Was conducting my research, I found that there is a massive debate in criminology over whether serial killers are born serial killers or made that way by things such as social factors. This is called nature and nurture; nature refers to all the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics. Whereas nurture refers to all the environmental factors that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture. There have been numerous research conducted in both areas which I will be examining to ascertain if one is more prominent than the other.
Social factors that May have had a role in creating a serial killer (Nurture)
Newton has estimated that there are around 1,500 known serial killers in history conforming the act of serial killing is indeed quite rare. Crime traveler suggested that some of the researchers from the University of Radford in Virginia set up an experiment to compare childhood abuse history against 50 convicted serial killers. The results showed that the killers had a considerably high rate in physical, sexual, and psychological abuse in their childhood. During my research into serial killers, it was apparent that childhood abuse has received a lot of attention in the media as being a big factor that influences serial killers. There is a lot of research backing up the idea that many serial killers have suffered abuse at the hands of a parent or guardian which can cause even more trauma and that this could have contributed to their murderous behavior later on in their life. Although there is quite a lot of evidence to show that not all victims that experience this kind of abuse grow up to be criminals or abusers themselves there is a heightened risk that is associated with things like childhood trauma. A number of studies have been zoned in on some of the world's most well-known serial killer cases who have reported that they experienced some sort of abuse when they were a child, people such as John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgeway and Ed Gein they all stated that they were either physically or verbally abused when they were a child. Although they stated that they were either physically or verbally abused we cannot hundred percent believe what they say, because there is a lot of evidence suggesting that serial killers can be quite notorious for lying so we cant believe everything that they say.
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Secondary Research
In 2005 there was a study created by Mitchell and Aamodt in the university of Radford in Virginia showing how serial killers stated that there was some sort of abuse in their childhood. Childhood abuse was in a category that meant that an individual would be abused under the age of 18 years old. Psychiatrist reports have separated childhood abuse into four different categories these include physical abuse which is causing or allowing nonaccidental physical injury, sexual abuse which is any sexual activity that is non-consensual, psychological abuse which is causing emotional conflict or causing psychological harm and lastly neglect which is failing or refusing to provide adequate food, clothing and other necessary needs for a child. The results suggested that childhood abuse in serial killers is higher than the general population across all types of abuse except neglect, the results suggested that 36% of the serial killers suffered from physical abuse, 26% experienced sexual abuse, 50% suffered from psychological abuse and 18% experienced neglect but on the other hand 32% of the killers reported having no abuse in their childhood at all. During this research, they also found data on serial killers when they were put into different groups such as organized, disorganized, and mixed offenders and they found that there was no difference in the frequency of abuse that the injured as a child. The results showed that those who suffered more psychological abuse did not become a more organized killer compared to the disorganized killer. The percentages of abuse suffered in each type of abuse were very similar across the three offender types. 25 of the 50 were organized killers, 11 were disorganized and 14 were mixed.
For any of this information to actually mean anything, we need to be able to see a clear difference between the serial killer population and the general population to see whether serial killers do actually experience more abuse than the average person and if that is a factor in creating a serial killer. As this graph shows serial killers have a higher rate of abuse in most things apart from neglect compared to the general population. This graph proves that serial killers have injured more abuse in their childhood than just the average person. Serial killers have injured more physical, sexual, and psychological abuse than the average person. The fact that psychological abuse is so high among serial killers may be a contribution to the person that they become in the future. On the other hand, these results cannot be proven to be hundred percent accurate because the general population has no reason to publicize there abuse and may lie about there abuse because they may be embarrassed or may still be with there abuser. On the other hand, some serial killers are known for lying and giving false statements and lying about their childhood to make themselves look better. Although that there is some evidence that childhood abuse may be a factor of abuse it may not be the only factor that contributes to such criminal behavior. These findings really interest criminologists and psychologists studying serial killers and the factors that contribute to their behavior.
