Question: Are Serial Killers Born or Made?

(Social Psychology Perspective)

You may, or may not, have heard about Jeffrey Dahmer, one of the most infamous
names of a series in a streaming application called Netflix, or should I say that Jeffrey Dahmer
is a real-life man who grew up, and died, in the United States of America, who happens to be a
real-life serial killer. He is one of the many names that are very notable when we think of the
term “serial killer” – a person who murders at least three people, often seeking unusual
psychological gratification (Hagan, 2016). Quite scary to hear, right? His name is one of many to
discuss and study about their nature, but the real question is how they are made. Is their
environment the leading factor that makes them serial killers? Is their social life the reason why
they act that way? Or what is the real reason why they kill other people?

I conducted an online survey through means of Google Forms and after twenty-four
hours of running the online form, the results were gathered, and unsurprisingly about 94.6% or
35 out of 37 responses answered that serial killers are made. Many would argue that serial
killers are made and believe that they happen to be that person as their environment affected
them to be that way. According to Raine (2008), childhood abuse, traumatic experiences, and
parental brutality can significantly mold one’s personality during childhood which through his
lifetime, the emotions experienced during the discourse of trauma, can often lead grow and
plant in their present behaviors and personality. Whatever the person experiences in their
younger years, can often last until their adulthood which shapes their decision and actions.
Many people believe that being a serial killer results from unlucky incidents that may transform
anyone into a murderer in the same situation. Similarly, Haggerty and Ellerbrok (2011) pointed
out the critical and underlining connection between childhood abuse and criminal conduct.
In our social life, we would never get rid of communication and forming relationships with
other people – it is vital for our everyday life, however for serial killers, it is the other way around
– serial killers are frequently loners who fear all forms of intimacy and who manipulate and kill
others to avoid experiencing another painful rejection. These serial killers are indeed deviant to
whatever norms society has. They deviate from what people are supposed to normally do, and
they intend to express domination over other things and control so many in their lives, leading to
killing others just to show their domination and control.

Many professionals in the concerned fields like criminologists, sociologists, and

behavioral psychologists have met in their common argument that childhood experiences and
repeated and repressed psychological trauma during the early years of one’s life and upon
growing up causes a person to relief in form of violence that even in early ages, a child can
manifest the unlikely behavior. However, even when in the face validity of one’s action, the
environment alone does not guarantee the main reason for a serial killer’s action. Just like in the
study of psychology, many lenses must be taken into consideration to fall to one’s conclusion.
These serial killers learned to suppress empathy or experienced harm to the parts of the brain
that regulate emotional responses as a result of that trauma or separation, according to
scientists. This shows us that serial killers happened to exist not just because of the
environment and trauma that happened in one’s life, but as well of the biological state of the
person. As the studies about serial killers’ reasons for existence are ongoing, it is safe to say
that both the biological and social perspective of a person affects one for being a serial killer.
References:

Are Serial Killers Born or Made? - IACS | Institute for Asian Crime and Security . (2021, June
11). IACS | Institute for Asian Crime and Security. https://theiacs.org/are-serial-killers-born-or-
made/

Haggerty, K., & Ellerbrok, A. (2011). The social study of serial killers. Criminal Justice
Matters, 86(1), 6–7. https://doi org.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/09627251.2011.646180

Raine, A. (2008). The biological crime: implications for society and the criminal justice
system. Revista de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul, 30(1), 5-8.

Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction. (2022). Cccneb.edu.

https://libguides.cccneb.edu/serialkillers#:~:text=Research%20shows%20that%20certain
%20genes,early%20separation%20from%20their%20mothers.

Survey for my position paper in Bio-Physiopsych and Social Psych. (2023). Google Docs.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xL0VTf6c6c5Cw0tna57KshDQNwcO28fN6MkwCprHlgs/
edit#responses

Uzun, K. (2019, December 18). Are Serial Killers Born or Made? ResearchGate; unknown.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348618028_Are_Serial_Killers_Born_or_Made
‌
‌