The Life of a Serial Killer

So, this is a topic that I don't know much about.  However, I know which of the two I am leaning towards based on my experiences and I'm just going to go with it.  I think nurture, a person's environment, has the largest impact on what they end up doing with their life.  Also, as a note, I am not the serial killer mentioned in the tittle...  Just putting that out there.

My own experiences point toward nurture.  I don't know much about the genetics part of nature, but it seems to me that once you are born you make your own decisions based on what surrounds you environmentally.  Now, I grew up in the "definition of normal" house with two parents and two sisters, one older and one younger.  This is just a background for those of you who aren't familiar with my extremely nice and wonderful family.  And that wasn't sarcastic.  I didn't fight with my sisters, contrary to the idea that all siblings are always at each others throats.  There was no reason not to, no punishment if we fought.  We just didn't fight.  We still get along fantastically.  I'm pretty sure that is caused by environmental impact instead of genetics, although your guess is as good as mine at which factor caused it.  Anyway, enough about me.

On to television shows and murderers.  Now, I watch way too much television, and most of it is crime related.  In particular for this discussion, Criminal Minds.  They have a lot of serial killers they catch, and there are many reasons why these people kill.  Some times, they have genetic disorders that make them think killing is okay, or that they are actually doing something good.  This is definitely pointing to the nature side.  However, a lot of the time, the person killing was abused or tormented as a child or teenager, and these events turned them into brutal killers.  This makes sense to me.  Something bad (or, I suppose, good) happens to someone, they never forget it.  It becomes a part of them, even if they end up leading normal lives.  It could affect how they interact with other people, or something as small as what movies they won't watch, but it does affect them.  Experiences in life shape people and turn them into who they become later in life, even if they don't realize it.

So, that ended up being a bit more rant-y then I meant it to be, but I hope I made a point somewhere along the way.  Kathleen is finishing up tomorrow, I can't wait to read what she has to say!