Are killers born or made PDF

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"Are killers born or made"...

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March 25, 2019 Criminal Justice CRJ-101-005

Are Killers born or made?

Throughout history we have faced monsters in the form of humans that take innocent lives. The definition of what makes a killer has not changed in the years. What has changed is the opinion on how killers are created. Some believe that people are born with evil in their blood, mind and soul. No amount of help will stop them from killing. It’s in their nature. Others believe

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that monsters are created. A lack of a good home or positive human interaction can impact people in such a negative way that a killer or “monster” can be created. Let’s explore in depth both sides of the argument as well as understand what exactly is a killer before make a final verdict of ourselves.

Killers have existed throughout history with law enforcement being there to record and stop them. But what exactly is a killer and their traits? Killers typically come from broken homes with tragic childhoods. Many killers share a type of childhood triad traits. The three common traits typically shown are bed wetting, fire-setting and animal cruelty known as the MacDonald Triad also known as the Triad of Evil. According to Psychology Today it was created by a physiologist by the name of J.M MacDonald in 1963 through his violent patients. MacDonald compared his 48 psychotic patients to his 52 non-psychotic patients who all threatened to murder a person, none actually committed the murder. Over half were male and ranged from 11 to 83. (Crime Museum, “Early Signs”) More studies have been done over the years in a attempt to recreate the studies and one was even done to disprove them. In the end it was found that the three traits are common in serial killers however they are not conclusive. Let’s go further in depth on killers that have been confirmed and their traits. Crime Museum states that typical serial killer traits are antisocial disorder, pathological lying, aggression, wanting extreme dominance. A killer is someone who kills or takes the life of another. Killers do not have a certain gender, race or age restriction. Many people out there have the potential to murder another individual for whatever reason.

Serial killers are then divided into two categories psychopaths or sociopath. Many people

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in everyday language and in television, however many use it wrong. Britannica writes that common traits of both are serious violations of criminal laws, deceitfulness for personal benefit, impulsive, irritability/aggressive behavior, lack of guilt, reckless regard for the safety of others. A psychopath is born not made, they behave the way they do because of neurological abnormalities. Sociopaths are created typically through traumatic childhood events. They are typically easily agitated, volatile and prone to outbursts, more likely to be uneducated, live on the edge of society, struggle to hold down a job.Sociopaths are also are able to form bonds of attachment to certain individuals. When crimes are committed they are most likely spontaneous and have no true motive. Psychopaths are unable to feel any emotional attachment or real feelings, they are aggressive and predator in nature. They view people as objects and can be very charming. Manipulative by nature, they easily mimic emotions and blend into society. They also tend to be well educated.

Now that we have the basic understanding of what makes a killer let’s go over the argument that killers are born. James Fallon, a neuroscientist at the University of California, was prompted by his mother to do a study in his family tree. When he did so he found that there was seven alleged killers in his family tree. Fortunately for him he had already begun studying brains of normal to serial killers brains. When examining he noticed how a normal brain has activities in a area just behind the eyes that are red and yellow. This is the orbital cortex which is believed to be involved with ethical behavior, moral-decision making and impulse control. The orbital cortex impacts the amygdala which is involved with aggression and appetite. Having low activity in this region is common with free thinkers and serial killers. Having this can occur by birth or brain damage, without control the brain is left simply with rage, violence, eating, sex and

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drinking. Professor Fallon had previously taken scans of his family, ten in total, in order to test for Alzheimer’s .Shockley he discovered that while his family had proven normal , his own brain scan showed low activity in his orbital cortex. This made him wonder what other factors could prove a “serial killer gene”. Not only did he do tests on brain scans but he also decided to include DNA testing to search for aggressive genes in his family bloodline. He focused in on a gene called the MAO-A gene ( monoamine oxidase A), this gene is known as the “warrior gene” because it regulates serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a hormone that impacts your mood, with this “warrior gene” serotonins calming effects will not affect you. Meaning the individual will have difficulties calming down and controlling temper. Everyone in his family has a lowaggression variant of the MAO-A gene, except for him. “You see that? I’m 100 percent. I have the pattern,” he says then pauses. “In a sense, I’m a born killer.” (Fallon, Inside the Criminal Brain) Now don’t freak out yet. According to other scientists in this field, Brian patterns and genetic makeup are not enough to make anyone a psychopath. A trigger is needed typically abuse or violence in one’s childhood. Professor Fallon considers himself lucky that he had a amazing childhood with loving parents and siblings. If not he may have become another killer on his family tree.

Let’s view serial killers that unlike Professor Fallon had terrible childhoods that made them spiral off into a world of crime. CBS News focuses on a particular case in “Are Serial Killers born or made?” , this case is that of Todd Kohlhepp. Kohlhepp was troubled since the age of 15 months old. He would hit other children and destroy their projects. He once shot a dog with his BB gun and killed a goldfish with bleach. This was only the beginning, at the age of two his parents divorced and his mother remarried. Kohlhepp did not get along with his stepfather and

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would grow increasingly hostile and abusive. In an attempt to get him under control his mother sent him to live with his father. This would prove futile as he began torturing children in the neighborhood even locking a boy in a cage. At the age of 15 he escalated from a menacing delinquent to a violent criminal. At gunpoint he kidnapped a 14 year old female neighbor and eventually raped her. He let her go and soon was arrested. He was sentenced 15 years and charged as an adult. When he was released he got himself a realtor's license and built his own business. In 2017 his past behavior came back to haunt him, he had killed four people because they were treating him rudely at a motorcycle shop. Later he confessed to seven murders and kidnapping Kala Brown. Kala Brown had been held inside a storage container for two months with a chain around her neck and was raped. Todd Kohlhepp was a killer born from his childhood situation. Had Kohlhepp not be exposed to his parents divorce at an early age, he may have had better control over himself and not acted out violently.

