Are People Born Evil?

A new born baby, spends its life surrounded by vicious acts of violence. The child then slowly learns all about sick acts of torture through television programs, movies, books and video games. Slowly this horrific violence becomes normal to the child, a second nature almost. Has the baby been raised as a monster due to maltreatment and influences through the media or was this baby born evil?

There are many different viewpoints on what makes someone commit such unspeakable acts, such as murder. The first being how a person is brought up. If a child is brought up in a hateful, unsafe and dangerous environment does that make them more likely to commit a crime? Back in 2005 a study was carried out to compare the accounts of child abuse, they selected fifty American serial killers and compared their history in abuse to other American citizens (this included sexual, physical and verbal abuse). The study is by Mitchell and Aamodt. They looked at reports of child-abuse, this was strictly any young person under the age of eighteen. They sorted their research into five key sub-headings; physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, neglect and no reports of abuse. Upon sorting their research, they found out that;

• 36% suffered from physical abuse,
• 26% suffered from sexual abuse,
• 50% suffered from psychological abuse,
• 18% suffered from neglect,
• 32% reported no abuse at all.

The study showed that signs of maltreatment were more prominent and frequent in serial killers than in regular children. This helps argue that a traumatic event in early childhood can heavily influence the way a person behaves in later life.

Brian Dugan a man who was charged for murdering and raping several young women (who would have been charged with a death penalty had the death penalty still been legal in Illinois.) Neuroscientist Dr Kent Kiehl of the University of New Mexico tested his brain in a series of tests. The first being he was put in a brain scan machine and shown several images of people being tortured, people who were distressed and different photos of violence to test his levels of empathy and remorse. After reviewing and analysing the results found from this test. Doctor Kent Kiehl was able to identify that Brian seemed to be too confused to focus on any particular concept in a photo. When looked at in more detail it was discovered that Brian had shown absolutely no remorse for any of his crimes. The specialists theorised that this was due to a lack of grey matter.

We can all commit evil acts such as murder. We are all born with the capability of going through with these horrific, inhumane acts. Some people are just more likely to commit these crimes. These acts of vile violence are all being made very normal due to being incorporated into everyday life. It is scary and concerning that hunting and savagely murdering someone in a video game is almost a second nature to most. What people don’t tend to think about is that other people playing these games are real humans too, worst of all games like fortnite are most commonly popular in young people aged 9-16, are we making monsters by exposing and allowing these young children to play games like this?

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Horror films are something that have been extremely popular in pop culture since forever. Not everyone can sit back and enjoy unlike others who can easily watch without even flinching. A study was done a few years ago to test why certain people can make it through a gory slasher film without feeling scared, empathetic or remorseful towards the movies protagonists and others can’t make it through without having nightmares inspired by the gory sites featured in these movies. The research showed that people who were able to watch and enjoy a horror movie before bed had a 10% higher chance of giving in to the morbid curiosity of murder.

In February 1993 two ten-year-old boys lured, tortured and eventually murder two-year-old James Patrick Bulger. These two young boys had the intention to initially pick an easy victim and to then push them out into ongoing traffic. However, after choosing James as their victim things took a darker and horrific turn. The boys dropped Bulger on his head and delivered several blows to the young boys face. One of the boys threw the blue modelling paint into the youngest boys left eye. They kicked, stomped on and threw small rocks and stones at the two-year-old boy. Batteries that the boys had also previously stolen were placed into the boy’s mouth. To finish what they had started the boys proceeded to drop a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar on Bulger’s head which was the cause of the boy’s death.

Before death Bulger suffered from 42 injuries’ in total. The two boys were sentenced to 15 years in prison making them both 25 when they would be eligible to leave the prison. After being taught the severity of their actions both boys showed improvement as human beings. After it was deemed that both boys were no longer a danger to society they were both given new identities and were moved to secret locations, to start a new life as a different person.

These two boys were viewed as being born evil. However, after the proper education and a new perspective on life the boys both changed for the better. Adding to the argument that people can be nurtured into being evil, this also counter argues that one can be taught how to be a good person even after committing evil.

After looking at both aspects of the argument it would be safe to assume that we are all born with an ability to commit heinous acts of violence and murder. However, we are all influenced by everyday occurrences even if we are unaware of it. The sheer maltreatment of someone gravely affects how they view the world and how they treat others, meaning it is possible to train and teach someone to be a truly evil killing machine. This suggests that we are not born evil, inhumane monsters. They are simply shaped by society.

Source list

1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11195840/Are-some-humans-born-evil.html
2. https://www.crimetraveller.org/2015/07/serial-killers-childhood-abuse/
3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15386740
4. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3564446/Are-people-BORN-killers-Biggest-brain-imaging-study-mass-murderers-revealed-wired.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger