The evolution of serial killers essay

For centuries Stories about Serial killers have graced the covers of newspapers and magazines. Famous stories like “ Jack The Ripper” and Edward “ Ed” Gein, which influenced many popular films such as Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. There are so many questions surrounding this topic one being: Nature versus Nurture? Is this need to kill a simply male completion in an effort to show status and be “ The Alpha Male”? If this is true then why are there Female serial killers? Or is this just natures survival of the “ fittest” like animals “ kill or be killed”? Ultimately can this be broken down to a scientific explanation? Darwin’s theory of evolution of certain genetic traits that have helped animals as well as humans adapt to their surrounding can be found through countless examples. Which brings me to the question is there a certain common trait found in these serial killers? And if so what is it? Outline: I. Serial killers behavior and traits A. Serial killers can be classified by their social and organizational skills. B.

They can be organized or disorganized, which varies by type of crime scene. They also can be nonsocial or asocial, meaning that they are excluded from society or they exclude themselves. 1. Majority of serial killers are organized and nonsocial. a. An example of organized and nonsocial is they have an IQ. of 105-120, married or dates, possibly college educated, leaves a controlled crime scene, kills in one place and disposes in another and has conversations with the victims. b.

An example of a disorganized and asocial is they have an IQ of 80-95, lives alone and does not date, possibly high school dropout, kills and leaves corpse at the scene and depersonalizes victims, thinks of them as “ it”. C. Serial killers have often shown three common behaviors in there childhood. 1.

These are known as the Macdonald triad they include; bed-wetting, firer setting, and animal cruelty. D. Many Serial killers have often suffered from a childhood trauma. 1. When children are neglected they don’t learn about love, trust, empathy, and how to interact with others. As a result they may not learn them later in life.

2. Serial killers may have been physically or sexually abused as a child or have witnessed abuse. Also the child has had an absent parent or parents.

3. The way the child was disciplined may have also had an effect on that child. a. For example, if the father is strict and the mother is sot, the child grows to hate authority and manipulate mother. II. Serial Killers Genetics and Metal illnesses A. Scientists have found specific locations in the brain that are used as humans moral compass.

B. By finding places in the brain where behavioral traits lie, we can begin to understand that there may be people who have neuropathological disorders. . Current research points out that serial killers show difficulty processing, understanding, and using emotion material.

a. The material tested used disturbing pictures and emotional words. b.

The right hemisphere of the brain that is used for processing the emotional importance of words, researchers speculate “ psychopaths, who are unempathic, callous, and emotional shallow, would rely less than non-psychopaths on right- hemisphere-based decoding strategies. ” 2. Neurological disorders are extremely common in criminals. .

In one study, 15 inmates were examined. In each inmate, the researchers found evidence of server head injury and neurological impairment. b. In many other case studies conducted, criminals have had a history of head trauma and abnormality on CT scans, EEG scans, and neuropsychological testing. c.

A report based on aggressive prisoners like serial killers, have a greater incidence of EEG abnormality about 57% than other prisoners who had committed a single crime about 12%. The EEG abnormality focuses on the temporal lobe, which is an area that is associated with personality, emotion and behavior. 3. Psychopaths show greater fear threshold, and do not respond to fear- inducing stimuli.

a. Psychopaths heart rate and skin temperatures are low, and there reactions are slower then the average person in certain situations. Which as a result would mean that in order to fell emotion or intense experiences they would need more stimulation then the normal person.