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Biological Basis?
Casebook Message Boards: General Discussion: Miscellaneous:
Biological Basis?
Author: Diana
Sunday, 09 June 2002 - 06:38 pm |        | Could there be a biological basis for the behavior of serial killers? Some kind of physiological, or neurotransmitter abnormality which thankfully is rare?
If so, we might expect to find the same aberration in other mammalian species. The only example I can think of is rogue male elephants, but I confess that I'm not sure exactly what a rogue elephant does. Are there wolves that leave the pack and kill other wolves? I know it is normal for tomcats to kill kittens. Male mammals of many species fight with each other for the privilege of mating with the female, but I can't think of any that kill the females, but then if there were it would be a rare aberration. Is there a veterinerian among us? |
Author: David Radka
Sunday, 09 June 2002 - 10:19 pm | | Notice no suggestion is made of bad female elephants, bad female cats, or bad female mammals.
David |
Author: Harry Mann
Monday, 10 June 2002 - 06:11 am | | Diana,
If we could get agreement among the experts,we might have a possible cause of why certain persons act in what is believed to be abnormal activities.
It's my opinion there is very little that separates the normal from the abnormal.Does not a child at school hate all teachers because of a bad experience with one teacher,a worker hate all bosses because of one bad boss,and a man/woman hate all women/men because of one bad relationship.You can go on citing like relationships,but for most of us the hate period is quite short,and the degree of hurt we would like to inflict not severe.
There are those among us however,who do not react in what is deemed to be normal manner,and whose hate carries them far beyond what is acceptable behavior.From them comes the killers,the rapists, and the leaders of society who tend to drag all others along in their thirst for revenge.
Wish I knew the answer. |
Author: Paul Boothby
Wednesday, 12 June 2002 - 04:08 am | | Diana, don't know if you're interested but there is an interesting novel based on such a supposition, 'A Philosophical Investigation' by Philip Kerr. Based in the near future where such an abnormality has been identified and can be screened for. Any men identified by the routine screening are informed that they have the potential to become 'dangerous' and given counselling. The premise of the novel is that one such screenee (?) has the knowledge to identify other 'at risk' patients - codenamed with the names of famous Philosophers - and begins to murder them. A good novel based on an interesting premise, although some of the philosophy takes a bit of getting through for a thickee like me.
Cheers.....Paul |
Author: LeatherApron
Wednesday, 12 June 2002 - 08:46 pm | | Dear Diana,
I'm not a veterinarian, but do work in scientific research (though not concerning the following subject). Something along the lines you're asking about concerns biological studies involving homosexual behavior. Homosexuality is a behavior. Whether or not one believes it is abnormal or a sin is not pertinent to this discussion. Psychologists have done studies where they've purposefully overcrowded lab animals to learn what would happen. The results were interesting; some animals went completely insane and did things such as chase their tails or scratch incessantly at the walls of their enclosure; after a time others spontaneously became homosexuals. The reason for this was subconscious to the animals, of course, but perfectly rational and natural to the scientists involved. In an overpopulated condition, homosexual behavior would result in decreasing the total population more rapidly than would have been the case if normal sexual reproduction was taking place. I believe some of the test subjects also began fighting one another violently. I don't recall if this was perceived as homicide by the researchers, but such behavior, murder, would obviously result in an immediate and effective decrease in the overcrowding condition. One could propose that this explains the greater percentage of homosexuality and serial killings in large and densely populated metropolitan areas as opposed to rural farmlands.
Whether or not such behavior occurs spontaneously or whether or not an animal or human can be born with a tendency toward a certain behavior is not really your question as much as is it possible at all and is there any biological proof that explains it.
Harry,
I believe you're giving far too much weight to the word hate. It is not hate or the desire to kill that separates the serial killer from the rest of us, but the ability to come up with problem solving techniques that do not cross the line into murder. I would suggest that one can continue to hate (as many people have hated OJ Simpson for years) and maintain their sanity and acceptable societal behavior for years, even carrying their hatred to the grave.
Regards,
Jack |
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