Kirsten Dobson English 2010 Shelton April 5, 2014 Infamous Introduction “We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.” These were the terrifying words of one of America’s most infamous serial killers, Ted Bundy, after he confessed to coldly slaughtering thirty women. Every year Hollywood writers go after serial killers like Bundy for their gruesome and bewildering stories; in turn, these writers have created a serial killer stereotype. They cover their faces with masks and stalk their prey in the cover of night’s darkness. They are unknown outsiders, and sometimes even invincible. These faceless murderers horrify masses of people around America. But who are the real killers, the individuals walking around freely in the sunlight without a disguise? Born Bad? Are serial killers a result of nature or a casualty of upbringing? Many psychologists and criminal analysts have delved into answering this question; unfortunately, there is not a clear answer on the exact origin. On the other hand, many specialists have various theories that could contribute to the creation of these individuals. These theories include biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors. Though there are many ideas on the cause, on thing is clear: most individuals do not lose their grasp on reality without warning and become a brutal serial killer overnight (Simons 351). These individuals are complex and mysterious to many. Through a combination of various factors, serial killers are created; they are not simply born with a hunger to kill. Mask of Insanity In Alfred Hitchcock’s famous “slasher” movie, Psycho, the audience is introduced to Norman Bates. Like many ot... ... middle of paper ... ...s to seem average. They smoothly blend into society. A majority of these individuals are linked through commonalities of their childhood as well as their personality traits and behaviors. The serial murderer’s personality is an intricate recipe of biological, environmental and social circumstances. Though early abuse can cause feelings of aggression and delinquency, childhood experiences alone cannot be to blame. Many people are abused early on as children, and never become killers. Similarly, biological issues, such as brain abnormalities, as we as certain personality disorders would not individually create a murderer. Rather, a distinctive combination of psychological issues, impairments in the brain, and personality disorders help mold a brutal serial killer. Killers cannot be simply born into this world, but under the right circumstances, they will be created.
Majority of serial killers grew up in an abusive household. Growing up in an abusive home life can majorly affect a person’s developing personality, and morals. When a child is brought into a world where they are abused, or mistreated, that will influence their decisions later in life. If they are only treated poorly by the ones who are supposed to nurture and care for them, how are they supposed to know that it is not okay to do those things to others? Serial killers are known for growing out of disturbed or abusive childhoods. They either seek repeat or avenge all the wrongs done to them, and usually target those who harmed them. (Kureshi 2). The author of this article discusses how serial killers grow out of unhealthy childhoods. When they have mistreated their entire life, they want to get their revenge on whoever hurt them. Children depend solely on their parents. They are the ones who brought them into this world, everything they do will affect their child. The relationship between the two is very fragile and is easy to manipulate. Each parent must be ready to realize both the physical, and psychological repercussions of their behavior onto their children, or anyone dependent on them. (Kureshi 3). Parents almost complete control over a child’s development. Their decisions, their actions, their words will all have some sort
Most homicides are committed due to “disputes that range from family affairs, gang violence, financial difficulties, and disputes between lovers and between friends.” A regular murderer has a “vendetta” or a “specific personal thing against his victim,” while serial killers are driven by a passion for killing. The FBI defines a serial killer using several characteristics: a minimum of three to four victims with “cooling off” periods in between kills, the victim is usually a vulnerable stranger and may have symbolic meaning to the killer, murders exhibit a need to sadistically control the victim, and the kill is motivated by a psychological, not material, desire (Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture). The term psychopath is often used as a synonym for the term serial killer. However, to clarify, psychopathy is a personality disorder in which a person uses charisma, manipulation, intimidation, and sometimes violence to control others and get what they want. In reality, all psychopaths do not become serial killers. Instead, serial killers often have characteristics consistent with psychopathy (United
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
Serial killers are defined to “be driven by instinct and desire to kill.” In a study done in 2000, Dr, Richard Davidson says, “people with a large amount of aggression – in particular people who have committed aggressive murders or have a social disorder – have almost no brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex or the anterior cingulated cortex while activity in the amyglade continued perfectly. The orbital frontal cortex and the anterior congulated cortex control emotional impulses while the amyglade controls reactions to fear.” Davidson concludes his research claiming that although environment can and will affect a serial killer’s thoughts, it is a killer’s genetic makeup that inevitably creates murderous thoughts.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
Surely there must be something wrong with someone who is extremely violent, or hurts individuals in ways our society will not allow. There are few things more repellent to 'human nature' and morality than the concept of a serial killer. What is different about the brains of these individuals whom our society finds unforgivable and unredeemable predators? Society might find a biological reason for such atrocities more comfortable than the prospects of 'good and evil' or a mistake. This paper will catalogue and attempt to organize the current biological differences between our minds and that of a serial killer.
Are serial killers a result of Mother Nature or a casualty of upbringing? Many psychologists and criminal analysts have delved into answering this question; unfortunately, there is not clear answer on the exact origin. Many specialists have various theories that involve biological, psychological, or environmental factors that could contribute to the creation of a murderer. Though there are many ideas on the cause, one thing is clear: most individuals do not lose their grasp on reality without warning and become a brutal serial killer over night (Simons 351). These individuals are complex and mysterious to many; they are not simply born into the world looking to kill. Serial killers are made, not born.
