Throughout history numerous accounts of murder have been reported from the beginning of man kinds documented time on earth.  The strong hatred of one man/woman building up so much that they take the life of another. But what about a serial killer? With the victims of a serial killer unknown to the killer what drives them to kill other human beings, especially in the gruesome and disgusting ways that some of them do. This paper has been assembled to discus and explain how much the past of a serial killer effects them and what the signs of an upcoming serial killer could be. There shall be a look into the long time study of the nature vs nurture aspects, similarities many past serial killers have had within their childhoods and signs children could show today that may hint at bad times to come.

the definition of a serial killer by the A—Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers is “a serial killer murders at least three victims over an extended period of time but with cooling-off periods in between homicides.” The victims do not usually know the killer, though there’s a chance the killer may have stalked the victim for a reasonable amount of time or sometimes even have profiled the victim resulting in the killer having a, imaginary ‘relationship’ with said victim, or the killing could just be random or chanced opportunities in which the victim has unwarily put themselves in the position that makes them an easy target for the serial killer to prey on. Other things such as people resembling associates of the serial killer, having different political or religious views as said killer or even insulting the killer either by accident or with intent to upset the killer, though being unaware that the person was in fact a serial killer.
Serial killers can be and usually are mistaken for a mass murderer, though they are not the same. A mass murderer will kill over four people in a short period of time, but with usually a similar MO (Modus operandi, usually meaning the pattern or method of operation used by a single criminal in more than one crime) as a serial killer, but can vary in motives from both personal and impersonal.

When describing serial killers, each individual case is unique (this is true in all cases except copycat killers) though each of the serial killers shall have a similar personality. According to A Psychological Profile of a Serial Killer: A Case Report there are five classic types of serial killers “1. The visionary type responding to delusional voices to kill certain types of people/ 2. Mission-oriented type in which the murderer targets certain groups of “evil” individuals, such as prostitutes or a particular ethnic group/ 3. Hedonistic type in which the murderer seeks pleasure or thrills in the killing/4. The control type who wants to have power over the victims; and/ 5. The predator type who resembles the hunter of animals and engages in killing as a recreational activity.”  To add more detail the first, is a mentality problem, usually associated with the mental disorder titled schizophrenia.  The killer will act on voices they hear and usually come across as if they have been forced into what they are doing, usually feeling the guilt and apologizing to their victim. The second is more defined to ‘hate crimes’ and the ‘hero’ persona of creating a world they see best, by removing a ‘problematic’ group of people to the best of their ability. The third, usually also r*pe their victims and have a high rating of genital mutilation before and/or after the murder but also gather pleasure from drawing out the process and are well known for enjoying the sounds of other people in pain. The fourth are more likely to have a longer captive period, holding each of their victims for a long amount of time, keeping the more obedient ones longer and killing anyone who would fight back faster. Finally the fifth is someone who sees their killing as a sport, or a recreational game and find enjoyment in what they do and see no wrong in the way they play their ‘game’. Each classification demonstrates the physiological problems that can be linked back to childhood. Though each are slightly different there is a strong sign that there is something mentally wrong with each killer.

The concept of nature vs nurture, is the idea of the genes children inherit compared to the way children are raised and how much both of those effects how they behave, their personalities and the way they treat their surroundings and the people they interact with. Though there are many studies that demonstrate that anger and self-control are all passed down through genes and by obvious connections this does effect the rational mind of any person, this is not what makes a serial killer. In Katherine Ramsland’s piece titled The Childhood Psychopath: Bad Seed or Bad Parents? She touches a lot on this idea, stating that serial killers “differ in temperament from other children and are at greater risk for delinquency”. And talks about how this is genetic and an effect of the nature side but then states “traits like fearlessness, aggressiveness, and sensation seeking, all of which contribute to antisocial behavior, can be properly channeled toward better things. It is up to parents to do this, and where parenting fails, the child with those traits may express them through violence”.  this and many other studied suggest that the raising and childhood experiences of any child effects the way they grow much more than their genes, but in the light of a serial killer, it is hard to determine that if a parents with a bad habit such as aggression, antisocial behavior or short tempers passes these on to their children through genes or the way they raise them.

Trauma is something that unfortunately occurs a lot in adolescence. If it is not dealt with in a proper manor the child can be left mentally scarred resulting in disillusion, obsession and anger management problems. Trauma is usually caused by abuse in the childhood of a killer and according to Heather Mitchell and Michael G. Aamodt in their paper The Incidence of Child Abuse in Serial Killers there are four types of childhood abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect.

