"BAD Seeds": "Natural-born" killers

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"BAD Seeds": "Natural-born" killers
The notion of inherited criminal traits is nothing new. Indeed, the first scientific system of criminal identification was crafted by French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillion in 1879, based on a complex system of bodily measurements, including those of the skull and facial features. While the Bertillion system was eventually discredited, the belief in hereditary "criminal types" persisted in some quarters—and has lately garnered support, albeit conditional, from the medical and psychiatric professions.
The label of "bad seeds" derives from William March's 1954 novel of the same title, which told the story of a homicidal eight-year-old, her violent tendencies inherited from a murderous mother she never knew. By 1954, of course, it was well known that many—if not most—violent criminals emerged from homes where CHILDHOOD TRAUMA and abuse were routine. At the same time, however, occasional aberrant cases (or those with incomplete histories of the offender) challenged supporters of environmental causes in the "nature vs. nurture" argument.
In the 1960s, some researchers ardently pursued the "XYY syndrome," so called after individuals born with a surplus Y—or male—chromosome. An estimated 100,000 males come so equipped in the United States annually, and it has been suggested that the extra dash of "maleness" makes them more aggressive, even violent, with a greater tendency toward criminal activity. The theory got a boost in 1966, when random killer Richard Speck was diagnosed—mistakenly, as it turned out—as one such "supermale." Eager researchers cited his stature and facial acne as sure-fire symptoms of XYY syndrome, but genetic tests failed to bear out their suspicion. In the meantime, it was noted that XYY males comprise a larger percentage of the nation's prison population than of the male population at large, but such figures are easily skewed. As authors Jack Levin and James Fox point out in Mass Murder (1985), the XYY males who wind up in prison or mental institutions accused of violent crimes constitute a minuscule segment of the overall group.
Another proponent of the "bad seed" theory, the late Joel Norris, cites 23 symptoms of genetic damage found in a select listing of modern serial killers. The WARNING SIGNS range from bulbous fingertips and curved fifth fingers to crooked teeth and "electric-wire hair that won't comb down." Unfortunately, the list of "killer symptoms" is so broad, and ultimately vague, that it is rendered next to useless.
With various serial killers reporting convulsions or seizures from childhood, it is logical to ask if epilepsy plays a role—however minor—in cases of episodic violence. Without indicting epileptics as a class, it is worth noting that electroencephalogram (EEG) tests reveal "spiking" patterns of random, uncontrollable electrical discharges during seizure activity. Their source, the limbic brain, controls primitive emotions like fear and rage, triggering the "fight-or-flight" response when we are frightened or surprised. Some analysts now speculate that similar disorders may produce unpredictable violent outbursts in specific individuals.
Another target of modern research into episodic violence is the hypothalamus, sometimes described as the brain's "emotional voltage regulator." Dr. Helen Morrison, a Chicago psychiatrist whose interview subjects include JOHN GACY, PETER SUTCLIFFE, and "Mad Biter" Richard Macek, cites damage to the hypothalamic region of the brain as a potential cause of violent crime. The hypothalamus regulates hormone production, including the adrenal and thyroid glands, with corresponding influence on individual response to real or perceived threats. In essence, Dr. Morrison contends that damage to the hypothalamus may prevent an individual from growing toward emotional maturity. When threatened or insulted, even if the threat is mere illusion, individuals with hypothalamic damage may respond with childish tantrums . . . and the grown-up weapons of adults.
Chemical imbalance may also affect human attitude and behavior, whether that imbalance results from brain damage, glandular dysfunction, environmental contaminants, or the deliberate ingestion of drugs and alcohol. Manic-depression, schizophrenia, and some forms of psychosis are treatable with medication to varying degrees, since they originate within the body, rather than within the mind. Today, we know that such conditions may also be hereditary, handed down through many generations of a single family—in which case, certain schizophrenic or psychotic killers may indeed be the proverbial "bad seeds."
There are, of course, substantial risks involved in trying to predict an individual's adult behavior from specific childhood symptoms, and it must be granted the vast majority of children from "tainted" families—or from abusive homes—do not go on to kill for sport. Predictive theories are often based on tiny samplings, sometimes on a single case, and subjects chosen for review have typically drawn much attention to themselves by their bizarre behavior. In practice, some of the worst serial killers—including the likes of CHARLES MANSON and HENRY LUCAS—present histories of both severe abuse and genetic, inherited dysfunction. Frequently the offspring of alcoholic, drug-abusing parents with criminal backgrounds, tortured and molested from infancy, such human monsters may in fact be born and made.
See also CROSS-DRESSING; MOTIVES; PARAPHILIA