Serial killers a result of aristocracy?

[Gabrielle]

I am in no way trying to pass this off as fact and I have not made an extensive study on this matter. It is merely one of many possible theories.

Could it be that cenuturies of inbreeding throughout the aristocracy, some of whom were, let's face it, a little bit short of a shilling (the obvious would be the Marquis De Sade) has caused this growing number of no motive murders and that modern serial killers are just descendents of inbred royalty?

Your thoughts?

[boblablaugh]

Hello!

I just wanted to pop in and say that this is an interesting question. I have no idea, as I have not studied it, but It makes you wonder....

I think that there probably have been studies to some extent on the histories and backgrounds of some of the killers but how far back they go, I don't know.
I just read a great book called "Whoever fights monsters" it was written by a retired FBI profiler who was instrumental in setting up the BSU. He was one of the first people to really go and get inside the minds of some pretty horrible people. But he was able to gain their trust and respect so they would honestly talk about not only their crimes but what sort of things led up to them.
The one thing that was constant is Fantasy. These people have a fantasy world that they live in and at some point try to act the fantasy out. What makes them go from rape or murder into serial offenders is the fact that the act is never as good as the fantasy, and they spend their cooling off period thinking of how to better the act for the next time.
Anyway that explains a little about the environmental aspect, but I don't believe that it is 100% environmental because people who spend a lot of time fantasizing don't turn into serial killers. I believe that there has to be something biological to it, but who knows what biological factors mixed with whatever environmental factors have to come together to make a monster....

But it would be interesting to have some analytical type study that looks as deep as possible to find some sort of common link in their history such as what you are suggesting. Who knows, it would be interesting!

[Livia]

Hi, Gabrielle, welcome to the forum!

That's an interesting question, I agree. It's hard to know what causes a person to become a serial killer--from what I've read, I think Bob is right, it's kind of a mixture of "nature" (biology) and "nurture" (the environment in which you're brought up).

I can see your point about the inbreeding--it did for sure happen a lot in royal circles, cousins marrying cousins, since the number of appropriate princes and princesses was obviously pretty small to begin with. A perfect example is the hemophilia that plagued so many royal families around the time of the First World War--it apparently began with Queen Victoria, and since so many of her children intermarried into other royal families, the disease (which is hereditary) spread far and wide in royal circles.

My dad, who has a degree in genetics, used to tell me how it was a very bad idea to breed two animals that are too closely related (whether humans or other critters!) If there's a hereditary disease lurking anywhere in the family tree, and two closely related people (or animals) mate, it greatly enhances the odds of the disease making an appearance.

Much healthier to marry "outside" the family--you enlarge the gene pool that way, which is a good way of avoiding these hereditary problems. Offspring tend to be stronger, and healthier--something geneticists call "hybrid vigor".

Am I sounding too much like a teacher lol?

Sorry--end of lecture!

But you do raise a very interesting point!!

Oh, and I agree with Bob--"Whoever Fights Monsters" (written by former FBI profiler Robert Ressler) is an excellent book. I've also recently read a similar book by a former profiler which I highly recommend: "Profiles in Murder: An FBI Legend Dissects Killers and Their Crimes", by profiler Russell Vorpagel and Joseph Harrington. It's a truly fascinating and informative book!