Researchers have shown that many serial killers have a few things in common when it comes to their childhood experiences. Researchers have suggested there are possible eight different characteristic traits that serial killers may have had in common during their childhoods these include emotional abuse, researchers have suggested that those who go on to become serial killers have suffered from a lot of childhood abuse in particular emotional abuse. Some researchers have also suggested that some serial killers would have experienced some sort of neglect during their childhood. Study`s have shown that neglect can affect a child`s ability to develop empathy, which is one of the main reasons that serial killers keep on their killing sprees. The second characteristic is fantasies this has a link to being neglected as the child would feel as if they lack control in their own life so they would often turn to fantasy to escape their situation, because of their own links to neglect and not having control in their own life their fantasies normally revolve around control and violence due to these fantasies sometimes the urges get to much and are sometimes acted out. The third characteristic which is circulated a lot on the media as being the main trait of a serial killer from their childhood is cruelty to animals some serial killers are known for harming animals in their childhood.
A well-known case of this is Ted Bundy, Bundy reportedly derived pleasure from tormenting small animals, cats, and dogs. In some cases, this is not always the case for example serial killer john Wayne Gacy was a notorious serial killer who killed up to thirty young boys, although in his childhood Gacy was known for having a love towards animals and taking animals home to look after them. These are just character traits of some serial killers, not all serial killers have been shown as having these traits. Another trait that is often shown when looking into serial killers, is the killer having or being around a dysfunctional relationship. Researchers have shown that serial killers tend to have problems with relationships in their childhood this includes not being able to form or maintain relationships, this also refers to being around bad relationships and being around bad influences. Psychologists have found that nearly three-quarters of serial killers grew up in homes in which other family members have had some sort of problem with alcohol or drug abuse which could have an impact in the way that they have grown up, because they have grown up around either alcohol or drug abuse may have caused them to pick up either drug addiction or and alcohol addiction which may have linked to them becoming a serial killer later on in life.
Other characteristics that serial killers may have experienced as a child include low self-esteem, poor social functioning, academic failure, witnessing violence family and being a victim of bullying.
There was a study conducted by a criminologist Burgess, he carried out a study of serial killers that were sexually motivated in 1986. The study was able to find the type of things that serial killers experienced during their childhood. The results of Burgess's study showed that there were four different categories that could influence the creation of a serial killer these included that they grew up in an ineffective social environment, experienced negative events in their childhood such as a loved one passing away, they developed destructive behavior, for example, setting fire to things which is shown a lot in serial killers childhoods, the breakdown of relationships which may include not getting along with a family member and if they developed certain characteristics during their childhood. Burgess found that younger people had more of a tendency to retreat into a fantasy world, Burgess thought this might have been to do with their social isolation, he also found that the love for fantasy tended to become deeper as the child grew up. This might show why serial killers don`t kill until they are older.
Moesch found that most serial killers tended to hate women which usually stems from having a dysfunctional relationship with their mothers. Moesch also stated that a high number of serial killers were found to have overly controlling or emotionally abusive mothers. He found from the sample of serial killers analyzed that sixty-eight percent had been brought up in families in which the mother was the dominant figure.
Other social factors that may have a role in creating a serial killer include education, peer groups, and education groups.
Psychopathy and sociopathy within serial killers
After acquainting myself with several bipolar disorder essays and researches, I can affirm that the causes of psychopathy are still unknown we are still unsure whether psychopathy is a product of nature or nurture. There is some research suggesting that psychopathy traits are more due to DNA than upbringing, the research suggests that if only a couple of hundred mutations take place during early fetal development, the mutations most likely multiply over a number of years leading to psychopaths having a vast genetic difference to the average person.
These brain scans show the difference between a psychopath`s brain and the average person's brain. Forensic psychologists stated that psychopathic criminals were associated with a decreased connectivity between the amygdala, a subcortical structure of the brain that processes negative stimuli, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a cortical region in the front of the brain that interprets the response from the amygdala. When the connectivity between these two regions is low, the processing of negative stimuli in the amygdala does not translate into any strong feelings or emotions. Therefore, linking to serial killers because they do not feel nervous or feel bad seeing people suffer, it gives them more reason to act on the crime again.
