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An infant brain is like a sponge, it absorbs everything and learns off of their surroundings and from the people around them, such as their parents; infancy is the significant time of development that forms who that person will later be in life. If an infant has gone through a traumatizing experience, then they will most likely always keep that experience in their mind, no matter how much they try to ignore it and distract themselves from it. Infancy, childhood and relationships with one’s mother are often among the key parallels of serial killer. Typically, if the child was sexually assaulted they grow up to be the serial killers that sexually assault their victims and necrophilia can occur. Childhood trauma played a key role in the lives
The mother of the child is portrayed as a normal woman with no mental health problem. This would lead the viewer to believe that the child’s tendency to murder developed in her short life span by her sense of entitlement and lack of punishment. She had no sense of consequences and we are led to believe she is like this due to her environment (which is partly the case).
Looking at statistics from the National Institutes of Health, as of 2004 in the US, 311 of 578 (53.8%) children under the age of five were murdered by their parents. From 1976 to 2004, maternal filicide accounted for 30 percent of all children under the age of five, while paternal filicide accounted for 31 percent (West, NIH, 2007). These methods are most common in infant cases, by 69 percent. As the child ages, weapons are more likely to be used by a percentage of 72.3 (Orenstein). Highly publicized cases shine the light on parental mental health and how it can affect children.
Freud (1940) was the first to do the link between sexual abuses during the childhood and adult abnormal behavior. As a result of that serial killer uses sex as a way to let out his or her anger and aggression. The sexually acts of the serial killer is not only about sex, but it is about revenge, power, and control. “Serial killers are unconsciously trying to kill off their repressed sexual pain and powerlessness. Every stab into the victim’s flesh is a stab against their own childhood sexual terror and pain, and the rage that accompanies it is a rage against those who tormented and terrorized” (Knight, 2006, p. 1199-1200).
It has been proven by psychologists and stated by serial killers that their childhood is one of the many problems they faced that led them to become serial killers. The childhood of a typical young boy would consist of loving parents, a stable home and having friends. As for serial killers, this is not typical at all. During the childhood of a serial killer, it is not uncommon that he or she was abused, raped, or even attempted suicide along with many other harmful acts that a child should not be faced with. There have been many studies on the childhood of serial killers, and how they grew up compared to other young children.
In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighbourhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Typically, they come from broken families, usually...
Common psychological disturbances in the stages of making a serial killer are seen in childhood and are usually based upon mental and psychological abuse endured by a child.
This in turn led the child to hate his father for leaving. Although fatherlessness plays a role in some of the serial killers’ lives, abuse occurs more often than not among the soon to be mass-murderer's childhood. Physical abuse does not present itself as the only form of abuse that a child endures, sexual abused occurs most often among them. Some of the most notorious serial killers possess an abused childhood. John Wayne Gacy, ‘who killed thirty-three people which consisted of mostly of teenage boys, had an alcoholic father who abused his whole family. At the age of nine, Gacy’s neighbor also molested him multiple times (Be a Stoic – 24 Brutal Life Advice Quotes from Ancient Rome). One of the most famous woman serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, suffered sexual abuse from her grandfather after her parents abandoned her (Be a Stoic-24 Brutal Life Advice Quotes from Ancient
The way a child is raised can affect their mental state as adults proven by Nannie Doss’s history. Since we never caught the Zodiac Killer we can’t compare their childhoods, but in the Zodiac Killer’s psychological profile he grew up in an abusive home. A person can also become a psychopath/ serial killer due to traumatic brain injury. As you can see, a serial killer can be born or raised a cold blooded
A study found that 22.86% of victims are children personally associated with the killer and another 14.29% of victims were children acquainted with the murderer such as being a patient or neighbor (Farrell et al, 2011, p. 240). One of the most common female serial killer classifications are known as “Angels or Death” and they are caregivers, usually nurses, who kill those in their care (Pozzulo, Bennell, & Forth, 2015, p. 410). They focus on individuals they care for, most likely because they are the easiest to control and have power over. Angels of death are often motivated by ego and the need to dominate (Freiburger, & Marcum, 2015, p. 125). They get the feeling of control and complete domination, then others give their sympathy because the killer is thought to have lost a patient or loved family member.
Mitchell, Heather, and Michael G. Aamodt. "The incidence of child abuse in serial killers." Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 20.1 (2005): 40-47.
So what makes a serial killer? Levin points out that contrary to popular belief, serial killers don't just 'snap'; or 'go crazy'; (Douglas, p. 137). Many of the serial killers have been the victims of childhood abuse. Jack Levin stated 'Research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images'; (Douglas, p. 137). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by the absence of any nurturing relationship. 'They often come from families where the parents were absent or ineffective, where authority was not defined, and where they could engage in destructive behavior undeterred-violent play, cruelty to animals, and incidents of arson being some of the childhood behavior patterns noted among many serial killers'; (Clark, p. 206).
Most serial killers are psychopaths. Psychopathic tendencies are discovered in children at a young age. It is believed that future murders start off by mutilating animals or performing their killing and sexual fantasies on animals. An example of this
Raine states: “ So, in the 1950s, little toddlers were playing outside, putting their fingers in dirt, putting their fingers in their mouths and absorbing the lead. Twenty years later, they became the next generation of violent criminal offenders because violence peaks at about 19 or 20. Then what happens is in the 1990s violence begins to come down, as it's been doing. What's partly explaining that? The reduction in lead in the environment (Raine, NPR).” This shows a biological connection to serial killer behavior. Temporal lobe or amygdala damage can show signs of psychopathy, which can lead to serial killer behavior (Kiehl, Bates, Laurens, Hare, & Liddle, 2006). Violent behavior has also been linked to deficiency in serotonin and high level of testosterone. Growing up in an unhealthy environment is also common in most serial killers. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and mental abuse in a childhood home breeds serial killers. If someone grows up witnessing violence, it ingrains in their minds that violent behavior is okay. Before a serial killer commits a crime, they may be quiet, reserved, and keep to himself. In this stage, they are usually going on with their regular lifestyle. After a crime, they may taunt the media/police with notes and clues, as well as go on a killing spree. This is because some killers become obsessed with the urge to kill. Some may go as far as contacting the victim’s family. A fantasy is an elaborate
To begin with, numerous reasons for why a child acts in the manner he exhibits and why he continues to exert such dangerous and even fatal schemes. Recent research shows that factors ranging from inherited personality traits to chemical imbalances and damages suffered in the womb can increase the odds that a child will become violent (Johnson 234). Experts argue that no one is predestined to a life of crime. They believe that influences such as repeated abuse, extreme neglect, poverty, media violence, and easy access to guns play the major role in molding children into criminals. The father of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer wonders, "If potential for evil is in the blood that some of us pass on to our children" (Seifert 23).
Twardosz, S. (2010). Child Maltreatment and the Developing Brain: A Review of Neuroscience Perspectives. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(1), 59-68. 201507082251571463432670Twardosz S 2010 Child Maltreatment and the Developing Brain: A Review of Neuroscience