What Creates A Serial Killer Essay

What creates a serial murderer?
A big question in the world of criminology and forensic profiling is this; are serial killers born or made? Since we have been trying to answer this question, people have considered demon possession, poor diet or even organic brain dysfunction as a reason for this terrible behavior. Child abuse is definitely a strong factor in the creation of monsters. However, not every child that is abused turns out to be a murderer, and not every murderer was abused as a child. It is undeniable that many serial killers have similar experiences: one being childhood abuse, and the second, which usually ties in with the first, is neglectful and damaged parental relationships. These factors have been investigated for a long time

If parents are abusive or do not use effective emotional communication, it can quickly lead to underdeveloped cognitive and emotional skills. The emotional response we receive from our parents illustrates how we, as people, behave. Having a healthy relationship with the people that are there to give care and safety is instrumental to forming positive relationships and thinking skills. A child who is torn away from their mother at a young age could develop abandonment issues or have trouble building relationships with women for the rest of their lives. This dynamic is partially responsible for the high number of women targeted by serial killers. Some killers seek sexual pleasure from killing women, while others simply hate

According to DR. Jasmine Shaikh, “The frontal lobe plays a role in regulating emotions in interpersonal relationships and social situations. These include positive (happiness, gratitude, satisfaction) as well as negative (anger, jealousy, pain, sadness) emotions.” If an injury to this specific part of the brain occurs in childhood horrible outcomes could occur. In the case of the grisly murderer Richard Ramirez, AKA the night stalker, he suffered a brain injury at age two, and again at age six. Not only was his brain severley injured at an influential age, he also witnessed his older cousin shoot his wife, and was forced to watch brutal rapes and beatings that his cousin filmed in Vitenam. This combination of multiple brain injuries, a negative home condition, and early exposure to things no one should ever see, formed Ramirez into one of the country's worst serial murderers. Another neurological study about low expression of the Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) gene is a common denominator to some killers. The responsibility of Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) is to break down neurotransmitters for serotonin and dopamine, which in turn keeps normal emotional function in the brain. In cases of certain killers, there is a low amount of this in their brains causing increased aggressive behavior and the inability to gain happiness easily. The decrease in this chemical could be due to