In the last three decades the United States of America had been troubled by an approaching problem. As each murder happens, a serial killer may not have got the killing fantasy they wanted and try again to get the feeling that they were hoping for. After my family moves out of our old house, a few years later, we found out the next-door neighbor was a killer. This description might go well with the traits of a serial killer. Mr. Miller acted secluded and never joined the “neighborhood gatherings.” He never introduces himself to any of his neighbors and avoided any contact with others around him. His actions and personality matched up with the actions and personality of a serial killer. At the time we were living in the house, we did not notice the similar traits because he would rarely leave the house when there was a lot of traffic in the neighborhood. He made sure he left the house at night or early in the morning before anybody left for work. So no one around his house or in the neighborhood knew anything about him until he was caught for murdering people around the local area. Everyone was shocked, but also thankful that they were since he lived there for so many years, three things we are going to look at in this paper is what is a serial killer, are they caused by brain damage, childhood, or are they born a serial killer. (fortunecity.com)


Many ask the question what is a serial killer? Are they normal individuals such as you and I or can you point them out in a crowd? In the United States, there are at least thirty-five serial killers active today that claim at least one third of the annual murder rate, a serial killer makes it a point the blend in with his surroundings. Their motivation is usually sex, power, manipulation, control, and donation. Most of the serial killers murders happen back to back or in a spaced out period of time. Normally the victim tends to be a prostitute or a hitchhiker of some sort. Those are the kinds of people that normally are not in the right place at he right time. Their victims may also have similar traits or characteristics, as in age, continue killing until caught and put into custody, dies, or kills herself/himself. The individual defined as a serial killer is a person that kills more than three innocent humans over a period of thirty or more days. In that thirty-day period, there is a cooling off period between each murder. Most serial killers are motivated by mission-oriented, visionary, power/control, and hedonistic. The most common are hedonistic and power/control. (fortunecity.com) (

Hedonistic is a killer who looks for thrills and finds pleasure from killing innocent individuals. Hedonistic can be broken down into three subtypes. These types are thrill, lust, and comfort. When a killer’s motive is thrill, he intends to induce pain towards the victim, which causes excitement for the killer. It provides them with an adrenaline rush by hunting and killing their victim. When lust is the primary motive for a serial killer to kill, it usually depends on the amount of torture and mutilation they perform on their victims. They use knives or hands, which make it more exciting for the killer. When a serial killer murders because of power/control, they want to gain power over their victim that they have missed out on in their own life. The murderers that kill because of this normally were abused as a child, which plays a major role in the reason they became a serial killer. When they are abused as children it leaves them with feelings of powerless and inadequacy as they become adults. Many of these types of killers abuse their victims before they murder them. For example, Ted Bundy traveled around the U.S. in search for women to control. (

What causes an individual to become a serial killer? Is it their childhood, brain damage, or are they born that way? Most serial killers are not mentally ill; they are sane, coherent, and mentally competent individuals. Some killers have gone through a traumatic childhood and the trauma is still lingering into adulthood, which makes them take it out on innocent individuals by murdering them. Bed wetting at an unusually old age, animal mutilation, and fascination with setting things on fire is all signs of unusual behavior that tends to be characteristics of a serial killer in their childhood. Brain damage can also be a cause of someone becoming a serial killer. For example, Albert Fish, also known as the Brooklyn Vampire, fell out of a cherry tree, which caused him to have a head injury. This caused permanent problems with headaches and dizzy spells. After this incident, he began to become very violent and at the age of twenty years old he killed his first victim. This example shows that a damaged frontal lobe is a prime suspect in the cause of serial killing. Our frontal lobe acts as a conscience that stops a “normal” individual from acting on their violent tendencies. In Albert Fish’s case he acted upon his violent tendencies and murdered an innocent young girl. Some people say you can be born a serial killer and other disagree. Depending on what you thing everyone has different opinions on the subject matter. The way a child is raised determines how their adulthood will be, and when they are old enough to make their own decisions is when they will choose what they want to do with their lives and what they want to make out of it. It all depends on what they choose to make of themselves. (serendip.brynmawr.edu)

Serial killers can come from many different types of homes. They can be created numerous ways depending on their background. These ways include the following: their childhood, brain damage, or were they born that way? These things all join together to ask the question what is a serial killer? I have come to the conclusion that most of these serial killers can choose to be that way. They have the choice to become this vicious monster and go around killing people.