them or remind them of their abuse of their childhood. This anger towards these people form this violence and can sometimes lead to this person have a type of people they kill. The niche serial killer that they develop has caused people to question the reliability of our adolescent educations. Richard Kuklinski, also known as the “contract killer,” is one of the most famous serial killers taking the lives of over 200 people during the course of his lifetime. Kuklinski was born in 1935, in New Jersey (The Iceman Interview). He was raised by Stanley and Anna Kuklinski. His father, Stanley, was known to be a violent alcoholic and would beat Richard at the age of eleven. Richard even stated in the interviews that his mother would even bet him with the broomstick, but now that he looks back she was, “just a victim of her own life.” During this time of beatings, Richard looked for an escape. He began killing cats and dogs because he was trying to fight the boredom (The Iceman Interview). He explains that he would tie two cats tails together and hang them over a clothesline and watch them tear eachother apart. He would also put a cat into an incinerator and light a box of matches. Richard Kuklinski watched and learned violence through his father's beatings. “If one witnesses aggressive models receiving reinforcement, or avoiding punishment for such behavior, they are often encouraged to adopt these actions themselves.” (Bandura, Albert). At a young age, Richard learned that violence was the only way to have control of any situation. When Richard was in his early twenties, he weighed up to 300 pounds and stood at six feet five inches. He had no problem with replicating the violence he learned. Richard Kuklinski had no hesitation when it came to killing someone (The Iceman Interview). This might because his behavior was rewarded. The people around him knew he was a violence man, so when Richard became close with the mob the encouraged his violence. Richard was rewarded for killing people for the mod and became their “contract killer.” The beatings Richard endured stayed with him for his whole life and many others in the family. At the end of the interview, Dr. Park Dietz was able to give Richard information about himself. He explains that Kuklinski has antisocial personality disorder. His means that the person has no feelings of guilt and remorse for any harm he does to anyone. They also are known to be impulsive and violent towards others and have no sense of a conscience. (Psychology Today  1). Early signs of this disorder is cruelty to animals and people. “Psychologist theorize the reason for such lack of emotion stems from rejection in early childhood.” (Simons, Cassandra L. 347). This rejection causes a lack of emotion leaving the killer to search for love or empathy through killing. These traits are ingrained in their minds and brought to light when they are emotionally abused. These killers are the most violent and unpredictable because they are not killing because of an external motive, like money, but killing for the fun and thrill. Many people with this disorder do not turn out to be killers. Their disorder mainly becomes violent by how their parents raised them. Stanley raised Richard with no affection, that could help him grown into a loving and caring person. Stanley only showed hate and violence, which Richard picked up on and is what he only knows. Studies have also show that antisocial personality disorder also is hereditary (The Iceman Interview). Some people are born with having no fear. Richard was not only killer in his family. Richards brother, Joseph Kuklinski, was also known for his killing. At the age of 25, he raped and murdered a young girl. This violence was not just learned and passed down to Richard. Stanley affected everyone in his family (Olszewski A.). In conclusion, serial killers are born with a genetic predisposition, but only through trauma, social isolation, and physical abuse. This gene can be triggered and cause psychological disorders. Not all of these people will become killers, but the one who will be be the worst because of their motivation to kill for fun. These killers are also hard to stop because they learn how to control and hide their emotions. They have no empathy or remorse for anything thing they do because of their disorders, which allows them to manipulate and control their victims. These people that are predisposed to antisocial personality disorder get placed into environments that force the disorder to show, and allows the disorder to spread into the violence of a serial killer. There could be ways to prevent serial killer being form, but it is inevitable that some with fall thru the cracks, do to the cracks in society.