After watching several movies on serial killers, it always seems as if they mention a troubled childhood as a way to justify the killings. I know several people, however, who have been through hell in childhood and have overcome it. So the question I ask is this:

What factor does upbringing have in creating a serial killer?

Well, there is a nature/nurture combo here- I have had the "opportunity" if you will, of having performed E&Os and therapy on a number of them- and there is of course, some "givens" or "rules of thumb"- 1) reaction/attachement disorder, either through abuse or neglect.
2) Sexual abuse- since this is usually done at a very young age, thier sexuality is both stunted and outside societal/healthy norms.

However, there is also some genetic links we are just begining to realize, because serial killers are still a small minority for poeple with these disorders- they can just as likely become a CEO or politician (this is no joke, this is the same side of the control coin for them, and they are just as amoral- they simply are better survivors, as being a politician or CEO is acceptable societal norm)

I beleive that studies on the brains of several serial killers found substantial damage to certain areas of the brain. Will find these studies soonest. Wanted to throw in a little tidbit that most of the famous serial killers we have heard of in the past few years were either born in or raised in Ohio

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers...s_9.html?sect=1
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/new...ion/7234344.htm

Not exactly the most official but any reading of the research says about the same thing. Abuse, some type of mental instability and some damage in the brain, generally in the Limbic Region
http://www.brainplace.com/bp/brainsystem/limbic.asp

The thing I find really interesting is that while cases of serial killers can be found worldwide the hands down winner for sheer numbers is America. I beleive the FBI estimates some 20-30 killers are currently operating. However since the majority of their victims are on the edge of societies notice they can operate almost at will.
A "What's another Hooker" kind of mentality.

we are the hands down winner of cases that are "reported"


how many go unreported, unrecognized or outright concealed by other countries?



just knit picking. sorry.

There is certianly a "link" to enviroment and upbringing. However, we can't fall into the trap of saying that is the soul cause. TO do so insults the achievements of all those who were abused as children who grew up to be fuctioning citizens and not criminals or serial killers.

I think that learning about serial killers by watching movies about them is not the right place to start the debate.

Modern audiences don't like the idea of wholly good or wholly bad, and film-makers like to play with the ambiguities this creates to build suspense, tension and so on. From a purely dramatic point of view, hinting that a serial killer does what they do for a reason the audience can understand, even if they disapprove helps in the storytelling process. It also helps to allow closure, so the audience isn't (too) disturbed by what they see.

The plain truth is that, in real life, we still just don't know why serial killers kill, other than that they want to, and can. An explanation that works for one killer fails for another.

That's a far scarier thought than any mainstream film-maker can afford to contemplate - they are in business to make money, after all. And it's far less conducive to debate.

On the other hand, theories on what make a serial killer only have so little solid evidence to back them up because they are so rare. I've no stats to quote, but world wide, I'd be surprised if active known serial killers, and those in custody, number more than a few hundred. I take comfort from the fact that there are so few that we just don't have enough data to form any firm conclusions - long may that remain so. (An aside - if we want to know about why killers kill so we can stop others doing it, we are better off keeping them alive and studying them than we are executing them. After the post mortem, a dead man can teach us nothing.)