Understanding the Nature of Killers: Are They Born or Are They Made

There is no worse thing that can outdo the gruesomeness of a murder. The hideous crime committed by a person, whether on purpose or by accident, evokes fear and other strong emotions from people. Regardless of the weight of the sin, the integrity and image that an individual has taken care for so long can vanish in a snap. In every crime scene, investigation, and trial, it is always the side of the victims that are being focused. Their cry for justice and eagerness to punish the suspect is always on the front page. However, there are always two sides of a story.

There are instances that these killers are confused with having insanity or psychopathy; however, most of them are aware of their actions and are not showing signs of psychopathy. For better understanding, here are the definition of the former and the latter:

• Insanity

Insanity is defined as the state of being insane or mad. It is considered a mental disorder where an individual has no ability to identify fantasy from reality and is prone to irresistible impetuous behavior. People who have completely lost their sanity resulting to their commitment of a crime, in the eyes of the law, they can get away with it for they are not in their right mind and are unable to determine the right from wrong.

• Psychopathy

Psychopathy is the condition where a person shows no remorse. Being a psychopath is innate. There are just circumstances that opened that gate to an individual’s lack of empathy and guilt. A psychopath is characterized with poor behavioral control, impulsiveness, loose sexual behavior, manipulative, shallow affect, and more.

Amidst the heat of every murder case, there are various authors and media outlets that opt to write and cover the side of the killers. There has been a good pile of well-written and fact-based articles and writings about remarkable killings of the history. The published works do not only revolve around the committed crime but also on why a completely sane person eventually become so wicked and twisted. Author Wanda Draper, for instance, and her book The Witness: Unfolding Anatomy of a Killer perfectly depict the factors that make an individual turn the murderer that he or she has become at the moment. There are also other works that delve into this type of darkness, such as Robert Keller’s Human Monsters Volume 4, Jack Rosewood’s Serial Killers The Colombian Monsters: True Crime Serial Killers, and more. One of the most popular entertainment platform, Netflix, also released shows about serial killers, such as The Confession Tapes, The Keepers, Inside the Criminal Mind, etc.

Everyone is capable of doing horrendous acts but, for killers, there are numerous reasons to pinpoint why they become one. Criminals are both born and made, there is no in between. It is innate for humans to be aggressive, but the decision to kill is formed by their minds. The idea can randomly pop up in their thoughts that leads to the generation of an uncontrollable urge to commit a murder. It can also be that an individual has been caught in the moment and was drowned to a wave of strong emotions. Some of the common causes or motives for murders are the following:

• Revenge

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” this is the best statement that can define revenge. People who were wronged or felt wronged have the tendency to reciprocate the actions that were done to them in the same way or worse. In psychology, acquiring a payback has something to do with the theory of reciprocity — in which a person feels obligated to answer in the same manner others have treated them. That said, revenge is a strong motive to kill because the pure idea of revenge is getting even.

• Pleasure

Some people sin for vengeance but others kill for pleasure. These criminals are heartless and guiltless. They murder people for their own desire and fulfillment, especially serial killers. Serial killers are not emphatic, psychotic, and impulsive. The act of hearing go through so much pain or watching a person suffering and slowly dying is, for them, satisfying. There is nothing to receive in return but only gratification. Thus, most of the deaths that happened in the hands of the killers are for the pleasure and pride as well.

• Trauma

Almost all individuals have gone through terrible experiences in their life. Murderers, however, may have encountered a worst experience in some time of their life that left a big hole in their beings. The said experience can be a deprived childhood, violent upbringing, bullying, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and such. These events can form into a trauma that will haunt a person for a while or forever. The killers that are powered by these awful circumstances are most likely to kill people in order to escape the memories, get away with the emotions, soothe their minds, or let others experience their pain.

• Illness

People that are insane and psychopaths, diagnosed or not, most probably transform into brutal killers. Based on the numerous cases and biographies about serial killer, almost each of them shows signs of the mentioned mental illnesses. They are very prone to administering a killing spree to victims with similar characteristics in the most wicked way possible. These killers also have natural thirst for blood and violence.  

Killing, in any method, is never considered good. The vileness of brutally murdering a person regardless of the cause always has a rationale ground and is a form of injustice. Every individual, indeed, is aggressive in nature and with the unfortunate circumstances that accidentally pushed the wrong button, death is the worst consequence. Hence, to wrap it up, murderers are born but are also made by the ugly events brought by life.