Are Serial Killers Born That Way or Created?

[Rockvillejoe]

Inspired by the Dexter series on Showtime, the questions begs to be asked, are serial killers born madmen, or are they created due to emotional trauma?

was ted bundy, dahmer, gein, and the rest, abused as children and as a result a monster was born, or was their DNA shortcircuited at conception?

enviromental or innate?

What do you think?

[El Mudo]

Its the ol' Nature vs. Nurture debate....its something that's completely unanswerable from an objective point of view

[TheMojoPin]

Both.

[KingGeno]

A simple glance at the front page of http://www.ronfez.net and you have a case study.

But in all seriousness, I feel it is a combination of both. I believe that a mind will shape itself with what environment it is in. Adaptation. If the mind is in constant duress or panic or pure humiliation, the anger will increase while logic and one's inner hope will drop. Crazy world we live in, and I am glad I've delved into both.

[GreatAmericanZero]

its gotta happen both ways, but i think genetics do have a part

For example, if theres a guy who comes from a fucked up life of abuse and horrible living conditions and he becomes a serial killer...thats an example of his environment effecting him. But then there are alot of people that could come from the same kind of environment and not be serial killers. Now, if the guy who was a serial killer in the 'fucked up' environment grew up in a healthy environment and wasn't a serial killer...whatever was inside of him to make him a serial killer in one environment and not the other comes from birth

Then there can be someone that is just born a sick fuck...oh well, it happens

[Rockvillejoe]

my take? granted i think a lot has to do with impulse control. still, there were studies done that show chromosonal differences in these people.

i know for rapists there is an additonal y chromosone, hence the xyy chromosone theory we all studied about in CJ 101.

despite some born with this prediliction to murder, they have been brought up in envrioments wholesome enough to enable them to control these urges, or perhaps they manifest in some other form, i.e. alcoholism, OCD's, or becoming religous zealots.

and the ones raised in an abusive upbringing, probably by a parent that carries the same gene, those are the ones that becomes the dahmers of the world.

and then again, i wonder of ted bundy's parents were "normal"? if that's the case, i think that lends itslef to the biological theory.

it's ponderous man, ponderous.

[PapaBear]

Let's just be glad serial killing is illegal. ESD owns a BB gun pistol.

[KC2OSO]

Folks treated nice in this world will generally be nice.

[sailor]

Both.

yeah, a little from column a and a little from column b.

[Thebazile78]

You ever watch that show Most Evil on Investigation Discovery (formerly the Discovery Times Channel)? (IMDB page here. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1066032/))

They go over this very question while summarizing some of the most heinous crimes ever committed. Some are famous (naturally, they did Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, the Unabomber, etc.) but they also did some lesser-known ones that are equally horrifying. (Like this couple in AZ who kidnapped and tortured women in a trailer in the desert...ugh.)

In many cases, the folks were f-ed up as kids, both psychologically (many exhibit both sociopathic and mentally ill behaviors) AND environmentally (abusive homes, drug addictions, etc.) but some of them had perfectly "normal" childhoods and adolescences.

For the ones who were abused, it does make you think about whether or not they would've turned out differently had someone just "cared" but I am not so sure that it would have made much of a difference.

[RAAMONE]

You ever watch that show Most Evil on Investigation Discovery (formerly the Discovery Times Channel)? (IMDB page here. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1066032/))

They go over this very question while summarizing some of the most heinous crimes ever committed. Some are famous (naturally, they did Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, the Unabomber, etc.) but they also did some lesser-known ones that are equally horrifying. (Like this couple in AZ who kidnapped and tortured women in a trailer in the desert...ugh.)

In many cases, the folks were f-ed up as kids, both psychologically (many exhibit both sociopathic and mentally ill behaviors) AND environmentally (abusive homes, drug addictions, etc.) but some of them had perfectly "normal" childhoods and adolescences.

For the ones who were abused, it does make you think about whether or not they would've turned out differently had someone just "cared" but I am not so sure that it would have made much of a difference.


i love that channel

[Knowledged_one]

I did a search on google about american serial killers and read the entries and most seem to have a history of abuse by their parents or were sexually abused. But some were just wired the wrong way and had the impulse to kill.

So as mojo said its both Yes and No or Both

Do a google search and read up on it on wiki and come to your own conclusion

[MacVittie]

like everything else, it can be a little or a lot of both

[Aggie]

"Whatever happened to crazy?"

I think we make too many excuses for people and explanations for their heinous actions. I believe some people are just evil and no matter how you try to stop it or rehabilitate them it just won't work. Serial killers fall into that category for me.

[Thebazile78]

"Whatever happened to crazy?"

I think we make too many excuses for people and explanations for their heinous actions. I believe some people are just evil and no matter how you try to stop it or rehabilitate them it just won't work. Serial killers fall into that category for me.

Because "crazy" (in a manner of speaking) is a legal defense.

You would get a lot out of Most Evil.

It's not seeking to excuse the behavior, but rather to explain it, both on a biological and environmental level. The Dr. Stone "scale of evil" is pretty interesting ... it provides a way to quantify the degree of "evil" of a particular act (or series of acts.) Fascinating.