In an article done by Nicola Davies (PhD) “From Abused Child to Serial Killer: Investigating Nature vs Nurture in Methods of Murder.” We will go over the possible triggers of serial killers in childhood and possible ways to avoid them. Before we begin and important factor to remember is, just because a child is abused it does not mean they will become a killer and not all serial killers are created from abuse. “According to criminologist Dr Adrian Raine: A child susceptible to genetically driven violent conduct does not necessarily become a criminal. However, genetics, in tandem with environmental factors such a violent childhood experiences, work together to shape a person.” (Davies, “From Abused child to serial Killer: Investigating Nature vs Nurture in Methods of Murder.” ) Specific traumas received in childhood can impact how future killers behave or pick their targets. Examples of this are serial killers Ottis Toole and

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Henry Lee Lucas. Both murdered hundreds of people together and both were forced to dress up as young girls and then beaten up. At a UK conference ,researcher Abbie Marono and ex-FBI profiler Joe Navarro presented how different types of child abuse can produce different killers.

Types of Abuse Psychological abuse

Sexual Abuse

Physical Abuse

rape/lust kills

Rape/lust and anger kills

Rape/lust

Financial gain

Overkill’s, postmortem sex

Carrying out the act quickly

Torture

Moving body location after the murder has taken place

Binding the body and leaving it at the crime scene

The abuse done helped FBI understand patterns and behaviors that some serial killers take. It also further solidified the impact child abuse has on the mental state of an individual. A study found by Heather Mitchell and Michael G. Aamodt of Radford University discovered that for serial killers 36% were physically abused, 26% sexually abused, and 50% psychologically abused out of 50. 32 % had no history of abuse. These studies found that serial killers who had been treated badly during their childhood would tend to sexually sultry their victims before murdering them. While killers that did not suffer abuse did not show such behavior.

Preventing serial killers from forming in the first place is something that may be a method to combat their creation. Any child that shows signs of the killer triad should be taken seriously. If needed guidance from a trained therapist is recommended to evaluate a child’s

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mental state. According to the guardian who has done a article on serial killers, the number of them has decline. A highly acclaimed database for serial killers developed by Michael G. Aamodt of Radford University had this to say,”There’s no question that there has been in a decline since the 80s in the number of identified serial killers. I’m careful to say there has been a decline in the number of serial killers we can identify- there could be thousands of serial killers that we don’t know about and for some reason we’re not identifying today as well as we did in the 70s,80s and 90s. All we know for sure is there has been a decline in the number identified.” (Guardian, “Are American Serial Killers a dying breed?) Serial killers have been fading from radar which can be a good sign, however killers could have also evolved to avoid detection. Now just because some killers hide their conditions doesn’t mean that they all do. In fact some of them reach out themselves to get the help that they desperately need. Psychology Today, Joni E. Johnston Psy. D, wrote an article about a troubled youth seeking help in order to prevent himself from becoming a potential serial killer. Patient X had all the typical beginnings to a serial killer. His father left at a young age, his step-father humiliated him while his mother remained silent. As a teenager he was involved in a car accident which resulted in head trauma, further increasing his mood swings and rage. No criminal record yet, but he has choked his dog and had violent fantasies about rape and murder. Despite all these red flags he scored low on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. He was sent to a psychiatric hospital for eight months, going through medication, psychotherapy, and milieu therapy. Patient X had improvement in mood and had begun to understand where his dark thoughts originated from. Thanks to Patient X’s willingness to seek out treatment he was saved from following a dark path. However many do not seek treatment or go unnoticed by others. It’s important to try and recognize the signs before they are allowed to enter a dangerous level where there is no return from.

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So knowing what we know now can we draw a verdict a if killers are born or made? Yes we can. Serial Killers are typically born with either brain damage to their orbital cortex or abuse in their childhood. Now you do not need both to become a killer, but typically most do. It comes down to a battle of nature vs nurture. In this battle I believe nurture can win in the end. Professor Fallon is an excellent example of this, since he has the brain of a serial killer and DNA of one. Yet because of his good childhood he turned out different from his previous family members and did not become a killer. If a child is simply raised in a safe and loving house hold their chances of becoming a killer will be greatly decreased. Now there is a small percentage of individuals who kill people with no abuse in their childhoods. However this small percentage should not deter those parents whose kids may show signs of the killer triad. Rather than distancing themselves or enforcing strict methods on their kids other alternatives are possible. Medicines or therapy can be the weapons against a potential serial killer and will benefit both parties. This is proven true in the case of Patient X and his treatment. Killers are something that can be prevented and should not be looked down upon. It is up to each of us as to how to deal with such people and their conditions.

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Data and Statistics on Serial Killers

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Bibliography

Are Killers Born or Made? Both. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/are-killers-born-or-made-both

Are serial killers born or made? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/todd-kohlhepp-case-are-serial-killers-born-or-made/

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Duignan, B. (n.d.). What's the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Sociopath? And How Do Both Differ from Narcissists? Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/story/whatsthe-difference-between-a-psychopath-and-a-sociopath-and-how-do-both-differ-from-narcissists

Ellison Cooper. (2018, July 06). Are Serial Killers Born Bad or Man-Made Monsters? Ellison Cooper on the History & Neurology of Psychopathic Killers. Retrieved from https://crimereads.com/are-serial-killers-born-bad-or-man-made-monsters/

Hagerty, B. B. (2010, June 29). A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976

Psychotherapy With a Budding Serial Killer. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-equation/201205/psychotherapy-buddingserial-killer

Taylor, D. (2018, September 15). Are American serial killers a dying breed? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/15/are-american-serial-killers-a-dyingbreed

Triad of Evil. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadowboxing/201203/triad-evil

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