Elyse Bangerter
Mrs. Duffy
Synthesis and analysis
Due April 12, 2011
Serial Killers, Born or Made?
In “Nature vs. Nurture: Are serial killers born or made?”published in an article from suite101.com.Where Kellie Wallace interviewed Ian Minis, NSW director of prison fellowship Australia, and Doris McIIwain, a psychology lecturer at Macquarie University, Wallace interviews them to find out their views on serial killers and if they are born or made. They both come from different venues and they both don’t have an exact answer to the question. It could have started with genetics and from childhood abuses. Wallace examines several ways that growing up and things in a person’s environment can make someone a serial killer and she examines a few ways why they might be made.
First, she argues that we all have human instinct, “humans still have a primal brain and we derive natural urges and instincts from it” (3). Therefore if a person grows up thinking that hitting is okay or torturing animals is okay then it gets implanted in their brains that doing those things is right. Second, she says that the environment can cause a lot of damage as well. Through pornography, video games, and movies, they see that by doing or watching those things they can become a different person and they see it as a way where they can be in control of something. Finally, Wallace examines the thought that although serial killers can be made that doesn’t mean that they aren’t born. If something happens to the prefrontal cortex or they suffer from antisocial behavior, their brain may be damaged and it could result in “psychopathic behavior and the inability to make morally and socially acceptable decisions” (1). Therefore, serial killers can be born with problems and then end up becoming a murderer. Wallace concludes no one really knows if they are born or made.
In “Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture How serial killers are born” published in associatedcontent.com. Mr. B use’s reference’s from many other press companies’s throughout the years.A doctor at the University of Wisconsin writes that through all the questions that have been asked there is no one way to answer if serial killers are born or made. He examines several ways they can be born or made.
First,Mr. B argues that serial killers are born by taking a report published by a doctor of science, by Dr. Richard Davidson. Davidson says “orbital frontal cortex and the anterior cingulated cortex, plays a large part in the control of negative and violent emotions” (2). When performing an autopsy he noticed that the orbital and interior cortex’s had diminished. Therefore, when it had gone away they couldn’t control the make up of their bodies and they had to have an outlet for violence. Second, he states that they know what they are doing when they kill someone. They know it wasn’t right but they still get pleasure from killings. Scientists think that by detecting these genetic defects when still in childhood they might stop murders. Finally, he says that it can also add up to “childhood experience, and repeated psychological trauma” (3). By killing animals, abuse, parents, video games, violent movies, all of these can add up to making a serial killer. Mr. B concludes in saying that in the end no matter what scientists, or criminologists think, the reason why people become serial killers is both nature and nurture. It can be in their genetics and they can be brought out by violence in their childhood. Mr. B says that they way to stop it is to look for signs of violence and address it before it triggers that person into murdering innocent people.
Although both authors, Wallace and Mr. B, identify from research that serial killers can be born or made, Wallace sees that in the end it’s your decision to determine if serial killers are born or made and Mr. B sees that it is a combination of being born and made. Both articles by Kellie Wallace and Mr.B made me question my original thought when thinking if serial killers were born or made.
When reading through both essays by Kellie Wallace and Mr. B from websites suite101.com and one can tell that they both did their research. The name Mr. B doesn’t sound that very credible, but once people read through their essays they can see that Wallace and Mr. B both did their research on the subject of serial killers and whether they are born or made.
Wallace and Mr. B both used two different types of views when writing. They investigate the side of serial killers being born and from the side that they are made. Both Wallace and Mr. B would say that in the conclusion of their research that serial killers are both born and made. “...nature does choose what traits we are born with but at the same time these traits cannot be exposed without a mechanism that triggers these individuals to commit these horrific crimes”(3). Through all the evidence that they collected they say that there can’t be only one way to become a serial killer.
Both Wallace and Mr. B use generally applied words so that their essays would reach a broader audience. They both wanted their essays to be read so that others would start to understand how a serial killer was born or made. They also used characters from movies in their essays, such as Freddy and Jason, Dr. Hannable in Silence of the Lambs and Norman Bates in Psycho. Wallace and Mr. B put characters from horror movies in the essays to connect with the people who watch those kinds of movies. They did it to show the readers that serial killers aren’t all necessarily like that. Serial killers look like average men in your life that you trust. Wallace and Mr. B used these characters from movies to give warning to the people who read their essays to show what the average serial killer really looks like.
Wallace and Mr. B both used an angle of vision to show a non opinionated view. They didn’t want the readers to examine their own opinion on the subject, they wanted the reader to know the facts. They both wanted others to see the creditability of their essays, because anyone can have an opinion, but to have evidence and research of a topic it makes the essay more reliable.
Both Wallace and Mr. B used ethos in their essays by interviewing scientists and psychologists and that gave them both more creditability. Wallace added more credibility by actually interviewing a man from a prison fellowship and a psychology lecturer at a University on their research about serial killers. Mr. B, on the other hand, didn’t interview actual people instead he put in quotes from news articles, from writers, and from a video of the last interview of a serial killer to show his use of ethos instead of interviewing actual people.
Lastly, Wallace and Mr. B used logos in both their essays. They gained information from scientists, psychologists and university lecturers that helped bring their research together to show if serial killers are born or made. They each make it very clear that from all of their research no one really knows if serial killers are born or made. Wallace and Mr. B say that it’s from childhood abuses, the environment, and because of their “…prefrontal cortex, which if damaged, can result in psychopathic behavior and the inability to make morally and socially acceptable decisions” (1) these are the reasons why serial killers are born and made.
Both Wallace and Mr. B. made me question whether serial killers are born or made. I originally thought serial killers were only made from the environment such as abuse, neglect, pornography, violent video games, and movies. But once I read through both authors articles, I discovered serial killers could be born as well.
In Mr. B and Wallace’s essays they found that studies have shown that when the orbital frontal cortex, which controls negative and violent emotionsis damaged, it can cause people to react violently and leads to murder, which means that they can be born. Even after reading through both articles and finding out that serial killers can be born, I still believe that they are made.
I believe that the environment, growing up with abuse, pornography, and neglect are what make a serial killer, more than damaging the frontal cortex. I think, like most criminologists, that “childhood experiences and repeated psychological trauma during early stages of growing up can cause a child to seek relief through activities of violence”(3). In both articles Mr. B and Wallace discuss that even if the frontal cortex is damaged, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it leads to murder, just violence.
Considering both views of the topic of serial killers being born or made, I still believe that through it all, serial killers are made by the environment, not born. Ted Bundy had pornography, animal abuse, and other problems growing up. Also, looking at the majority of other serial killer stories and last testaments, you will find that for some reason from the environment, it lead up to them to killing and needing to make another kill, like a drug addict needing another fix.
Works Cited
Nature vs. Nature: Are Serial Killers born or made? , by Kellie Wallace, from suite101.com
Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture How Serial Killers are Born, by Mr. B, from