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Serial Killers: Nature Vs. Nurture Theory

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As societal crime rate continues to escalate, the epidemic of homicides and mass murders remains a prevalent social problem. Thus, the emergence of serial killers has caused alarm among many criminologists and psychologists. Serial killers usually have an impulsive desire to kill for no particular reason, which makes it difficult for law enforcement and criminal professionals to understand their motives. Thus, the motives of serial killers have led to heated debates and challenged the nature vs. nurture theory. Many scientists believe that serial killers are genetically incline to commit murders, while criminologists associate violent crimes to childhood and surroundings. Essentially, exploring how and why serial killers commit crimes is an important area because it will help …show more content…

Many homicides are related to conflict or disputes between family members, friends and lovers. Thus, law enforcement officials are able to connect and link the victims to someone that they know. But in the case of serial killers, due to their aggressive and impulsive behavior, they usually do not have a set motive for their killings, so their victims can range from loved ones to complete strangers. Their constant drive for fulfillment and fantasy makes them even more susceptible to horrendous crimes against many different individuals. This makes it difficult for police to track serial killers and link them to the crimes. Thus, this often leads to higher crime rates among serial killers and places them in a different category.
Thus, the nature vs. nurture argument continues to remain prevalent in the discussion regarding serial killers. Some scientists contend that humans are naturally violent and aggressive. Thus, some humans are born with certain genetic traits that make them psychologically unstable and impulsive. Thus, they are born with homicidal behavior traits

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