What Makes a Serial Killer

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It has been believed for some time that an individual becomes violent because of traumatic childhoods that were wrought with neglect and abuse. Others have argued that one becomes violent because they are mentally deranged. There have been many studies over the years to find out what causes a person to become a serial killer, but still there is no definitive cause. All serial killers are psychopaths (a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity), but not all psychopaths end up being serial killers. There is however, common traits among all psychopaths. These common traits include genetics and environment. Although a psychopath’s personal experience and environment does play a part, studies prove that genetic brain abnormalities or dysfunctions play a huge role in the making of a killer. Nurture versus nature has been a subject of debate for some time when it comes to serial killers. One of the most interesting studies regarding whether traits are a results of nurture or nature comes from the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared apart. This study was led by Professor Thomas Joseph Bouchard Jr. of Minnesota University. The study evaluated identical twins who were separated at birth and raised in different families. The study found that an identical twin reared away from their co-twin had an equal chance of being similar to one another in relation to their personality, interests, and attitudes as a twin who was raised in the same household with their co-twin. One set of twins in Bouchard’s study caught world-wide attention. Dubbed the “Jim twins”, these twins were adopted at the age of four week... ... middle of paper ... ... June 2010. Web. 10 April 2014. . Kent A. Kiehl, Alan T. Bates, Kristin R. Laurens, Robert D. Hare, Peter F. Liddle. "Brain Potentials Implicate Temporal Lobe Abnormalties in Criminal Psychopaths." Journal of Abnormal Psychology (2006): 115-118. Proquest Criminal Justice database. Minnesota, University of. Minnesota Study of twins reared Apart. 4 September 2007. Web. 10 April 2014. . Thomas J. Bouchard, Matt McGue, Yoon-Mi Hur, Joseph M. Horn. "A Genetic Enviromental Analysis of the California Psychological Inventory Using Adult Twins Reared Apart and Together." European Journal of Personality (1998): 307-320. Document. unknown. Socially Challenging. 11 November 2010. web. 10 April 2014. .

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