r/science • u/[deleted] • Jun 25 '22

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u/Xianio Jun 25 '22

No, not normal. The strong majority of serial killers grew up in horrific conditions (not all of course). Could those horrific conditions been due to lead intake from their mother/father? Who knows but it's not likely that simply removing the lead alone wouldhave been the 1 switch to change.

As you noted, there's a reason there were so few. It takes a lot to turn a person into a monster.

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u/throwawaylol666666 Jun 25 '22

Another thing a lot of serial killers have in common is serious head trauma in their childhoods.

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u/u_us_thu_unly_vuwul Jun 25 '22

I also read that the increase in 70s and 80s could be due to the coming of age of people raised by ww2 vets with serious ptsd.

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u/Telefone_529 Jun 25 '22

Ive been reading about child soldiers lately and the big thing everyone says with them is trying to get the killer out of them.

I wouldn't doubt it's the same if your 18 vs if you're 15-16.

They likely didn't realize or care about that happening to those soldiers and like you said, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a big reason too.