Serial Killers

I have not seen a single person online or in person who took what Vick did as no big deal thank GOODNESS.
I also think if someone is going to blow it off as too graphic to watch, they should really make everyone watch it.  With society so desensitized to any reality that doesn't directly affect or effect them anymore, it's important.

ORIGINAL: talenak

I have not seen a single person online or in person who took what Vick did as no big deal thank GOODNESS.
I also think if someone is going to blow it off as too graphic to watch, they should really make everyone watch it.  With society so desensitized to any reality that doesn't directly affect or effect them anymore, it's important.

Here is a story about 200 Vick fans outside the Georgia Dome last week saying that Vick is more important than dogs , and should be allowed to play. 

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/falcons/stories/2007/07/29/0730vick.html

Cruelty to animals is one of 3 childhood markers that signify serial killer tendencies. The other 2 are persistent bedwetting and arson.

I have to admit though that I sort of fail to see the connection. Unless it is proved that people who are into dogfighting as adults were cruel to animals as children, then as horrific as the crimes are they can't be lumped in with anything related to serial killers. Dogfighters who inspire children to be cruel to animals may very well be shaping those kids into nasty, unpleasant adults, but without the other 2 factors they cannot be predicted to grow up into serial killers.

A kid who thinks violence against animals is OK after witnessing or hearing about dogfighting is obviously a nasty piece of work but there is no connection to the psychopathy of serial killers based on cruelty to animals alone. An *overwhelming* majority of serial killers have all 3 childhood traits, and as far as I know they are the only yardstick to measure future psychopathic behaviour.

Please don't make me read it.  I already hate most people anyway.  My mom says I have "impossible standards".  I say I just like people who have a little care for other people and animals in the world.  I don't know what's so impossible about respecting the life around you.

I was so happy that I hadn't seen anything like that   I was pleasantly surprised.  *sigh*

ORIGINAL: Benedict
The other 2 are persistent bedwetting and arson.

Persistent bedwetting can be a sign of anything from physical ailment to emotional distress.  Just because most serial killers have wet their beds, doesn't mean most bedwetters will be sociopathic or psychotic personalities growing up.  That just bothers me since so many children already suffer this and it's beyond their control.  It's totally unfair to stigmatize that.  Parents already freak about it, I would hate to see them latch on to THAT and make things even worse.  Sorry for that off topic, but it struck a nerve because of a little debate elsewhere regarding the bedwetting topic, lol.

Thanks for the clarification Kate...figured there was more than 1 marker.

Talen...the whole point Kate was making is that ALL 3, are present...not just one or even two. If you re read you will see she is not saying bedwetters are serial murderers...but that all dogfighters are not serial killers, using the same logic you are []

Hehe, ok, I might be slow.  I keep having to seperate the kid and the dog.  They are going crazy and I have work to get done.
Also, I should probably seperate myself from here.  Cause this place isn't helping me get my work done either.  LOL

i can see Talen's worry too. people who see one bad sign in their kids and then hear its associated with odd/radical/violent behaviour later in life...
for example, my step mom was concerned my little brother was gay... why? because he liked to play with dolls. and his favourite cartoon character was Angelica.
[8|]
she failed to see that he played with dolls because he had THREE older sisters and he liked Angelica because SHE was the oldest and bossiest, strongest character in the rugrat pack. made sense to me anyway.... Jason was four, everyone else was 10, 11, and 12 years old. he didnt really fit in.. and i think four years of age is WAY too soon to determine which preference a child is going to have, but thats my stepmom for ya....
i mentioned i wanted to buy a motor cycle instead of a car and she went to a diatribe about Hell's Angels and rapists for crying out loud!!
there are many people like her that would blow bed wetting out of proportion.. but yes, using common sense is key to understanding why your kid does something.... but common sense is not so common i'm afraid.

heheh DumDog.  Your step mama would LOVE me.  My son likes babies so much, I got him a baby doll.  He has no older siblings.  lol  His dad and I just agree if he learns to be nurturing, that can't be a bad thing... lol

I can see the fear with something like bedwetting being associated with serial killers, but WITH the other 2 factors it is the only reliable predictor I have ever heard of. Please also bear in mind that this isn't just bedwetting, but doing so until well past the age when MOST kids stop doing it. Even then, it shouldn't be anything to worry about (except from a medical standpoint) without the other 2 issues.

Back to my original point...I just don't see the connection. People who are cruel to animals are certainly sociopathic, but aren't serial killers. If someone can prove that Vick wet his bed until the age of 11 and asked for a flamethrower for his 9th birthday, THAT might be an indication of something. But I do somehow doubt it.

Reading this thread makes me stop and think.

About a year ago there was an individual going around torturing and killing animals in my area. It was disgusting. The police could not get a lead on this person. Sometimes the animals were strays, farm animals or some ones dog in their back yard. It made national news. Then it suddenly stopped. No word of any capture, but it makes you wonder did this person get picked up for something else or did they move on to a different victim.

This individual was sick! I hope the person was incarcerated for another crime with a time sentence and is in jail.

one of my cousin's youngest son, who is going on five fairly soon(i think) got into BIG trouble not to long ago.
i was baby sitting her three kids on this day. my husband had just gotten home, so he was wrestling with all three in the livingroom, but then they all ran outside to play. The oldest boy, who is 9, came running back inside yelling that Calvin threw the ball at the cat.... well i put him in a time a out - i had food burning on the stove - but my husband comes in to see Calvin pouting on the sofa.. so he asks what happened.. the oldest told him about throwing the ball at the cat so my husband asks if he did it on purpose. Calvin nodded yes.. "Why?" Because its fun.. "Its fun to throw things at animals?" Yes.. "Its fun to hurt them?" yes..
[:-]
now i will say that Calvin and his family are active in the outdoors, they spend a lot of time at a "Native American" village and do all those native american things, so maybe he thinks hunting is fun... but my husband took it the other way, and i think he was right.. Calvin will see a bug walking across the ground, minding its own business and he'll stomp on it.. i dont think thats a sign of a future seriel killer, but when he said its fun to throw rocks at animals, and its fun to hurt them my husband and i were disturbed to say the least.... we told his mom and she made note of it, but she is having her own problems right now.... (important ones but another time and place) but i wonder if this is how it begins.... parents are dealing with big issues, the kid entertains himselfs and finds the objects that will get the biggest reactions?
to be honest when i was a kid i LOVED to play with fire, but i never burned anything that wasnt supposed to be burned - i.e. what ever was already in the leaf pile, or sticks and pieces of paper -
Calvin will be starting public school this year so maybe that will help him out with the attention he needs. i just hope its the right kind.... because he's family i feel compelled to keep an eye on him myself..

Sounds more to me like a defiant answer than a truthful one. Oppositional..."yes" I thought it was funny when my sister fell down because I pushed her. Hardly a time to read anything in to it.
 
IMO over analyzing everything a child does is far more likely to cause a problem than simply telling them you love them and you know they don't want to hurt the kitty and you will be proud of them when they do something nice for the kitty next time.