Serial Killers: Born or Bred to Kill?
Criminals like Charles Manson can attribute their sadistic nature from a childhood of neglect and abuse, whereas serial killers like David Berkowitz – who grew up in a healthy, supportive family – have no justifiable reason for their actions, other than their own desire to kill. Unfortunately, both types of men infamously manifested their destinies into become the human incarnation of the Grim Reaper himself. There have been numerous studies conducted in efforts to determine the correlation between mental deficiencies and its effects on the probability of a person become a serial killer. Although there have been many cases where the correlation between the two is significantly evident, there still lies …show more content…
Many aspects of a person’s behavior can be related to that of a serial killer, like antisocial values and beliefs or attitudes, negative childhood experiences and poor education. Charles Manson, the founder of the infamous cult the Family, “spent his youth at the homes of various relatives and often at special reform schools and boys homes” (Rosenberg 2016). He began stealing by the age of nine and even burglarizing stolen cars before he reached nineteen. Manson was exposed to neglect as a child as he jumped from different schools and homes and inevitably, that took a toll on his behavior in a negative manner. Manson had no real mental illness, aside from his unnerving ability to take another person’s life. Growing up, he experienced severe isolation and rejection. Due to this, he developed a negative attitude towards those who did not accept him, and learned to manipulate people into following him. In fact, when he established his cult the Family, he persuaded his followers to go to the home of the music producer who turned him away and ordered them to kill whoever was inside. Ironically, the producer who he was targeting had moved out long before then, and his followers ended up murdering Sharon Tate, her unborn baby, and her four visitors. (Rosenberg 2016). Manson ordered his followers to kill a …show more content…
In an article titled Serial Killers, Philip Simpson effortlessly glides through the characteristics of a serial killer, the probably causes of one, and what differentiates them between one another and other killers. According to Simpson, serial killers are most likely to be “[male] of average or above-average intelligence [and his] childhood may have been marked by incidents of sexual or physical abuse,” (St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture 2016). Like convicted serial killer Edmund Kemper, whose IQ was merely four points below the genius mark of 140, they often hold a superiority complex over other people. (Biography 2016). This mindset allows them ability to manipulate others and blatantly lie without being caught, hence their willingness to be interrogated and their confidence to be able to get away with it. Although serial killers are said to either be mentally ill or traumatized from painful childhoods, Kemper was extremely intelligent and his childhood was as normal as any other’s. His parents argued as much as any other married couple should but they also nurtured him with extreme amounts of love and compassion. Like David Berkowitz, his childhood was healthy and he was loved, and he was very smart as well, with no signs of mental illness. (Salvatore 2015). He became a serial killer
Criminals like Charles Manson can attribute their sadistic nature from a childhood of neglect and abuse, whereas serial killers like David Berkowitz – who grew up in a healthy, supportive family – have no justifiable reason for their actions, other than their own desire to kill. Unfortunately, both types of men infamously manifested their destinies into become the human incarnation of the Grim Reaper himself. There have been numerous studies conducted in efforts to determine the correlation between mental deficiencies and its effects on the probability of a person become a serial killer. Although there have been many cases where the correlation between the two is significantly evident, there still lies …show more content…
Many aspects of a person’s behavior can be related to that of a serial killer, like antisocial values and beliefs or attitudes, negative childhood experiences and poor education. Charles Manson, the founder of the infamous cult the Family, “spent his youth at the homes of various relatives and often at special reform schools and boys homes” (Rosenberg 2016). He began stealing by the age of nine and even burglarizing stolen cars before he reached nineteen. Manson was exposed to neglect as a child as he jumped from different schools and homes and inevitably, that took a toll on his behavior in a negative manner. Manson had no real mental illness, aside from his unnerving ability to take another person’s life. Growing up, he experienced severe isolation and rejection. Due to this, he developed a negative attitude towards those who did not accept him, and learned to manipulate people into following him. In fact, when he established his cult the Family, he persuaded his followers to go to the home of the music producer who turned him away and ordered them to kill whoever was inside. Ironically, the producer who he was targeting had moved out long before then, and his followers ended up murdering Sharon Tate, her unborn baby, and her four visitors. (Rosenberg 2016). Manson ordered his followers to kill a …show more content…
In an article titled Serial Killers, Philip Simpson effortlessly glides through the characteristics of a serial killer, the probably causes of one, and what differentiates them between one another and other killers. According to Simpson, serial killers are most likely to be “[male] of average or above-average intelligence [and his] childhood may have been marked by incidents of sexual or physical abuse,” (St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture 2016). Like convicted serial killer Edmund Kemper, whose IQ was merely four points below the genius mark of 140, they often hold a superiority complex over other people. (Biography 2016). This mindset allows them ability to manipulate others and blatantly lie without being caught, hence their willingness to be interrogated and their confidence to be able to get away with it. Although serial killers are said to either be mentally ill or traumatized from painful childhoods, Kemper was extremely intelligent and his childhood was as normal as any other’s. His parents argued as much as any other married couple should but they also nurtured him with extreme amounts of love and compassion. Like David Berkowitz, his childhood was healthy and he was loved, and he was very smart as well, with no signs of mental illness. (Salvatore 2015). He became a serial killer