Trigger warning : Potentially disturbing content.
One of the oldest debates in criminology – and, indeed, philosophy, law, and theology – is whether criminals are born or made. Is it nature (genetics) or nurture (environmental factors) that produces serial killers? Violent crime is a serious issue for our society as well as criminal justice practitioners and researchers.
Source:- https://online.maryville.edu/online-bachelors-degrees/criminal-justice/resources/what-is-criminology/
Childhood victimization has also become recognized as a major social problem in recent years. The notion that violence breeds violence is deeply embedded in the minds of both professionals and the general public. According to Garbarino and Gilliam (1980), the alleged link between childhood victimization and violent behavior has not "passed scientific muster." Indeed, both professionals and laypeople may have been too quick to accept the notion that. Violence breeds violence, and parents' abusive behavior patterns are directly transmitted to children, resulting in increased use of violence.
Links between abusive childhood and becoming a serial killer. A distinctive, recognizable pattern of activity is what is considered to be a serial murderer (Seltzer, 2013). For those of us who cannot even begin to understand why these people act the way they do, their acts are morbidly fascinating. Even the murderer is frequently unable to explain why he or she committed the crime, except than a fierce, overwhelming desire to torment, mutilate, damage, inflict pain, and/or murder. Almost all adults who go on to commit serial killings experienced trauma as children, whether it was psychological, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The one consistent theme in the biographies of most killers is trauma. This experience has caused them to repress their emotional reaction. Since they never acquire other emotions and never learn how to react appropriately to tragedy, they struggle to empathize with others.
A child's early experiences affect him or her for the rest of his or her life and have been found to have lasting impacts on the brain. These encounters don't always have to be abusive. For instance, research has revealed that those who were malnourished as children had lower IQs than those who were adequately fed (Jacobsen, 2002). Similar to this, those who were breastfed as kids had better mother-child bonds than those who drank normal milk. These instances demonstrate that early experiences have an impact on people for a lifetime. Almost every serial killer experienced a difficult childhood, even if not every child who experiences trauma as a child goes on to become a criminal.
According to a study published out of Harvard (Teicher, et al, 2012), being sexually or emotionally abused as a child can stunt the development of three key areas of the hippocampus that control memory and the regulation of emotion. The same study found that 68% of the serial killers studied were victims of some sort of childhood abuse or trauma. It classified serial killers in terms of their motivations behind their killings. They included the following categories: anger, financial gain, power/lust and rape. Furthermore, there were three categories of child abuse: physical, psychological and sexual. Serial killers who had experienced sexual abuse as children fantasized about committing rape, lust, and anger murders (Marono, 2020).
Additionally, it was connected to overkill (torture, inflicting unnecessary pain on the victim, etc.), necrophilia, and moving the corpse away from the crime scene. Killers who experienced psychological abuse as children were more likely to commit crimes motivated by rape, desire, or money gain. In most cases, these killings were also connected to a pattern of tormenting the victim (s). A research found that 26% of serial killers were sexually molested, compared to the societal average of 3% (Mitchell & Aamodt, 2005). However, psychological abuse was equal to 2% of the overall population as opposed to 50% of the study population when compared to sexual abuse.
Given that violent upbringings have been shown to affect subsequent delinquency, adult criminality, and violence, it is expected that childhood sexual abuse will result primarily in sexual typologies (Maxfield & Widom, 1996) In a study that looked at the relationships between four types of serial killers— lust/rape, anger, financial gain, and power—and three different kinds of childhood abuse—psychological, sexual, and physical—it was discovered that sexual abuse may be related to the lust/rape and anger typologies (Davies, 2018). The typologies of rape/lust and monetary gain were more frequently linked to psychological abuse. Torture was frequently used in crimes linked to psychological abuse of children (Davies, 2018).
Some researchers believe that certain individuals may be born with a predisposition to criminal behavior due to genetic factors or brain abnormalities. Others argue that environmental factors, such as poverty, abuse, and lack of opportunity, can increase the likelihood that someone will engage in criminal activity.
In reality, criminal behavior is likely the result of a complex interplay between genetic, environmental, and social factors. While some individuals may have a greater genetic predisposition towards criminal behavior, it is important to note that this alone is unlikely to determine whether someone will engage in criminal activity. Similarly, while environmental factors can increase the likelihood of criminal behavior, not everyone who experiences these factors will become a criminal. Ultimately, it is important to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior through effective social policies and interventions, rather than simply attributing it to one single factor.
In conclusion, childhood greatly affects how serial killers pick and murder their victims. The type of abuse the killer had as a child—whether it was sexual, psychological, emotional, or physical—is a significant determinant of the murders the killer committed.
Written by:- Simran Kapoor and Kashish
Edited by:- Aadya
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