The United States is renowned for having the most serial killers of any nation. Approximately 3,204 serial killers have been identified in the United States to date. The fact that everyone has a remote chance of becoming one is what's most terrifying. The number of incidents has led to an increase in serial killer studies, and the most crucial topic experts are attempting to resolve is whether serial killers are born or created into one. Many people believe that environments have the most influence on people to become criminals. Ted Bundy's example, however, defies this generalization, and it can be argued that his criminal tendencies were influenced by his genetics. This is also true in many other situations when criminal conduct is primarily …show more content…
MAOA-L action leads to behavioral issues, such as aggressive and violent outbursts, and slight intellectual disability. Ted Bundy is an excellent example of MAOA-L action. Despite coming from a loving family, he became a criminal because of his aggressive and compulsive behaviors, which were brought on by neuronal activity in his brain (Deegala, 2020). Ted Bundy had MAOA-L which means he could not control his aggressiveness and was more impulsive. In addition, his lover abandoning him was a devastating experience for him, which fueled his rage and motivated his murders. Individuals with low MAOA are more prone to violence than subjects without (Highsmith). This is significant because it demonstrates that a criminal can be influenced by their genetics since they will have an outside force that will lead them to do certain things. Genetics play a big role in criminals’ minds and many of their actions are influenced by who they were born …show more content…
Ted Bundy is an example of this, he was raised by his grandparents and grew up to be a decent person. Ted Bundy developed into a charming, eloquent, and smart young man (Crimemuseum.org, 2022). This is significant because it shows the good environment he was born in which helped him develop into a good person. This means his environment did not influence his harmful actions which later developed in his teenage years. Due to some of his good qualities he was able to attract many of his victims. This supports the fact that he became a serial killer because of his desires, characteristics and mentality. He mentioned being antisocial and prowling the streets in search of abandoned pornographic material or unlocked windows through which he might observe unwary women (Crimemuseum.org, 2022). Being antisocial can be named as a disorder, in most cases disorders are linked with genetics. Thus, his actions were mostly influenced by his disorders such as, antisocial personality, bipolar personality, borderline personality and many more disorders. This goes to show that his loving home made him have good qualities and grow up to be a good individual however, this later changed and all of his actions are linked to many different
The popular profile for the killer is that he is a loner who is incapable of holding a steady job and a meaningful relationship with a woman. DR. Lawrence Freedman studied the Zodiac’s words to get into his mind.
Theories such as, Inherited Criminality, Appearance, and even theories regarding the poor development of key areas of the Central Nervous System (CNS), could all be factors. But what really stands out, is how these biological factors may have interacted within the environment in which these children grew up (Bernard, 2016). Most of the children featured in the documentary were abused, delinquent, and often used drugs and alcohol. Any undetermined biological or physical factor as identified by the biological theories of crime, could very well have played a role when factored into the environmental conditions that the child was growing up
Countless factors can influence individuals to commit acts of crime such as murder. According to Morton and cook social factors hold the most influence especially when it comes to youthful offenders. Social factors include substance and alcohol abuse, disorganized and abusive families, minority background, poverty and violent communities with lack of support, and poor educational achievements. Many famous serial killers had bad childhoods and showed signs of psychopathic behaviors. Also, the McDonald triad also explains that children who wet their beds, committed acts of arson, and animal abuse was psychopathic and they would be more likely to kill (Simon,2015).
He also admitted that he liked killing as it brought him more joy than hunting. There’s He was not like most serial killers, for he gave hints; not hints as to who he was, but as to why he murdered people. He began giving these hints in 1969. “The “Zodiac Killer” was no ordinary murderer.
Murder, it is an act that escapes rational human reasoning. It brings upon a social and moral unrest among all societies. It has been a topic of complex nature among sociologist to fathom the ideas and reasoning behind such atrocious acts especially those committed by serial killers. Serial killers symbolizes deviancy in the most brutal and violent manner, they deviate through the sheer act of killing for irrational reasons ranging from need to just sheer pleasure from committing the act itself. II.
