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Autumn Bostrom

Professor Morgan

English 202

March 1st 2023

Nature vs Nurture: What Factors Cause Serial Killers to Kill?

Jefferey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy. These are all famous names that you

may recognize due to their murderous acts. These people have murdered multiple people over a

span of time, making them classified as serial killers. These people also have very similar

phycological traits and troubled childhoods. Although not all serial killers experienced a bad

childhood or traumatic event that would have played a role in their reasoning behind their

behavior. This makes us have the need to dig deeper, being that the reasoning behind these

behaviors become more complicated. With this, a question is presented that criminologists and

many other people have been asking for hundreds of years; are serial killers a product of genetics

or environmental factors? This is commonly known as “Nature vs Nurture.”

The idea of Nature vs Nurture is debatable by some. As research goes on about nature vs

nurture, new discoveries are made. It was once believed that it was impossible for serial killers to

be born aggressive without outside influence impacting their outcome. in fact, nature versus

nurture was highly debated for a long time and some people still believe that people can't be born

“evil”, they are only raised as such. Researchers understand more about how the brain works in

psychology, it becomes clearer that in most cases serial killers have a little bit of both nature and

nurture. With that being said, there are plenty of stories of children being brought up in a

negative environment, yet they don't become murderers or are as aggressive as other people can
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be in these conditions. They still strongly believe that behavior is completely caused by

premature influences. Although, there is compelling evidence that in some cases if a child grows

up in a loving home and environment, they can still become violent and make aggressive

decisions that seem to come from pure nature. Evidence shows that behavior genetics can make

somebody naturally violent, supporting the nature theory. One of the most compelling pieces of

evidence is low levels of the MAOA gene, or MAO-A L (especially those who are male). “Until

recently, no genes were found to contribute to severe or recidivistic violent behaviors such as

homicide. However, according to a recent meta-analysis on data from 24 genetically informative

studies, up to 50% of the total variance in aggressive behavior can be explained by genetic

influences.” A blog post from the University of Colombo explains.

One of the most well-known serial killers known as Ted Bundy is one of these examples

of nurture. In a research journal titled, “Nature (MAOA) and Nurture in a criminal” by UC

Merced who investigated this correlation stated, “Ted Bundy is one of America’s most notorious

criminals, who is best known as a killer and rapist. Bundy had several psychological and

biological dispositions, and the MAOA gene can be concluded as one of them.” Ted bundy

seemed to have an average up bringing, with a loving family and a very healthy childhood. He

went through what most average middle-class citizens went through, sometimes being teased in

school but he never abused. The most prominent events that took place before his serial killing

spree was the fact that his mother, who he had thought was his sister his whole life, admitted her

tragic lie. Naturally, as anyone would, Bundy went down a depression spiral. With this, his

beloved girlfriend broke up with him due to his depression. He partook in petty crimes in his

confusion about the situation, but soon got his life back together, taking back his position as the

handsome, charming, friendly lady's man. He even got together with his girlfriend but the
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relationship didn’t last. He then went down a dark path, knowing that what he was doing was

wrong, raping and killing over 30 women throughout his killing spree. University of Colombo’s

blog also touched on Ted Bundy’s relevance to the MAOA-L gene. “Ted Bundy is a fine

specimen for the activity of MAOA-L action. Having a loving family, it wasn’t the nurture that

turned him into a criminal, but it was the aggressive and compulsive actions resulting from the

neural activity in his brain.”

Enviromental factors, or “Nurture”, is one of the more commonly known reasonings for

violent behavior among people who had a troubled childhood. “The link between childhood

abuse and serial killing has been apparent in many studies over the decades. Beyond certain

common personality traits, serial killers are unique, shaped by their own extraordinary

experiences.” Psychiatry Advisor states. Children are the most susceptible of influence, and the

environment around them shapes who they become as an adult. Incontinently, not everyone has

the easiest upbringing. When Children are treated in negative ways or grow up in a negative

environment, these kids often become troubled adults and inflict that pain on others or even

themselves. When kids experience physical, sexual, or psychological abuse they may even inflict

their crimes on others the way that they were treated as children. According to a study, an

analysis of behavior sequence from childhood abuse to methods of murder was conducted. There

was a very strong correlation between early childhood abuse and the behaviors they inflicted on

others. John Wayne Gacy is a perfect example of this. “Pogo the Clown” is another name that

Wayne went by, since he was also a performer. He suffered abuse from his father at a very young

age, physically and mentally. There are also rumors that gacy was sexually abused as well, but in

interviews gacy did not want to cover the subject as it was probably a touchy subject for him

period. with this, he also sexually assaulted his victims and was very openly gay to people in
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which his father hated. he only targeted men, specifically young men and boys. this heavily

reflects the way that Gacy was treated as a child, and serves strong evidence that the way he

acted was a result of his traumatizing up bringing.

Overall, there are so many factors and reasonings behind what can cause a person to kill,

but we can categorize these factors into two main points. The environment that they were raised

in, the mental illnesses that they suffer, or sometimes both.

https://www.suecoletta.com/nature-vs-nurture-drives-people-kill/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/10/what-makes-a-serial-killer

https://escholarship.org/content/qt5w51b7bg/qt5w51b7bg.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5250535/#:~:text=Research%20has

%20suggested%20that%20a,for%20aggressive%20and%20antisocial%20behavior.

https://fos.cmb.ac.lk/blog/serial-killer-genes/

https://edubirdie.com/examples/to-what-extent-does-childhood-trauma-influence-

one-to-become-a-serial-killer/

https://www.oswego.edu/writing-across-the-curriculum/sites/

www.oswego.edu.writing-across-the-curriculum/files/pbj_rodriguez_3-22-16.pdf