Physical abuse is defined as when a child is harmed by their guardian. Usually described as “When a child or young person presents with an unconvincing story to account for an injury. The degree of harm varies on a continuum from slight to severe and, in a few cases, fatal. Bruises are the symptom most generally seen, followed by fractures and head injuries”   This can damage a child both physically leaving many scars on their skin and sometimes even resulting in brain damage, but also mentally, destroying both the personal connection they should have with their guardian where they learn a lot about how they treat others, what is a positive way in which to support themselves and family and how to deal with their issues but also destroying their ability to trust others. This abuse is usually related to the Mission-oriented type, the control type and the predator type of serial killers.
Sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is defined as “when a child or young person is forced to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.1 The activities may entail physical contact, including penetrative and non-penetrative acts”.  This can obscure the victim’s ideas of how they can treat other people and what the proper manner is in which sexual activities are to be performed. This type of abuse can usually be related to both the Hedonistic type and the control type of serial killers.
Psychological abuse. Psychological abuse is defined as occurs when “the constant negative emotional behavior of a carer towards a child impairs the child's emotional progression.  Emotional abuse can occur alone, and is also implicated in every form of abuse a child endures when the abuser uses words before, during or after the abuse to hurt, coerce or frighten them”.  There are many things to be said that can count as abuse from swearing at the child, putting them down about the tasks they have done or even talking to someone else negatively about said child when they are present. This is the most frequent type of abuse but also the most difficult to detect. This can result in all five of the types of serial killers.
Neglect. The most difficult of the abuses to define as it covers so many areas. Usually neglect is described as when a child is denied its basic human rights, either intentionally or unintentionally by the child’s guardian. This could be anything from not providing three meals a day, to not letting them get a decent amount of sleep all the way to refusing them shelter or not supporting them emotionally. Neglect can usually be wrapped into one of the three other types on abuse and is not usually covered in many papers. This can also result in all five types of serial killer.
Evidence in serial killers
Not all abused children turn into killers, many get help and are taken from the situation, and even those who do not get help have very little chance to actually turn into killers, but according to Heather and Michael “over 40 percent of the [serial] murderers reported being physically beaten and abused in their childhoods. More than 70 percent said they had witnessed or been part of sexually stressful events when young”. This demonstrates that a huge amount of serial killers have been abused as a child leaving them inadequate to deal with the real world. If you look at (appendix A) you can see the table shows you the difference in abuse in the general population compared to the serial killers population and the numbers for the serial killers are a lot higher. If we are to look at specific serial killers you can see a large amount of them have had at least one type of abuse in their past. This is shown in (appendix B).

Signs in Today’s Youth
Now we can look back into the past lives of the serial killers today through family accounts to really understand the signs they showed as kids.  According to Watson in his paper Child Criminology: Early Signs of a Killer there are six general signs in children that can all lead to serial killer characteristics. First, the unstable household. This is described as a child who grows up “with family members who have histories of crime or mental illness. It isn’t always true that filth breeds filth (plenty of successful adults have risen from the ashes of an abusive family), but coming from an unstable home definitely increases the odds of a child who grows up a psychopath. Children are extremely impressionable, mimicking those around them and learning about the world through those they look up to — their family, the people they know first and best.” (Watson. 2011). This is a difficult sign to see especially because the guardians of the children will most likely be trying to hide the abuse. Secondly the erratic genius, or the child who is incredibly smart but so erratic and unstable they do poorly in school and cannot usually hold a job or team sport. Thirdly, Suicidal and mental illness. Any children who have the mentality to hurt themselves or even attempt to take their own lives will find the idea of harming or taking someone else’s life a lot less daunting. Fourth the starting of Fires, voyeurism, painful fetishes. Watson talks about how this is a tricky one to determine as a lot of children will have fascinations with one or more so “unless your kid is trying to set the neighbor’s house on fire or compulsively stealing and hoarding lighters. Voyeurism can also be a natural curiosity, but a rampant display of peeping Tom behavior may be an early warning sign; once the child learns that secretly watching people undress is uncouth, they may continue to do so out of sick desires. Lastly, sadomasochistic fetishes can be a more obvious warning sign” (2011) the fifth is Torturing small animals, quite obviously this is a practice run, building up the sick desire to mutilate along with the skills needed to capture and hold a victim. Finally extended bed-wetting can also be a sign of a serial killer, usually because it is a result of trauma.
All six signs on their own may not be a clear indication that a child will grow up to be a serial killer, though the more of these signs a child has, the more likely they are to become a dangerous individual and should always be looked into.

As time progresses the advancement in the criminal investigation side of the police force has made it a lot easier to catch a serial killer, and with the numerous amounts of new studies focusing on determining the reasons behind a serial killers motives hopefully there will soon be a way to capture a serial killer before they take their first victim. As a result of these studies we learn how important it is that any person has a healthy and fulfilled childhood in order to exist peacefully in the world.