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Evil: Nature orNurture?Modern neurosciencehas provided some answers as to why some of us are evil and some are not, whysome of us have murderous tendencies and some not, and why some of us turn outto be what society and most modern literature classes as a psychopath.Academically, the term sociopath is more common, however, the definition forboth is similar. According to the penguin dictionary of psychology, a sociopathis defined as following:?“A personalitydisorder characterized by disturbed, maladaptive social relationships,particularly those that reflect clear anti-social behaviours.”Buckholtz et al. (2010)hypothesized that that psychopathic traits are also linkedto dysfunction in dopamine reward circuitry. In other words, those with psychopathictendencies are wired to seek reward regardless of the consequences.Participants were given personality tests to measure psychopathic traits, andPET scans were subsequently ran in order to measure dopamine release.? Also, the activity of the nucleus accumbens(N.A.) was monitored before and after monetary rewards were offered toparticipants; the N.A. was more considerably more active after some form ofreward was offered.A second PET scan was ran afteramphetamines were administered in order to measure dopamine levels in responseto a stimulant. Dopamine levels of up to 4 times “the norm” were recorded inthe brains of the psychopaths, thus supporting Buckholtz’s hypothesis.A second study was carried out by Craiget al., (2009) with hopes of identifying physical differences in the brains ofpsychopaths in comparison with the average brain. Diffusion Tensor MagneticResonance Imaging (DT-MRI) was used to scan the brains of psychopaths anddifferences were found in areas such as the amygdale, orbitofrontal cortex(O.F.C.) and the uncinate fasciculus (a white matter tract connecting both theamygdale and the O.F.C).? All of theseareas are related to emotions, fear and decision-making. Significant differenceswere found in both the amygdale and the O.F.C. Response to emotive words andimages was limited, and there was a positive correlation between the degree ofdifferences found and the level of psychopathic tendencies measured.Both of these studies suggest that evilresonates in the brain and displays itself in mental activity. However,evidence in the case of renowned serial killer couple Fred and Rosemary Westthat evil can often be a result of nurture.Fred and Rosemary West were both convicted of murderand rape after having their own “death cellar” in the basement of their familyhome. Victims included employees; their own daughters and sometimes evencomplete strangers. Both were said to be obsessed with BDSM, and even bound andgagged their own daughter while raping her. Rosemary was also a practicingprostitute with many clients, including her own father.Both had incestuous upbringings with Fred’s motherfrequently raping him and his father teaching him at a young age thatbestiality was accepted. As previously mentioned Rosemary’s father continued toengage in incestuous acts from childhood right up until the birth of her ownchildren. It was also reported that Fred West had a motorcycling accident atthe age of 17, which resulted in a fractured skull. After the accident hisfamily claimed that Fred suffered from random fits of rage.The repercussions of his accident and his upbringingcombined are possibly the influence for his later crimes. The aforementionedrage manifested itself when Fred West unintentionally murdered his daughterHeather Anne West. Admittedly, the motive behind this crime was that he wantedto “wipe the smirk of her face” (Sounes, 1995). However, the motive behind hissexual crimes is likely to be a result of the unconventional childhood moralsthat were instilled in him by his Father.In the case of Fred West, his crimes seem to be aresult of both nature and nurture; his uncontrollable rage as a result of aneurological injury and desire for extreme and inappropriate sexualgratification as a result of his upbringing.In the case of Rose however the nature aspect iscompletely absent. As Fred and Rose were a couple Fred’s behaviour would havehad a major impact on Rose’s actions, thus supporting our theory that Rose’spsychopathic behaviour is solely due to her environment.Jeffrey Dahmer is another notable serial killer fromthis same generation. As apposed to the theory that evil is obtained by one’senvironment or surroundings, the argument in this case would be that nature isthe sole reason behind Dahmer’s killings.Jeffrey Dahmer had a good upbringing and both parentswere settled and stable people (Davis, 1991). As he grew older he becameincreasingly withdrawn and uncommunicative for unknown reason. Dahmer’s wascurious about anatomy due to his school biology class and he began dissectingand obtaining them in his home. He then began drinking heavily and it worsenedas he went through school, resulting in him being an alcoholic by the time hegraduated from high school. This drinking was the main catalyst in him failingmost endeavours in life, such as the army and further education.He moved in with his grandmother for six years,during which time his behaviour grew increasingly strange. Eventually he wasasked to move out and was forced to find his own apartment. During his time inthe apartment he sexually assaulted, murdered, raped and dismembered more than15 boys and men before his eventual arrest.If we take both the Wests and Dahmer cases intoconsideration, while also keeping the previously mentioned neurologicalevidence in mind, we have come to the conclusion that nature and nurture playequal roles in the development of an evil or psychopathic personality. Althoughone concept can play a more predominant role in a person’s development both cansimultaneously or individually influence the outcome of a persons personality.References:?Buckholtz, J.W., Treadway, M.T., Cowan, R.L., Woodward,N.D., Benning, S.D., Li, R., Ansari, M.S., Baldwin, R.M., Schwartzman, A.N.,Shelby, E.S., Smith, C.E., Cole, D.,?Kessler, R.M. & Zald, D.H. (2010).?Mesolimbic dopamine?reward system hypersensitivity in individuals withpsychopathic traits.?NatureNeuroscience, 13, 419-421?Craig, M.C., Catani, M., Deeley, Q., Latham, R., Daly, E.,Kanaan, R., Picchioni, M., McGuire, P.K., Fahy, T. & Murphy, D.G.M. Alteredconnections on the road to psychopathy. (2009). MolecularPsychiatry?14,946-953??Donald, D. (1991).?TheJeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare (previously published as: TheMilwaukee Murders, Nightmare in Apartment 213: The True Story). London:Macmillan.Sounes, H. (1995).?Fred and Rose: The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the GloucesterHouse of Horrors. London: WarnerBooks. ................
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