by Cadence Grace

Created on: July 18, 2008

Unfortunately, within our society, there is no sure way to tell a psychopath from a normal person. Often times these killers may seem as though they are completely normal, when really they have unnatural, violent tendencies and thoughts. Many psychopaths come off as intelligent and charming, and can imitate real emotions to "use" people. Though the definite reasons of why these people have such feelings are unknown, there are many speculations on how such a person is "made." The most probable reason, however, deals with the psychopath's childhood and how they were raised.

Whether it is a mass murderer or a serial killer, psychopaths are often initially unsuspected by friends and neighbors, yet fit the profile befit by police and authorities. "The portrait that has emerged of the serial killer is of a very distinct type. The perpetrators and been mostly white, possessing better than average intelligence; IQs have ranged from 100 to 145" (Murdering). In the case of Gary Hirte, a high school student who killed a 37 year-old man, he was the perfect senior football player. His small town was shocked to hear that he could've even thought to commit such a crime, "this community saw him as the perfect kid," says Staci Larong of Weyauwega. The friends and families are painfully nave, or these psychopaths are brilliantly deceptive, however, either way it is apparent that this behavior does not arrive from a normal, everyday upbringing.
A typical psychopath is said to have had a troublesome childhood; one that has forced them into their crazed mental states that allow them to commit such crimes without remorse. With a successful, distant father and a self-centered mother, the childhood of a psychopath doesn't sound awful-yet. Because with parents who care greatly about their family's social status, and will do anything to make their lives seem perfect, the reasoning become a little clearer. Neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse are all common factors in the childhood history, which is a very impacting period of a child's life. "The behavioral patterns that lead to serial killing are induced at a very early age. You see little childrentheir personalities are so affectedby the time they're four or five years of age, they're pretty well set. If they're abused and neglected, and you take that child away from that environmentthere are studies that bear this outthere's a mark left on that child. This is not to say the child will not improve and survive, but he's been affected"

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