Sociopathy just like psychopathy is also unknown to whether it is a product of nature or nurture. scientists have some theories. One is that the brain of a sociopath matures at a slower rate than the brain of a non-sociopath which we can see in this comparison of an average brain and a sociopath`s brain. Damage is not the only thing that can cause the brain to develop abnormally. Researchers are also studying biological dysfunction, or faulty wiring, as a sociopath cause. Some people also believe that sociopaths may be influenced by the environment that they surround themselves with. For example, researchers believe that early childhood trauma such as abuse may also be a trigger for sociopathy. Whilst doing my research I have found that any child has the capacity to become a sociopath. Sociopaths are known for feeling remorse and guilt. Serial killers who are sociopaths are known for being very dangerous because it is easier for them to integrate into society. So, if you were with a sociopath you probably would not know that they were a sociopath. Therefore, some serial killers find it easy to lure their victims in because they are just like average people. An example of a sociopath was Ted Bundy. Michael Stone has come to the conclusion that less than one percent of the female population are psychopaths. Whereas three to five percent of men are psychopaths. He suggested that men are more likely to have antisocial personality disorder. Researchers have shown that men are genuinely stronger than women which can be another reason why there are more men serial killers than women.
Biological factors of creating a serial killer (Nature)
Adrian Raine was the first person to conduct a brain study on murderers he also continued to do a study on the brains of violent criminals and psychopaths. He stated that while there is a social and environmental element to violent behavior, there is also another side which is biology. The main question that circulates the courts is that if serial killers have a brain dysfunction that came relatively early in their live show we fully hold that adult responsible.
What if that individual had birth complications and they were exposed to things like toxins and a low resting heart rate? Other things that have been looked at whilst looking at the biology of serial killers is if the serial killer had the gene that raises the odds of violence. Scientists have identified that there is the main gene that leads to extreme violence the first one is a variant of cadherin 13 which is involved in neural connectivity and has been linked to impulse control in extremely violent offenders like serial killing. Psychological experts have called serial killers a biological disaster. This means that some psychologists believe that serial killers are already born into this world already marked as a disaster.
Researchers have identified that serial killers are genetically different from the average person. Ph.D. stated that there could be two different biological factors that could have a role in creating a serial killer. The first idea is that serial killers are caused by an abnormality in the frontal lobe. There are a few different ways that people can gain damage to their frontal lobes, these include having a head injury which can be from when they were a child or later on in their life, having a stroke, or having an infection that affects the frontal lobe. Having damage to the frontal lobe can make people act more violently. Therefore, when we hear of serial killers most of them have had damage to their frontal lobe which may have caused them to act more violently toward their victims. The second idea is that serial killers are bred by circumstances which means they have a dysfunctional brain, for example, if the individual has a right orbital cortex that is not functioning well, the individual may be at a biological disadvantage. Some researchers have found that having that most serial killers do have a dysfunctional brain which is one of the major reasons why serial killers kill. A certain gene has been linked to someone becoming violent, this gene is called monoamine oxidase-A this is also known as the violent gene which is found in almost all serial killers. Mothers pass down the dysfunction in the form of the MAOA gene to their sons. This suggests why there are more male serial killers than female serial killers.
A genetic scientist stated on a genetic level some people are more prone to becoming a serial killers. Researchers have suggested that just like any other gene the serial killer gene can also be passed down through the family tree. Adrian Raine suggests that we may encounter someone with such a genetic disadvantage that their aggression cannot be cured. This suggests that not even the best therapy can help change a serial killer because it is all in their genes. Raine stated that with damage to the frontal lobe with the dysfunction of the MAOA gene, we can certainly conclude that serial killers are genetically pre-disposed to violence, he also suggested that dysfunctional brains and dysfunctional genes are the leading reason why serial killers killers
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