Born or Made?
“Man’s nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature” (Mahatma Gandhi). In society people often wonder if serial killers are born or are they made? Similarly, in the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, this question is raised when two outsiders come to the small town of Holcomb and brutally murder an endearing Kansas family. People like the character Perry from the novel In Cold Blood, are not born criminals, they are made into criminals because their physical, safety, and social needs were not met so they can never reach self-actualization and never become civilized humans.
According to Michael Jones, author of “Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs
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In the article “Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs Can Lower Recidivism”, Jones states that, “Safety needs are freedom from being killed or harmed in any way… one person may avoid another person who poses an emotional threat weather it be through intimidation or manipulation” (Jones). Synthesizing this back to society, if someone feels in danger or has been harmed in some way, they will most likely be traumatized by this experience and may take it out on others because they have not met their safety needs. This is seen in the novel, In Cold Blood in Perry’s life when he is in a children’s shelter run by nuns and one nun would, “ ...fill a tub with ice cold water, put me in it, and hold me under till I was blue… I was in the hospital for two months” (Capote 132). In the shelter Perry was not meeting his safety needs because one nun physically abused him which traumatized him and could explain his aggressive tendencies. Once people like Perry don’t meet their safety needs they could act out because of the disturbing events that happen to them and no longer are focused on meeting other