Serial Killers: Nature Vs. Nurture

Today 's society seems entranced by serial killers in the news and media. Because of the worldwide coverage on serial killers, forensic psychiatrists have taken an interest in these people and often interview them after they have been caught. There are multiple studies and reports of individuals who have committed serial murders but only a small amount of reports on adolescents who have shown serious fantasies about becoming serial killers prior to actualizing their fantasy. This paper explores the question that has been asked for centuries. That question is whether or not serial killers are born the kill or driven to murder. Many sources were used in reference to nature vs. nurture, and research on serial killers and if its genetics or decisions.

It is said that he murdered not in anger, or revenge, but on impulse and desire. Like many serial killers before him, psychologists and criminologists, has searched many options and scenarios to answer the question of why serial killers commit these horrendous killings and how they became such violent humans. What they have been contemplating with is whether or not serial killers are born with predetermined genes that play an important role in their homicidal tendencies or if they become murderous through incidents as children. Traditionally, the explanations for why serial killers have the tendencies they have included childhood abuse, genetics, brain injuries, and exposure to traumatic events. What frightens people however, is the fact that a huge number of the population has been exposed to at least one of these traumas in their

We are all made up of different genes that make us who and what we are. Many people believe that murderers do not just change into a killer, but their genes are predetermined and make the chemical balance in their brain decide their fate. Studies have been done on those who were prone to violence and those who were considered “normal”. The images of those prone to violence show distinct brain activity compared to the normal group. If these findings deem to be true, it could mean that murderers are born with an entirely different genetic make-up then those of normal society. Since serial killers have a psychopathic nature, they don’t know how to feel sympathy for others, or even how to have relationships so part of their outbreak is because they can’t relate to society. Because they do not relate and therefore can’t have normal human behavior on their own, they learn to simulate normal behavior by observing