A Glimpse inside the Evil Mind

Arga, Mary Johzel M.

G11 – Roces | 8:30-10:00 A.M | September 30, 2019
Dr. Jessica Salao

I was always fond of crimes, justice, anything that involves mystery. My love for mystery was
developed when I started to binge-watch “Sherlock”, a British crime drama television series based on Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. As my love for mysteries and crimes grew, I
began to wonder, I became curious, what would it feel to have a glimpse inside the evil minds of these
killers, these psychopaths?

Have you ever thought of what goes on inside the mind of a serial killer? What they think of
when they are planning to perform a crime? What goes on in their minds while they are creating such
violence? What they feel inside on doing so? Do they feel any guilt or not? Do they have mercy? Do they
have regrets?

A pleasant morning/afternoon/evening to everyone! Today, we will find out the possible causes
of psychopathy basing it on some research made by psychologists.

First of all, let us talk about traits and similarities that these killers possess, it has been found out
that many serial killers encompass similar emotional developmental issues. They also tend to be above-
average intelligence wise, and in some ways it is as if killing acts as a drug for some of these persons.

Emotionally speaking, infancy is crucial to the proper development of the adult personality. If a
child does not receive adequate attention and physical touch during this time period, they may suffer
substantial personality disorders in the future, like the possibility of the child having a psychopathic
personality by the age of 2.

Early childhood is also a factor to the development of a serial killer. Due to bullying and
loneliness, many of these serial killers began harbouring “secret aggressive fantasies”.

As you have seen in films, you can notice that one factor that also links these killers is childhood
trauma. Studies have revealed a number of statistics supporting the idea that mental and physical trauma
may have long lasting effects upon an individual. Sexual abuse also seemed to be a prominent
characteristic among serial killers. The compilation of these factors leads many sociologists to view
psychopathic behavior as the brain’s defense mechanism.

There are some theories that explain the possible cause of the evilness of these serial killers. One
of them is that many of the serial killers have been labelled with some sort of neurological disorder.
Thus, the repetitive killing may just be reactions to chemicals and hereditary factors in their brains rather
than on pure evil. Another one is the psychodynamic theory, which says that serial killers seem to be
manifesting their feelings of oppression from childhood in the form of brutal murders.

The psychology of the serial killer is intriguing yet frightening. Now, despite all of the theories
and possibilities you have heard from me, there is no concrete theory to explain neither the psychology
nor the actions of serial killers. However there are great criminologists researching the topic up until now.
These researchers, through criminological and sociological research, are attempting to better understand
and deter such crime, thus producing a way to prevent such criminal actions.

Well then, I hope all of you have been enlightened with the topic I have discussed. I am thankful
for all of you, for your cooperation, for lending your ears to me. Thank you! Have a good day.