Madison King
Mrs. Rose
SUNY English 101
22 December 2022
Are Serial Killers Born or Made?
Why do people do the things they do? More specifically, why do they kill? Serial killers have been around since as early as the 1800’s, and over time, they’ve developed new methods and practices making themselves more skilled, unique, and difficult to catch. Why can’t we look away from a car crash? Humans are so fascinated with tragedy, so much that true crime, and police shows make a killing in revenue. The question remains on how to stop serial killers, really the only way is from the source, but what causes these drives and desires to take a life? Maybe they're born with a brain disorder that drives them insane, or maybe they experienced abuse from
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Some would say serial killers are neither born or made, that maybe it’s natural selection taking its course turning random people into killers. That's not usually the case, over 70% of serial killers were abused either physically, sexually, or psychologically at a young age. 30-70% percent of killers also have some form of a mental disorder. Very few of them have neither of those factors, but one notorious killer was seemingly normal.
Dennis Rader was an American born serial killer born in 1945, he killed over 10 people over the span of three decades. He called himself the BTK killer because he bound, tortured, and killed his victims. A person might think, what could this man have gone through that could have made him so aggressive and evil? Nothing. He had no childhood trauma or mental conditions, nothing was physically wrong with
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No one with a happy and healthy childhood could grow into a stone cold killer, could they? Some of them do, but way over half of them did have some traumatic experiences. A person’s childhood is the time in their life that they are most vulnerable at, their minds are still growing and they are so easy to influence. That's why we are so careful about what we say around children, as it could be something they say or do that sticks with them through life. Most of the killers we know went through some kind of psychological, and/or a physical kind of abuse, “Childhood abuse has also been associated with later cognitive processing problems, which may lead to an aggressive thought pattern – for example, encoding errors, hostile attributional biases, accessing of aggressive responses, and positive evaluations of aggression” (Marono). Cognitive studies have found that “Sexual, physical, and psychological abuse often led to distinct crime scene behaviors” (Marono). For example, a child who has experianced sexual trauma or abuse as a youth, will most likely be drawn to the idea of a power killer. Someone who takes pleasure and satisfaction in drawing the victim into submission, likes the feeling of complete control and power. While abuse as a child already leaves a mental scar, it can lead to overly aggressive behaviors and and in worse
We can all come to an agreement that serial killers are both horrendous and unpredictable human beings. Most acts of violence we hear about are committed by serial killers. Unsatisfied with their previous actions, serials killers look to execute more victims. In most cases, the upbringing of the individual plays a huge role on the killer. Because of their twisted techniques and motives, some of these killers are infamously known to be the most frightening criminals in history.
There are many murderers in the world, making it hard to feel safe sometimes. No one knows the real reason why people begin to commit crimes, there are multiple theories though. It could be because of environmental changes, inheritance, an unpleasant childhood, or they simply choose to. Female murderers are more unheard of than males. Aileen Wuornos was born in Michigan in 1956 (Biography.com Editors, n/d).
The typical childhood of a serial killer may involve abuse, bedwetting, drugs/alcohol, antisocial, interest with fire, and cruelty to animals. Serial killers get more aggressive as they kill more people because they get a thrill from it. Fantasies effect serial killers because they can trigger something in their minds that turn into actions instead of just thoughts.
How does a man become a serial killer, necrophilia, cannibal and psychopath? Why was the notorious Jeffrey Dahmer the way he was? Over the past several years we have gained knowledge through a series of test and studies to finally have some psychological answers to that. Dahmer is one of the most famous and talked about serial killers to this day. When looking at Dahmer's past you can clearly see from his childhood where things started to go wrong.
The disorder comes with a need for control over someone's surroundings and a lack of conscious that could lead psychopaths do to whatever it takes to get that control. Psychopaths constitute about 20% to 30% of the prison population (“Serial Murder.”). While other criminals tend to have a “peak” in their criminology, psychopaths show consistency. A serial murder involves the killing of three or more people over a period of time (“Serial Murder.”).
