Running Head: SERIAL KILLERS 1

Serial Killers: Are they born or made?

Michelle L. Taylor

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 2

Abstract

I decided to complete my semester long research paper on serial killers and whether they are

born or made. While it seems by the question asked that it must only be one or the other I believe

that a serial killer is both born and made. After completing my research I have further faith that a

serial killer is born a psychopath and an even in their early life caused them to become a serial

killer. During my paper I focus on the ways to test children to determine if they are a serial

killer in hopes of pointing out the facts so that parents will know what to look for in their

children. No parent wants their child to be a serial killer but, lets face it, someone is the parent of

the serial killers out there today. I think it would be best to know how to handle it and deal with it

upfront before the serial killing actually begins.

Keywords: serial killer, psychopath, bobo doll study

Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 3

Recent research shows that there are anywhere from twenty-five and fifty serial killers

operating throughout the U.S. at any given time. While there are this many serial killers currently

operating how many are idle and on a break from killing? Should this number be doubled, or

even tripled, to obtain an accurate number of actual serial killers lurking in the streets? All serial

killers are either psychopaths or sociopaths but a psychopath can be more than a serial killer. A

psychopath can be someone that you work for, work beside, are friends with, or even married to

and you wouldnt even have a clue. A psychopath is capable of portraying empathy to fit in with

the crowd. The majority of Serial Killers, with wives and families, have portrayed their role as

husband and/or father so well that the family has no clue what type of individual they really are

beneath their facade. The biggest question, and the most debated question, in regards to serial

killers is this: Are they born, made or both? Can something trigger a psychopath to become a

serial killer, instantly, or are they molded into a serial killer throughout their lives? Since this is

such a debated topic, the evidence is insurmountable and points in all different directions; which

do you believe is the correct direction? I issued a survey asking these questions and the census

was that most people believe that a serial killer is, simply put, born. Is there only one direction

for all serial killers or are the circumstances different for each one? I believe that a serial killer is

both born and made and I believe that a serial killer isnt always a psychopath but that other

things can contribute to the desire to kill, or the inability to control the killing. I have no personal

reason for choosing this topic other than Im interested in the minds of psychopaths and serial

killers and I believe it is important for parents to know the signs and symptoms of a psychopath

so that they can address the issue before a young child turns into a serial killer.
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 4

I issued an on-line survey to fifty of my friends, associates and co-workers and asked

three questions that pertain to serial killers. In your opinion, are serial killers born or made? Out

of the fifty responses, twenty four people said that a serial killer was made, nine said that a serial

killer is born, and seventeen said that a serial killer is both born and made. There have been a

number of studies done on these types of cases and its still a much debated topic today. In the

murder of James Bulger, a toddler that was taken from the Strand, in Bootle, England, while his

mother shopped, by two- ten year old boys, is a prime example. The ten year old boys ended up

torturing the two year old so severely that he had forty-two injuries and the medical examiner

could not determine the actual cause of death. The ten year old boys grew up in split-families,

shooting the heads off of doves with bb guns, stealing, and being, generally, violent. The last

movie that one of the boys watched before murdering the toddler was a Chucky movie and the

boys brought the tortures played out in the Chucky movie to the life of the toddler. They even

splashed blue paint in the face and eyes of the toddler, as done on the movie that was last

watched. There was a large scale study, called the Bobo Doll Study, in which younger children

placed in a room with a Bobo Doll (the type of toy that has a weighted bottom and you can

punch it and it goes down and then pops right back up), and their interaction with the doll was

recorded. During their initial session with the Bobo Dolls the children just played with the doll

showing no aggression and no violence towards the doll. Once the initial session was over they

were required to watch an adult, basically, beat the doll by kicking and punching it. After this,

the children were again left in the room with the Bobo doll, alone, while their interaction with

the Bobo Doll was, again, recorded.. The second time around, the children were more apt to beat

up the doll, as theyd seen the adult do, during the last session, proving that violence is learned

and not a natural instinct for most children. My second question in my on-line survey, to fifty
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 5

people, was, in your opinion, do serial killers have the ability to display empathy? Out of the

fifty responses, twenty six people said yes, sixteen people said no, and eight people believe they

have the ability to display empathy but not truly feel empathy. A psychopath is someone that can

blend in, is very charming and a good talker, and can portray themselves as to what they believe

the people around them want to see. Everyone that is a psychopath is not in prison and all

psychopaths do not commit a crime. There are some psychopaths who have the ability to

suppress their urges, or dont even have the urges, because even though they are chemically

made as a psychopath, they didnt have any triggers pulled during their early developmental

years. It has been said, though Im unsure where I read it, that most CEOs display the same

mentality as a Psychopath. A psychopath is someone that is suffering from chronic mental

disorder with abnormal or violent behavior. As many as five percent of people possessing a

psychopathic tendency are everywhere. That means, if youre in a room of fifty people, it is

likely that around two are psychopathic and you would never know it. Thats why when

interviews are done with a neighbor of someone just arrested for being a serial killer, like Radar,

they cant even believe that they would do something like that. Its because psychopathic killers

have the ability to show empathy, they have the ability to fit in with those around them. My final

question on my on-line survey was this: Are all serial killers psychopaths? Out of the fifty people

surveyed, thirty six people said yes and fourteen people said no. Schizophrenic murderers seem

to combine the lack of empathy of the psychopathic killer with the lack of impulse control. A

psychopathic killer has the ability to control their urges but the lack of the want to control them,

while a schizophrenic murderer does not have the ability to physically control their urges. Aside

from a mental disorder there are also hormonal imbalances that can cause people to commit

murders. A great example of that is Michael Ross, a man who raped and murdered eight women,
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 6

who said You cannot imagine what it is like to be excited and to be stimulated by thoughts of

killing somebody. By raping and killing and degrading. They are extremely stimulating and

satisfying in the short term but theyre disgusting as hell and I wish to God I didnt have them.