Abstract This paper examines two of America's most notorious serial killers, Ted Bundy, and Gary Ridgway, to explore the criminal behavior, criminological theories, and environmental and behavioral factors that contributed to their criminality. The analysis of the criminal behavior of both offenders was approached through the classical and positivist schools of thought, as well as through critical and interactionist theories. The findings suggest that Bundy and Ridgway exhibited different criminal behaviors, which can be explained by different criminological theories, as well as unique environmental and behavioral factors that contributed to their criminality.
There is no tell-tale sign of who becomes a criminal and who doesn 't. Many things factor into the development of a criminal. The debate between nature vs. nurture in this aspect cannot be blamed on a single element, instead both environment and genetics play a role in criminality of an idividual. The population of American jails has a high rate of individuals with mental disorders. Although, not everyone who has a mental disorder ends up in jail the vast majority of Americans who are incarcerated are likely to have inherited a mental disorder at some point in their life. At some point in American history, genes were said to be the sole reason a person became criminal however, this is not the case today.
Adrian Raine, criminologist and author of "The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime," has said before, is a very important factor in criminal behaviour that affects about 75% of a person’s criminal activity. In his book, Raine explores the many evidences that lead up to biological and genetic influences on crime
This suggests that sexually violent offenders who procreate may pass genes to their child which will determine whether that child imitates similar behaviors. The work of Cesare Lombroso correlates biological determinism in connection to violent crimes. One key aspect of biological determinism is the idea of genetic predisposition. Genetic predisposition refers to the idea that certain genes may make individuals more likely to engage in criminal behavior, including sexual violence. Another important concept in biological determinism is the role of hormones.
This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of
The events in his life, made it highly likely that would commit a crime or crimes as an adolescent or adult. Schizophrenia was the roots cause of his compulsions and delusions. Schizophrenic individuals often exhibit illogical and incoherent thought processes, and they often lack insight into their behavior and do not understand reality. A person with paranoid schizophrenia also experiences complex behavior delusions that involve wrongdoing or persecution. He was not delinquent as a child, it wasn’t until late adulthood did he began to show signs of deviant behavior.
Serial killers that have experienced death at an early age in childhood can suffer from fractured identity syndrome. A serial killer who has had trauma in adolescent years can cause a much more visible fracture in their personality. Following incidents after the trauma can cause the person to explode with their emotion or possibly irrational and harmful things to themselves or others. Given the effect of childhood and the abuse as well as everything that has happened it is implied that something within the person will affect their mental state.
Today, there are proven facts that people who have parents that are criminals have a high chance of becoming criminals themselves. Not only can people become criminals because of their family but they can also become criminals because of the environment that they surround themselves in. This is where nature versus nurture comes into play. A person’s nature is their genetic makeup, basically meaning that a person’s nature is the genes they get from their parents. Also, a person’s genotype, one’s genetic makeup based on the sequencing of the nucleotides we term, provides them with physical traits that set the stage for certain behaviors (56).
Some serial killers have reported being diagnosed with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) which stems from early on in their childhood (Figure 2). Instead of having to face reality, their brain creates different personalities or “persons” in which the person switches back and forth as needed to as to not have claim for certain actions or to just escape the reality that one “persona” is having to face. A popular example of this is infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy. Following his capture and sentencing in 1980, Psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Lewis witnessed a phenomenon after Bundy's confession. She was one of the only psychiatrists Bundy felt comfortable with and just like his plead in court, Bundy came into her office and told her “The person sitting before you never killed anyone”, and continued to refer to the serial killer as an entity.
Serial killers exist in our midst. When a serial killer commits an act, the media disseminates information, and one of the critical inquiries is the motive behind the serial killer committing the act. As a result of numerous socioeconomic causes, crime has only gone up, presumably due to the recent Covid-19 Pandemic. Crime has received much attention in the media. Over the years, humanity is becoming more interested in the factors that motivate these serial killers, even though society is developing these serial killers.