The brain of a serial killer
Warning: If you have been abused this post might be triggering. The picture underneath offers a lot of information based on science and knowledge gathered over time. It is easy to understand, and might help us in understanding what contributes to psychopathy. It also created some questions: Why is psychopathy more prevalent in USA and in white people? Evolutional theorists have discussed it psychopathy is relatively rare because psychopathic behavior would be “discovered” and for that reason not lead to any evolutionary advantages. USA and other individualistic countries are known for becoming more “egoistic”, and USA is known for more lenient attitudes towards weapons. This is just loud thinking on my part, so don`t take it as truths.
The picture is reproduced from this link: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1cXNdb/:2mHUbAkb:TeSCEaSC/www.bestcounselingdegrees.net/serial-killerhttp://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1cXNdb/:2mHUbAkb:TeSCEaSC/www.bestcounselingdegrees.net/serial-killer
Mirrorgirl 
February 4, 2016 at 12:45
Interesting, thanks for posting it. That 2/3 of serial killers were abused isn’t surprising. I’m curious about the 1/3 that weren’t. What’s going on with them?
As for American culture, there could be a lot going on here. Individualism can lead to social disconnection, so I agree with your assessment there. But I don’t agree that whites are more likely to be mass murderers. About 2/3 of Americans are white, and about 2/3 of mass shooters in the US are white, a 1:1 ratio. African-Americans are likewise proportionately represented among mass shooters.
The demographic that really stands out is the 98% of mass murderers are men. Here in the US we haven’t really looked at that. We haven’t had the discussion about men’s unique mental health needs and the importance of focusing on this starting with boyhood. And we know that men are much more likely than women to be socially isolated, and that these disconnected men are typically the ones who kill. But society hasn’t talked about how to address this. Part of it is that men are resistant to opening up, having been socialized to do the opposite; and there’s an insistence that discussion of gender issues must focus on women not men.
February 4, 2016 at 13:20
Thanks for a very interesting comment and the clarification in regards to cultural differences. I also thought it a bit strange , but must have gotten the statistics wrong. In regards to the 1/3 that weren’t abused: some scientists have tried to distinguish between ‘acquired’ psychopathy and more hard-wired types of psychopathy where the environment plays a smaller role. Some might simply be born with psychoapthic tendencies, but I guess there might be potential for change if one had a way of identifying these individuals and give them help at an early stage. But: there is still little proof of therapy helping ‘real’ psychopaths. When it comes to antisocial disorder, there is more evidence towards the effect of therapy (for example trauma-work). The bottom line is that a lot of knowledge and research needs to be done, and I am sometimes horrified that we haven’t prioritized this already. Psychopaths, not just the serial-killers can harm so many, and it takes so much time to get the abused back on their feet. Off course, we need science in regards to trauma-work on the abused, but maybe identifying at risk children and then trying to help them, can be preventive and help us reduce mental health issues more.
February 4, 2016 at 20:40
Its something unbalanced dopamine which is responsible for such behaviours ,food , drugs and environmental factors along with genes play an important role in one’s behaviour
February 4, 2016 at 20:41
Thank you for the comment! Often it is a combination of lots of different things, finding one factor is nearly impossible for behavior. Very interesting how far science has come, however!
February 4, 2016 at 20:50
Agree completely but I am talking chemical factors as bottom line is we can manipulate hormones if we know psychology and its uses in life
March 2, 2016 at 20:43
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