Childhood development of serial killers. Most of the serial killers seem to have faced similar problems in their childhood. A study conducted by Wilson and Seaman on incarcerated serial killers, and what they concluded was the most influential factor that contributed to their homicidal activity was that most of the serial killers in the study had experienced some sort of environmental problems during their childhood, such as a broken home caused by divorce, or a lack of a parental figure to discipline the child.
Nearly half of the serial killers had experienced some type of physical or sexual abuse, and more of them had experienced emotional neglect.
When the parents have a substance problem then the attention goes to the parents in the household. This leads to neglect on the child when he needs it the most and to cope from this situation sometime the child forms a fantasy world in his mind to escape from his present circumstances. In this fantasy world they feel a semblance of control.
But this can cause deviant behavior in future as the child can grow to be antisocial, apathetic and homicidal behavior can be adopted by the child. Organized and disorganized modus operandi of serial killers. Organized serial killers- Organized serial killers often plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing them in another. These types of serial killers lure their victims by appealing to their sense of sympathy.
They also tend to target prostitutes as the prostitutes willingly go with them without any protests. In general, the IQs of organized serial killers tend to be near normal range, with a mean of Organized nonsocial offenders tend to be on the higher end of the average, with a mean IQ of All serial killers have three aspects that they show in their childhood. The first one is bedwetting which is related to psychological, emotional, and physical abuse.
Secondly, is the act of fire setting. Children who create fires to random things, feel so much negative emotions such as; anger, and hatred, that they cannot control their impulsions towards starting a fire Vronsky Lastly, another sign that children show at a young age, can be descried as feeling deep motivation and impulsion to torturing animals. In addition, they usually enjoy spending time with dead animals, that some even resort to taxidermy Warf Research into serial killers has been getting more comprehensive over time.
But even though there are many investigations and researches into the mind of serial killers, there is still not enough scientific information about why they do horrible things Quinn The murders take place over an extended period of time, and with a significant break in between the murders Interview: McGrath. While some may kill for revenge or robbery, serial killers do not. Serial killers act because of their deep, suppressed emotions, they are not driven by greed, revenge, hatred, envy or spur-of-the-moment violence.
So, one might ask themselves, how are serial killers created? In the psychological community, the debate of nature versus nurture has been and will continue to be an endless one.
People who study society, social interaction and culture of everyday life such as sociologists, have been dealing with this issue for years in analyzing serial killers. One of the questions that is constantly being asked is: does nature, nurture, or a mixture of both are what create a serial killer?
Proponents of the nature side of the debate, argue that all our traits are decided as soon as we are born. Nature focuses on the characteristics a person is born with, such as; personality traits, genetic make-up, and physical predispositions Keltner Proponents of nature take into consideration DNA, and biological connections to our parents.
A syndrome that is very common in the nature side of serial killers, is the XYY syndrome. The Y chromosome is about maleness which causes more aggressive, impulsive, and violent behavior.
People who have the XYY syndrome can be have a greater motivation towards killing and be more sadistic Vronsky People who are on the side of nurture, believe that what determines what a person becomes and who they are, is based on the environment around them. Nurture emphasizes on the experiences that change and mold us as we grow up, what we are thought at school, our culture, and how we are raised by our parents Keltner The way a child is raised and the environment around them can completely change who they will become.
But combining a traumatic upbringing and genes can have a bad result on what a person becomes in the future. One of the serial killers that is referred as being created through nature is David Berkowizt, known as the Son of Sam. In , David terrorized the New York City area from July to July , he killed six people and wounded seven, using a. When David was a child, everyone who knew him, described him as a polite and quiet young man Vronsky He was adopted by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz, and they raised David in a supportive, and loving environment.
Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz gave David everything he needed and wanted, they treated him with as much love as a parent could give, and David grew up in an environment that could lead to good mental health and happiness. David grew up in such a healthy environment without trauma, that shows the only reason he could have acted out, was because he is an example of a serial killer created by nature.
As stated before, nature deals with genetics, therefore, this was a predominant cause that lead David into a killing spree. David stated that his reason for killing was that to keep the demons quiet Vrosnky He claimed that the demons in his head would not leave him alone and stop tormenting him; in order to get rid of the demons, he began to do whatever they wanted. Eventually, she was caught when one of her would-be victims noticed white granules in his food, and took it to his doctor to examine.
Her motives have been widely debated, but it is suggested that she suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which is common among female killers. A report by Dr. Brain scans showed a lack of brain activity in areas that control emotional outbursts and violent emotions as well as fear responses orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, amygdala.
This study suggests that while some serial killers may possess abnormal brain processing, which may predispose them to committing crimes, it is not guaranteed that differences in brain structure will result in a murderer. Abuse has been recognised as a contributing factor by criminologists and psychologists such as Dr Adrian Raine. Peter Vronsky has argued that in such cases where there are no previous traumatic experiences, responsibility falls on the offender — serial killers choose to act on their compulsions.
Vronsky has also argued that it might not be that serial killers are made, but the majority of people are unmade by good parents and socialisation. People who have not been socialised are left with the capacity to kill, and this is often attached to a sexual impulse in the case of serial killers.
Despite extensive study into this field there is still a lot that is unknown about serial killers, they are not limited to any of the demographics or categories I have mentioned.
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