Serial Killers
Alejandra Herrera
Professor Beehler
English 1PA
6 December 2012
Serial Killers A serial killer: a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and usually following a similar characteristic pattern or behavior. A popular argument that frequently arises is whether a serial killer is naturally born with the “serial killer” gene, or is a serial killer raised? In other words it’s an argument of nature versus nurture. There is much controversy in this topic and there have been many different articles that have been written discussing and arguing about these this argument. In the article A Killer Brain: A Look Inside Serial Killers by an unknown author and the article What Makes Serial Killers Tick? by Shirley Lynn Scott are two articles that compare and contrast whether serial killers are born to be serial killers or whether they’re raised in to becoming serial killers. In the article What Makes Serial Killers Tick? Shirley argues that “there is no such thing as a “kill gene”. On the other hand the unknown author from the article A Killer Brain: A Look Inside Serial Killers argues that all serial killers are with “A gene called Monoamine Oxidase-A (MAOA) also known as the violent gene, and is something that has been found in almost all serial killers and many violent offenders.” So according to the unknown author all serial killers are born with the MAOA gene that naturally makes them become serial killers, while Shirley argues that there is no such thing as a killer gene. Shirley believes that “bad seeds blossom in bad environments” therefore she proceeds to try to explain that serial killers are created through nurture. The way someone is treated and raised while growing up determines the effects of the outcome of how he or she will turn out to be like and how he or she will act when he or she grows up. In the other article, the unknown author argues that almost all of the serial killers have been born with the new gene
Professor Beehler
English 1PA
6 December 2012
Serial Killers A serial killer: a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and usually following a similar characteristic pattern or behavior. A popular argument that frequently arises is whether a serial killer is naturally born with the “serial killer” gene, or is a serial killer raised? In other words it’s an argument of nature versus nurture. There is much controversy in this topic and there have been many different articles that have been written discussing and arguing about these this argument. In the article A Killer Brain: A Look Inside Serial Killers by an unknown author and the article What Makes Serial Killers Tick? by Shirley Lynn Scott are two articles that compare and contrast whether serial killers are born to be serial killers or whether they’re raised in to becoming serial killers. In the article What Makes Serial Killers Tick? Shirley argues that “there is no such thing as a “kill gene”. On the other hand the unknown author from the article A Killer Brain: A Look Inside Serial Killers argues that all serial killers are with “A gene called Monoamine Oxidase-A (MAOA) also known as the violent gene, and is something that has been found in almost all serial killers and many violent offenders.” So according to the unknown author all serial killers are born with the MAOA gene that naturally makes them become serial killers, while Shirley argues that there is no such thing as a killer gene. Shirley believes that “bad seeds blossom in bad environments” therefore she proceeds to try to explain that serial killers are created through nurture. The way someone is treated and raised while growing up determines the effects of the outcome of how he or she will turn out to be like and how he or she will act when he or she grows up. In the other article, the unknown author argues that almost all of the serial killers have been born with the new gene