Serial killers: nature and/or nurture

Opredelitev serijskega morilca si delita Donald Lunde in Robert Ressler. Po njuni opredelitvi je serijski morilec tisti, ki zagreši umor vsaj treh ljudi v časovnem obdobju, ki je daljši od 30 dni, medtem ko je med posameznimi umori obdobje »cooling-off«. Raziskave povezav med biološkimi dejavniki, socialnimi dejavniki in kriminalnim obnašanjem so se v zadnjem desetletju zelo razširile in so ena izmed najhitreje rastočih vej v kriminologiji. Pri bioloških dejavnikih ima pri kriminalnem obnašanju veliko vlogo veliko dejavnikov, kot so npr. genetika, hormoni in nevrotransmitorji, nevrološki primanjkljaji, nevropsihologija in strupi iz okolice. Socialni dejavniki vključujejo tiste, ki vplivajo na kriminalno obnašanje po veliko socialno-temelječih teorijah v kriminologiji. Ti dejavniki so npr. vplivi vrstnikov, razmere v družini, socialno-ekonomski status, navezanost na starše, raven izobrazbe, religija, materialni status, lokacija prebivališča itd. Mnenja strokovnjakov se močno razlikujejo. Po eni strani jih veliko zagovarja stran, ki trdi, da na oblikovanje serijskega morilca vpliva prirojenost, po drugi jih veliko trdi, da se serijski morilci oblikujejo s pomočjo okolice. Poraja se veliko vprašanje, ali je serijske morilce mogoče zaustaviti – res je, da jih je z novo, naprednejšo tehnologijo lažje najti in prepoznati, vendar znanost še ni dovolj napredna, da bi fenomen serijskega morilca dejansko lahko preprečili.The notion of a serial killer is defined by Donald Lunde and Robert Ressler. According to their definition, a serial killer is someone who murders at least three people in more than 30 days, with the »cooling-off« period among individual murders. Research of the links between biological factors, social factors, and criminal behaviour has expanded greatly in the last decade and is one of the fastest growing branches in criminology. In terms of biological factors, many elements play a role in criminal behaviour, such as genetics, hormones and neurotransmitters, neurological deficits, neuropsychology, and environmental toxins. Social factors include factors that influence criminal behaviour, according to many social-based theories in criminology. These factors, for example, are peer pressure, family situations, socio-economic status, emotional connection with parents, level of education, religion, material status, residence, etc. Experts’ opinions vary widely. On the one hand, many advocate that the emergence of serial killers is influenced by predisposition, while on the other hand, others argue that serial killers are created as a result of their surroundings. The question that arises is whether serial killers can be stopped – it is true that, thanks to new and advanced technology, they are easier to find and identifyhowever, science has not yet advanced enough to actually prevent the serial killer phenomenon