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Berit Brogaard The Making Of A Serial Killer Summary

525 Words3 Pages

“The Making of a Serial Killer” by Berit Brogaard addresses the topic of why and how psychopaths behave the way they do. Brogaard defines a psychopath as, “A callous, exploitive individual with blunted emotions, impulsive inclinations and an inability to feel guilt or remorse.” Genetics, unusual brain connections, and social environments are among a few factors that affect these tendencies in psychopaths. Brogaard explains throughout the article that within the psychopath's mind, they lack social traits and emotional connections that the average human has. Although there are many different probable reasons behind these mental issues, Brogaard claims the causes of psychopathy still remains a mystery. The first main aspect that the author approaches is brain connectivity and genetic. The author approaches this topic with strong research examples and facts which provide a verifying source for the content. Brogaard cites several different studies throughout the article such as a study at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. By using others research and data, this leads me to trust the information given. The main points are valid based on my previous knowledge of this topic and the facts that Brogaard offers. …show more content…

Brogaard includes many facts, the organization of the article is not as clear as it could be. Amongst the statistics and quotes, there are contradicting claims that confused me. At one point Brogaard states, “Social factors have some (even if only small) role to play in generating psychopathy. But after many years of investigating the minds of psychopaths, researchers have been unable to find any factors that could contribute to the development of psychopathic traits.” This claim confuses me in itself because if researchers haven't found any solid factors that contribute to these traits, then why were the social factors included in the first place along with examples of social factors

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