Serial Killers: Nature Vs. Nurture

What makes people do inexplicable, terrible, socially unacceptable acts of violence? This question brings to mind the age old psychological theory, Nature vs. Nurture. Are people born predisposed for violence? Is there something genetically different about serial killers and murderers? Can their behavior be explained by a difference in their very make-up? Or are they made violent by seeing violence, having un-supportive and demanding parents, being mentally, sexually, and physically abused? Nature vs. nurture is one of the most sought after answers in the field of psychology and may never be “answered” but can be “understood” I feel study in the minds of serial killers has helped to define exactly what nature vs. nurture really means. The
Tests have shown that the nervous systems of psychopaths encounter less fear and anxiety than normal people. Tests have proven that low arousal levels have caused these individuals to project impulsive thrill-seeking behavior. Proven by one experiment, a group of healthy individuals and a group of serial killers were given the task of finding which lever out of four turned on a green light. One of the levers gave the subject an electric shock. Though both groups made the same number of mistakes the sociopaths took much longer in learning to stay away from the lever with the electric shock. This higher need for stimulation leads these individuals to seek dangerous situations. In fact most serial killers have a desire to become cops, the intensity of the job makes it exciting and desirable to them. The famous serial killer John Wyane Gacy, responsible for the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men, told
These statistics illustrate the idea that nature rarely operates without nurture. Dr. J. Reid Meloy, author of The Psychopathic Mind: Origins, Dynamics, and Treatment, states “the psychopath is only capable of sadomasochistic relationships based on power, not attachment. Psychopaths identify with the aggressive role model, such as an abusive parent, and attack the weaker, more vulnerable self by projecting it onto others.” Dr. Meloy goes even further by saying that these environmental factors can hold sway over the predisposed, genetically different mind of the serial killer in infancy. An infant will start to look inward for after experiencing too many neglectful and painful experiences. In normal development a child bonds with the mother figure for nurturing and love, for a psychopath the mother is often seen as an “aggressive predator or a passive stranger.” This can be because she is overbearing and too protective, or because perhaps the father is abusive and she does nothing to intervene. Of course there are a plethora of reasons this could happen to the developing child, those are just a few examples. The father figure in a serial killers environment looms large too as