In psychology, everyone is different. While some things can be similar in people, there will always be differences. These psychological differences can differ in many aspects including social psychology: how an individual acts in social situations, personality psychology: where an individual’s personality determines how they act and perceive things, and developmental psychology: where and how a person develops psychologically. These differences are what makes us unique and special in our own ways, but it also can have a dark effect on us and in our society. These individuals who suffer from darker psychological differences can affect our society in horrific ways. Serial killers are a group of people among this type of dark psychology that makes
Nature versus nurture has been argued in attempt to understand how criminals behave. The theory of what influences psychopath and serial killers’ violent and destructive pathways has not been agreed on till this day. Criminals such as psychopaths and serial killers have been researched for the past two decades. Scientists have found that genetics is a determining factor of who becomes a serial killer. It is important to understand the determinants involved within a serial killer, because if these social and environmental causes are discovered, they can be altered and controlled to reduce crime (Lykken, 1993). With more studies, we would therefore prevent mass murders and could assist in significant reductions of crime within society.
Throughout centuries the many cases of serial killers have sparked curiosity and a high level of interest for the search of what elicits a human being to take the lives of others. A serial killer is defined by a person who has killed three people or more in a process of time(cooling off period).This search has left many psychologists and criminologists dumbfounded. Are these humans born with a killer instinct or are they molded into it? Serial killers are made and not born they are products of traumatic childhood experiences, many prevalent social conditions and the fact that no one is born evil.
Most serial killers exhibit three symptoms as children that would be considered warning flags. This is known as the “triad of Sociopathy […] the triad consists of bed-wetting after the age of five, cruelty to animals and arson or an interest in fire” (Weatherby, Buller, McGinnis). This is supported by John E. Douglas, a FBI profiler, who helped capture many serial killers. In his interviews with serial killers, he found out that most were abused by one of their parents, mostly by their mother. In one of his first interviews, the man’s mother was friendly towards everyone outside of her home, “yet at home, she treated her timid son as if he were dirt” (Douglas, John E.). The abuse would have further led to development as every killer’s brain examined by Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist, “had damage to their orbital cortex. How you end up with a psychopath and a killer depends on when the damage is done” (Fallon, Jim). Another factor that influences the development of a serial killer is that most killers have too much serotonin. This is caused by the “major violence genes [… which are] in the normal population […and are] sex length. It’s [loc...
Nurture. Are serial killers born or created? n.d., para.1). One main psychiatric illness is the inactivity of the orbital cortex in the frontal lobe that holds the capacity to stop the urges to be violent to someone (IBID). The frontal lobe is where the responsibility of the behaviour of the person is located in (Rutigliano, n.d., para. 3). It is responsible for the behaviour of violence, self-control, planning, judgment, social needs, and many other social needs of a human (IBID). The orbital cortex inactivity is common in almost all serial killers (The Brain of a Serial Killer, n.d., para 4&5). This explains why serial killers tend to make bad decisions when it comes to violence
Many serial killers claim that their insanity, or urge to kill is because of their past as children. They start after their first killing, it soon can turns into satisfaction. If psychopathy is genetically determined one should expect some abnormalities in the brain (Lassieur 67). The majority of cases of psychopathic criminals is not abruptly acquired then, there is a good reason to think that it is embedded in their minds (Martingale 45). Murderers have been known to have a very disturbing past, perhaps that is why they seek revenge in their victims. Serial killers kill because their mentality and upbringing in childhood.
The movie Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960, was based on the novel of the same name in 1959 by Robert Bloch. An early example of the slasher film genre, this film followed a psychologically unstable man named Norman, who murdered his mother and her lover out of jealousy ten years prior. After feeling guilt, he adopts his deceased mother’s persona and exhumes her corpse, killing any woman he feels sexually attracted to because he hears his mother telling him to. This film is now considered one of the greatest films of all time, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress- deeming it culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The fact that such a violent film has been considered significant to the history of the United States and therefore preserved proves a lot about our bloodthirsty society. Hitchcock’s film also inspired the television show Bates Motel, which is currently shooting its fourth season. The inspiration for all of this was a man by the name of Ed Gein, an American killer who not only killed, but exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies out of them. Another example, the popular television show, Hannibal, was inspired by the popular film Silence of the Lambs, in which an F.B.I. agent relies on an incarcerated killer in order to catch
A serial killer is defined as someone who has murdered three or more people over the period of three months; however, does not include mass murder or killing spree (Holmes 2010, pg. 39). 90% of all serial killers are male as are 80% of their victims (Christakis 2012, TIME), which leaves the question of why do men take part in such heinous acts of violence over women. There are many theories that some serial killers are predetermined at birth to be violent offenders, while others may suffer traumatic injury resulting in brain damage, which takes away many inhibitions. Often offenders claim an abusive and neglectful childhood made them the way they are, which brings up the argument of nature vs. nurture; however, one fact remains the same, the