Serial Killers are normally people who had been doing atrocities since an early age this people have probably been through rough patches on their lives. The famous BTK was born on March 9,1945 in Kansas. Rader was actually the elder sibling from his family. When he was a child he used to be participating in church activities also he was an average student at Riverview Elementary School. Mostly of his classmates describe him as a polite guy that always used to keep his business to himself,quiet and with not a sense of humour.
Have you ever thought about how many murderers you have encountered just living your daily life? The people of the Eastern Shore may understand how this feels. The Eastern Shore experiences hundreds of murders a year, however, just three shocking murders affected the way the local community continues to view the life around them. Murders are a commonly committed crime throughout the world, yet, very few people realize that they have more than likely experienced an encounter with a murderer just carrying on with their daily life. One may wonder, what causes someone to become a murderer, serial killer, or any other kind of criminal.
In order for them to be considered a serial killer each kill has to be a separate event that is controlled by pleasure or psychological thrill (Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction, 2023). Serial killers most often become egocentric due to their lack of guilt and empathy, these classifications characterize serial killers as psychopaths (Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction, 2023). To hide their psychopathic tendencies and appear to be normal most killers wear a “mask of sanity”(Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction,
Jeffrey Dahmer Serial killers lack empathy, self-control, and ethics. This means that the person is aggressive, but controllable. Some develop fetishes and fantasies that have gotten so strong, that eventually they are acted on. They were taught to have no remorse. Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most notorious serial killers in the United States.
There are different types of serial killers; some are worse than others. People often wonder why these people do certain things, for example, why they target specific people, or what has influenced their behavior. Taking a deeper look into serial killers a lot can be learned about their childhood and what may have led to them turning out the way they did. Most of the time they do not just wake up one day and decide to kill someone; rather, they are influenced by something or someone. It all starts with looking at their childhood, what their addiction turns into, and what happens to them in the end.
Often, serial killers exhibit three behaviors in childhood bed-wetting, arson and cruelty to animals. They are also likely to have come from broken homes and been abused or neglected. A serial killer keeps killing until one of four things happens he/she is caught, he/she dies, he/she kills himself or he/she burns out. In February, 1989, the Associated Press released a story about a serial killer who preyed on prostitutes in the same area of Los Angeles that harbored the Southside Slayer. He was believed to have killed at least 12 women, all with a small handgun.
A serial killer’s violent rage may reflect the abuse and neglect endured in childhood. Their intense hatred cultivated in the early stages of childhood now will be directed at their unsuspecting victims. In The Killers Among Us, Stephen Egger claims that many case studies of mass and serial murderers discovered a reoccurring background of ”neglect and early years spent in extreme social and psychological deprivation” (Egger 29). Continually, Egger states that the most common aspect of the serial killer’s histories was the physical abuse and violent punishments inflicted on them as a child. As a result, their subconscious stores these traumatic memories and emotions, which later has a powerful result on their behaviors and emotional life
Are Serial Killers Born Evil Or Made? by Mia Fowler J. Williams English III Block: 4 10 March 2023 ii Outline Thesis: Serial killers are not born; they are made from the life they experience. Introduction Jeffery Dahmer What his childhood looked like
Being a seriel killer also may have some sort of psychological gratification with the murder committed. The number one reason a serial killer murders is for some sexual reason others are motivated by anger, thrill, finanxial gain and because they crave the attention. Murders can be attempted or completed in the same manner. Victims would have either
Esbensin, Peterson, Taylor and Freng (2010) implies that “ young people who have committed serious violent offenses have the highest level of impulsive and risk-seeking tendencies.” Moreover, extreme violent criminal activity being performed in front of youth increases the risk of them performing acts of extreme violence themselves. Because youth see those acts as acceptable so committng those violent activities make youths to become ruthless. Smith and Green (2007) assert that violent activities becoming ruthless and the perpetrators even more ruthless.