#Serial killer gene serial

#Serial killer gene serial

Trying to determine one causal factor in the development of a serial killer is impossible although many psychological theories indicate the nature of a serial killer is paramount in understanding the pathology.

“It is for this reason that there is a consensus that what makes a serial killer is a combination of many complex and interrelated neurological, social, physiological, environmental and psychological factors” (Knight, 2007, p. The argument to the nativist perspective, often from those who are more moderate, find that there are numerous influences involved when determining what constructs a serial killer. These environmental pathogens can include violence and dysfunction in the childhood home, all forms of abuse as well as the socio-economic factors of poverty and gang violence. As societal expectations remain the boundary to prevent the human population from acting out destructive aggression, those with the compulsion to kill-the innate and natural need to do so-face numerous and complex differences in their genetic make-up that disable them to have the necessary resilience to environmental pathogens (Wermter et al, 2010, p. Serial killers are made, but we all have an innate capacity for destructive aggression (Knight, 2007, p. There is a boundary that exists between fantasy and reality and serial killers have lost that. Knight (2007) states, “We are all capable of being aggressive, of containing unimaginable aggressive fantasies of torture, sadism and murder, but we are not all serial killers (p. While more moderate views now exist of the nativist and environmentalist positions, the nature of an individual cannot be ignored in the profile of the serial killer, like that of Jeffrey Dahmer. The widely understood definition of compulsion is an irresistible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against one's conscious wishes. As time has elapsed, more moderate points of view have emerged and the radical nativist and environmentalist perspectives have diminished.Īs Jeffrey Dahmer stated, he felt a natural compulsion to kill. They believed this strictly because early nativists had a eugenic standpoint and were considered to express sexist and racist views. While the nativists believed this time was considered an era of progression in the advancement of psychology, the environmentalists deemed it immoral due to the violation of persons’ rights. At the time, the nativist view recognized this early period as a time of progress, meaning how accurately psychologists were able to measure one’s intelligence (Winkler and Jolly, 2012, p. The nature versus nurture argument dates back to the early 20th century when the nature, or nativist, perspective became popular. The Democrats Have Winning Issues for the 2022 Midterms The Nativist vs Environmentalist Argument