Serial Killers: Nature Vs. Nurture

The question of whether a serial killer’s actions and psychology is predetermined at birth is up for contention. It may be impossible to believe that one’s brain has been genetically brewed to murder. However, it is difficult to contemplate how society, through environmental variables, can cultivate a vengeful, revenge seeking monster. Through a thorough examination of the inner anatomy of the serial killer and the social context, one can also tackle the emergence of a new trend of mass shooters. Therefore, the question posed in the research paper is: Does the influence of the environment or one’s personal disposition play more of a role in a serial killer’s actions?
1.2: Rationales Though the activities of serial killers have been

Firstly, the author discovered that sexually motivating behaviors stem from one’s personal disposition and serves as a pathway for social variables to act on. For instance, Jeffrey Dahmer found dissections in biology class to be exciting which lead the way to “obsessive thoughts of violence intermingled with sex” (Sandfort 8). The preconceptions and yearning for sex were already embedded in his brain but emerged fully when exposed to a social environment which was the classroom which soon evolved into serial killer tendencies. Later on, Dahmer’s yearning involved into killing young men he was attracted to due to his sexual motivations for them which he viewed as a weakness. This behavior was “largely motivated by his loneliness and his coalescence of violence and sex” (Sandfort 14). Therefore, it was a byproduct of his social environment and personal disposition. Sandfort’s research on the psychosocial variable of childhood behavior also revealed the extent of child abuse. In Dahmer’s life, he “grew up in a tense household with parents who constantly fought..he never made close friends and felt apathetic about his life” (Sandfort 16). This reveals that Dahmer’s environment was unhealthy and fostered violent tendencies which along with his psychopathy revealed through his obsession with dissections will soon lead to even more dangerous acts. In conclusion, this source was useful for my paper because it provides a case study of a renowned serial killer and examines how the social context (childhood) and genetics (dissections) triggered a dangerous