After testing was done on Michael it has been determined that he has an extremely abnormally

high level of testosterone in his body and these hormones could be linked to these violent crimes.

Professor James Dams has evidence that proved that the higher the testosterone in the inmates,

the more frequently they committed violent crimes. Without the proper functioning of the

serotonin in the body, the bodys relaxant, the emotional impulses cant be controlled, hence the

killing that Michael Ross couldnt control. Michael has stated that the urges would take him over

at any time, any place, and it wasnt something he could control even though he was disgusted by

them. In prison, Michael was given Depo-Provera, also known as a type of Birth Control, to

reduce the testosterone levels, a form of chemical castration, and with this decrease in

testosterone you have a decrease in obsessive thoughts, urges and fantasies. The only problem

with this theory, though, is that you cant treat someone for something they havent been

diagnosed with. Like treating any other illness, you have to have been diagnosed to receive

treatment, and to be diagnosed, one would have to see a doctor. Michael strongly believes that

had he begun receiving those 1 cc injections monthly, fifteen years ago, the eight women would

still be alive today. How striking is this quote? Its almost sickening that we know it only takes

one injection, monthly, to prevent murders and would have saved, at-least, those eight lives, yet,

hormone levels arent checked at yearly doctor appointments, without request. Why not? If we

know this is a huge possibility of murder, why arent hormone levels checked, yearly, at

physicals? Would it not be much easier, emotionally, financially, and physically, to check these
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 7

levels yearly and prevent murders than have to locate, find, and charge a murderer after the

heinous crime has been committed?

It is my opinion, after looking over all the research and combining it with all the other

studies Ive read in the past that a serial killer is both born and made. I believe this

wholeheartedly. While Ive said before that I have no personal interest in determining whether a

serial killer is born or made, I believe this information is a great tool in raising children,

especially little boys. I believe it is important to know the signs of a psychopath so that you can

seek help for the children as young as possible and help to form them into a functioning

psychopath instead of a serial killer. While our environment can be a huge trigger for our actions

that does not mean it is where our actions were founded. The most accurate explanation I have

heard was in an e-video on the UNCC Library Database, called Aggression: Is Violence

Learned? and it was this ...These salty peanuts arent great for us but they probably dont

really do us much harm either. But if youve got a peanut allergy, the result could be lethal.

This, I believe, is one hundred percent accurate. If you are susceptible to aggression, violence, or

anger, and you witness an act of violence, or a very traumatizing event, youre more likely to

become violent. However, if you are not susceptible to violence, anger, or aggression, you are

more likely to simply develop a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than become a

serial killer. To assume that everyone subjected to this type of behavior is a serial killer would be

ridiculous. I do not believe, at all, that all serial killers are psychopaths. I believe that there are a

number of things that can cause someone to become a murderer and cause them to continue to

have the urge/desire to commit those murders.

I believe, due to the mounting evidence, that a Serial Killer is both born and made. DNA,

hormones and chemical imbalances are all factors to be considered when determining if
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 8

someone's brain is that of a psychopath. However, not just those things are the criteria to

determine if someone is a serial killer. A serial killer is definitely a psychopath, or sociopath, and

shows those tendencies, however, they have to have had something to trigger those tendencies

into action. That is proof enough, to me, that serial killers are born and made.
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 9

Bibliography

Criminal_Behaviour_-_Free_Will_v._Determinism.pdf

N.d.

http://myphumanities.zischina.com/files/2013/09/Criminal_Behaviour_-

_Free_Will_v._Determinism.pdf, accessed February 12, 2017.

Fallon, Jim, dir.

N.d.

Exploring the Mind of a Killer.

https://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer, accessed

February 12, 2017.

Films On Demand - Aggression: Is Violence Learned?

2017

College Library. Library.uncc.edu.

http://fod.infobase.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=53755&tScript=0,

accessed February 12, 2017.

Films On Demand - Are You Good or Evil?

N.d.

https://fod-infobase-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?

xtid=47831&tScript=0, accessed February 12, 2017.

Films On Demand - Dennis Nilsens First Kill: Countdown to Murder

N.d.
Serial Killers- Are they Born or Made? 10

http://fod.infobase.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?

xtid=95069&loid=398044&tScript=0, accessed February 12, 2017.

Films On Demand - Dennis Rader: First Kill, Last Kill

N.d.

https://fod-infobase-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?

xtid=124896&tScript=0, accessed February 12, 2017.

Films On Demand - The Mystery of Murder: A Horizon Guide

N.d.

https://fod-infobase-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?

xtid=95144&tScript=0, accessed February 12, 2017.

INSIDE THE MIND OF THE MIND HUNTER: An Interview with Legendary FBI Agent John

Douglas

2007

Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association 10(1): 811.