Why do serial killers kill? Are they born or made? The main argument against serial killers is whether they are born or created because they become what they are or they do so because of the experiences they have in their early years of life. There is no evidence that it is genetic if they were born as killers, but it can be said that they were created due to trauma in their life. Serial killers in the United States are very well known around the world and many debate what drives a serial killer to kill. Serial killers are very aware of what they do and choose to act in a certain way. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay A serial killer is a person who commits murders in succession from one another. Serial killers have existed for many years and many still wreak havoc across the world today. The FBI defines a serial killer as a person who commits three or more murders in a short period of time, within a few months. Serial killers usually display psychopathic traits, which can be indicative of brain abnormalities. In a Wisconsin study, it shows a direct correlation between people with criminal psychopathy and brain abnormalities. Knowing how criminals act is a good way to understand the makeup of these killers. Killers become who they are and what they do because of childhood trauma. Almost everyone had a bad childhood. Their bad childhood will include physical and sexual abuse or parental separation, etc. These famous serial killers are part of that trauma. Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ed Gein, Richard Ramirez and so on. There is a well-known serial killer named Ted Bundy of whom no evidence has been found about the trauma he suffered in his early life like the rest of the killers. What really drives a serial killer to kill? What goes through your mind? Are they psychopaths? We ask ourselves these questions and many more about why they do what they did or why they do it. We wonder what goes through them and in their minds when they kill people and whether they feel remorse or not. According to LaBrode, "These serial killers intrigue the average person because the average person cannot imagine committing such a heinous crime and never showing any remorse." These serial killers know what they are doing when they think of their next victim. They know who, when, where, what and why they are doing it. They know when they are hiding evidence because of what they have done. They leave the crime scene and definitely know how to hide their second personality. This is when we call them psychopaths. These killers know how to compartmentalize their lives. They do not feel guilty after committing their crimes and because they look and act normal in public. These serial killers are made and not born to kill. Have you ever heard of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer? He's a great example that I can talk about what he did and what made him a serial killer. During his childhood Dahmer loved collecting dead animals and decomposing them with corrosive chemicals. His father was a research chemist and they spent time together practicing this hobby. Then, later in his life, there were times when his father wasn't very present in his life. While this was happening, his mother was going through a period of depression and attempted suicide. While all this was going on, his parents ended up divorcing. Now, is this really a reason to become a serial killer? Obviously not. This may have influenced him even more to do what he did and wanted to do because it all started in his mind. At a young age he already had the urge to kill someone. When he was 13 he planned to kill a jogger but didn'tnever succeeded. When he turned 18 he started drinking due to his parents' problems. He had anger built into him, without love or attention. Because the lack of these emotions, during a murder according to Jentzen, 'At the basis of hostility-aggression can be found feelings of dependence, passivity, impotence, need to be loved frustrated in childhood, or desire to control or dominate a reaction formation against dependence and passivity.' Dahmer killed his first victim at the age of 18. He ended up killing 17 men between 1978 and 1991 (Jeffrey Dahmar Victims). He knew what he was doing. He knew how to hide his evidence. He knew the feeling he felt when he started killing and he discovered it when he killed his first victim. He created it in his mind and wanted to do it at the age of 13. Another famous serial killer I will mention is Ted Bundy. He confessed to killing around 36 women. Ted Bundy was a handsome man and was very manipulative when it came to kidnapping women. Bundy was a very intelligent man and used his charm to get girls to help him because of the cast he had on him. Therefore the girls who would fall for his charm would end up being kidnapped and killed by Bundy. During his childhood he grew up thinking that his mother was his sister. “Bundy may have suffered physical or psychological abuse from his grandfather, despite his later insistence that the two had a good relationship.” There is evidence that he did not have a bad trauma in his childhood life. When people found out that Ted Bundy was a serial killer, they were shocked to know that someone as kind and friendly as Ted was a serial killer. Thus, according to Michaud and Aynesworth, 'He shattered comfortable preconceptions about the kind of person capable of such monstrosities, presenting to the world a figure gross to behold and wholesome to behold; a cute, lovable, murderous mutant. While there is debate as to when Bundy began killing, most sources say he began his killing spree around 1974. Around this time, many women in the Seattle area and neighboring Oregon disappeared. Stories circulated about some of the victims last seen in the company of a young, dark-haired man known as "Ted." He often lured his victims into his car by pretending to be injured and asking for their help. Their kindness turned out to be a fatal mistake. (Ted Bundy's Victims) When Ted dumped the bodies of his victims wherever he was away from where he kidnapped them, he often revisited the body dumping locations in case he left nothing behind, but he was always paranoid. After killing the girls, Ted often wants to describe what he did to them just to have the feeling of reliving the moment he killed them. In this case, Ted knew what he was doing. He would go back and double check that he hadn't left any evidence. Is he a born or created serial killer? This is in fact a serial killer being created. Some people will argue and say that serial killers are born. How can a serial killer who wants to kill be born in their genes? "They have been described as the product of 'bad genes' and a 'bad environment.' I say serial killers are made and it all starts in their mind. They create this person in their minds and they all suffer from some kind of mental problem. It all started with bad childhood experiences. The experiences they went through are what drove them to do what they did in the beginning. They express their mental problems and emotions by killing without feeling guilty. Serial killers have urges and can also be sexual urges that they cannot control themselves from sexually abusing the victims after killing them . "Sexually psychopaths maintain their attitude.