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Studies on the childhood of serial killers
“Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture – How Serial Killers are Born.”
Serial killers case studies nature nurture
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The general profile for a serial killer is an intelligent white male in their mid to late 20’s and 30’s. Many serial killers begin their life with an unstable childhood. The lack of loving and nurturing relationships plays a large role in this. Physical and emotional abuse during childhood is a common trend for children who grow up to be serial killers. Abusing animals, bedwetting into a late age, and exposure to alcohol/substance abuse are also common in a serial killer’s childhood. Not all serial killers are the same, one type of serial killer is a visionary killer. These people are psychotic (schizophrenia and paranoia) and believe they are being told to kill by a greater force such as God. Mission oriented killers believe they are doing …show more content…
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 …show more content…
After his name came up linked to a crime in 1984, he was placed on surveillance. On November 20th he was arrested, but refused to confess to authorities about the killings when he was caught. It wasn’t until the police decided to set him up with a psychiatrist, where he finally opened up about (and described) the 56 murders he committed. The information was used to prove where some of the bodies were located. Andrei confessed to 56 murders. Andrei Chikatilo was found guilty of 52 counts of murder, and sentenced to death for each of the murders (Blanco, Murderpedia). This is equivalent to 52 death sentences. Evidence used in the trial included a grey hair found on one of the victims, AB blood type found from a semen sample, eyewitness reports of what he looked like around train stations, and most sufficient: a bitemark on Andrei’s finger that matched a 16 year old victim. Another piece of evidence used was knives found in his briefcase when he was taken into custody. Andrei Chikatilo died on February 14th, 1994, by a gunshot to the back of his neck since he was faced with the death
Serial killers are a type person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. Most of the time something triggers them and then they go on their serial rampage. Some things that can be part of a serial killer's profile is they are normally white males, late 20’s early 30’s, kills with in own race, method of murder is hands on, and their victims are selected because they share specific characteristics. The types of serial killers are disorganized asocial and organized nonsocial. The different types of serial killers are: missionary killers, power seeking, lust killing, visionary killer, thrill killing. The profiling of a serial killer's changes upon the
The nurturing of individuals plays a role in the making of killers, as 94% of serial killers had experienced some form of abuse as children and 42% have suffered severe physical abuse (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010). A child abuse is a determining factor, in which supports the idea that serial killers and psychopath, are influenced significantly by nurture (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). In most cases social, cultural and physiological determinants all play a role in influencing serial killers to grow into a mass murderer. It is important that physiological and social determinants can be identified, so they could be altered for the purpose of preventing the number of crime.
The trial was slow and tedious. Chikatilo was placed in a cage, not to keep him from escaping, but to keep him safe from his victim’s family members. He was disruptive and maniacal for the entirety of the trial. He even had to be removed during the reading of the verdict because he continued to interrupt. He made absurd comments throughout the trial including that he was pregnant and the guards were hitting him in the stomach to make him lose the baby. On October 15, 1992, Andrei Chikatilo was found guilty of fifty-two counts of murder and was handed fifty-two separate death sentences. On February 14, 1994, he was executed by a single shot to the back of the neck.
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.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
Laurence Miller, PhD is a clinical and forensic psychologist and law enforcement educator based in Florida, specialising in the field of criminal profiling. The principal motive of the article is to present a categorisation of the different paths to becoming a serial killer or violent offender. It also looks into the brain mechanisms and abnormalities that allegedly trigger violence, but also the sociocultural, psychodynamic and cognitive elements that aid the development of a serial killer.
Almost all people know who serial killers are, but what exactly defines a serial killer. The FBI defines serial murder as “a minimum of three to four victims with a ‘cooling off’ period between, the killer is usually a stranger to the victim, the murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim, and the murder is rarely for profit.” (Vronsky, 2004, p.36) Serial killers are usually a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background typically in his twenties or thirties. Also, 85% of the world’s serial killers live in America, with at least twenty to fifty unidentified active serial killers plotting another one of their killings. On average, every person has seen or met at least 37 serial killers in their lifespan.
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.
A killer is not born. A killer is made. However, we are all born with the potential to kill, and any one of us can be made into a killer. It might take a lot to drive us to murder, but some people are simply more susceptible to the idea than others. People tend to believe that serial killers are mentally ill individuals, however, more often than not, they are rational beings who have suffered tremendously. Often, we cannot tell who is a serial killer. It could be the person standing next to you, and you would not have the slightest indication. Serial killers are shaped by isolation from their peers, neglect from loved ones or caregivers, and copious amounts of physical and psychological abuse as children.
“A serial killer is someone who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month motive is usually based on psychological (often sexual) gratification, though the motives may also include anger, thrill, money, and attention seeking.” (“56 Facts About Serial Killers”). It is said that the average person will walk past at least 26 serial killers in their lifetime. That’s quite crazy to believe. Serial killers make up about one percent of murders in the United States. Although serial homicide is extremely rare, it’s a very interesting topic to hear about nonetheless. It’s terrifying to hear people committing these heinous crimes, but what really triggers them to do this? Most would say that they just happen to be born that
There is a great distinction that separates serial killers from other murderers, and this is their motives to kill. Homicides are generally committed due to moments of rage and anger, or disputes from family problems, financial difficulties, gang violence, and conflicts between lovers and between friends. "A psychokiller, I should make clear, is not a regular murderer. A murderer has a vendetta, a nice specific personal thing against his victim". In contrast to this, the victims of serial killers, more often than not, are strangers that have never been encountered before the event of the killing. Serial killers are driven by instinct and a desire to kill.
You’d be hard pressed to find one in a crowd. The average serial killer generally blends in with everyone else (Directory Journal, 2010). In fact, most are soft-spoken and even polite. Their monstrous nature only comes through when you dig deeper into their personalities, actions, and habits. Most seem to have come from dysfunctional family settings and were emotionally, sexually, or even verbally abused as children (Directory Journal, 2010). It is almost as if this background activates some psychological trigger that increases their feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness that led them to seek out their own heinous form of release.
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.
Serial killers are usually young, white males who are quite intelligent and often come from broken homes. They may have been abused either physically or sexually during childhood and they have serious personality defects, such as low self-esteem and a lifelong sense of loneliness. Although no two serial killers are alike, they all fit this description somewhat. In the sixth edition of Crime and Criminality by Sue Titus Reid, a serial killer is defined as a person who commits more than one murder but at different times (Reid, p. 134).
On an individual scale every person has their own set of ideals, morals and common rules of citizenship bestowed to them at some point during their life. Many of these ideals are those that stand for good and society can agree with and also live by as well. However there is legitimate concern for those who have different ways of seeing things and while there are many types of people who fit that mold, I will further analyze the psychology of a serial killer and why they kill. A serial killer can be defined as “an unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(S), in separate events”. I am a criminal justice major and I find the methods and psychology of serial killers to be one of the most interesting yet mysterious puzzles of