Sociology

Are people that come from low income families more likely to become serial killers
                                                             
Introduction        
Typically, the manner by which a child is brought up more than often determines his-her destiny in life. This assumption is based on the fact that, homes are the place where diverse individual characteristics are modeled. On evaluation of the concept of financial foundationin regard to family stability, it has been noted that, financial values play an almost non-significant role in determining the childs destiny. Thus, it can be argued that, parental responsibilities are the key parameters by which a child grows and develops. Though in some quarters it is asserted that individuals from low income families are more likely to be involved in criminal activities such as robbery with violence, shoplifting or eventually evolving to be serial killers, it should be noted that, individuals from this group are more than often compelled to engage in such activities due to diverse circumstances which includes poor parenting, absentee fathers, promiscuous mothers as well as exposure to violence at a very tender age (Gottfredson  Hirschi, 1990).

Exploring the factors that compel an individual(s) to behave against the commonly accepted norms, it is crucial that we should care about this issue this is due to the fact that, there are those individuals who are involved in mass murder and this is totally different from being a serial killer.  Serial killers poses more threat to the society, considering that, they do not kill a significant number of people at one time, they kill gradually and this trend may take years in some cases before the trend is detected. As a society, it would be paramount to be concerned about this issue, considering the fact that, almost 60 of global populace can be classified as low income families (Sullivan, 2009).  Thus, it would be instrumental to identify the actual weak lines in these families that help in molding such individuals as serial killers. Serial killers are lethal and they kill without any cultural or sexual bias.

Literature Review
Are people that come from low income families more likely to become serial killers Perhaps yes, by exploring various theories which have been tested and evaluated over time, it is widely acknowledged that, most serial killers have their ties from low income families. Most criminologists and social scientists attributes this phenomenon to the fact that, most low income families are established on the foundation of negligence, abuse as well as marital conflicts (Sullivan,2009, Ellwood,1988). Too, it is paramount to argue that, there also families in this cluster formed out of divorce, separation or absentee father, mother or both. And in such circumstances, the children are left without the much needed parental support or guidance and this culminates in frustrations as the child grows. Thus where parental investment in emotional and behavioral attitude of child is absent, there is a greater chances of that child being involved in a myriad of deplorable social activities such as prostitution, drug abuse and even robbery including the use of violence .
 
According to McLanahan and Sandefur (1994), numeral studies indicate that marriage matters as far as the children are concerned. This is attributed to the fact that when a home disintegrates, the child is denied an environment where it can grow and develop into a healthy, productive, happy and well adjusted individual. Therefore, in regard to low income families, marital disintegration is one of the many reasons that have over time been cited as the cardinal factor which propels most individuals into crime. However, when it comes to the issue of serial killers, the documented evidence specifies that, most harbor social resentments due to parental conflicts, which more than often resulted in bizarre violence. Also, the issue of drug abuse in the family as well as abandonment by parent at an early age is also regarded as a principal factor that contributes in molding a serial killer. Therefore, it is paramount to state that, basically, individuals do not evolve to be serial killers due to financial aspects. Traditionally, social scientists have attempted to explain this phenomenon which they view as an act of failed parentage.  McLanahan and  Sandefur (1994) comments that, single parenting is principally the basic foundation of low income families, this they claimed is due to lack of proper parenting, exposure to drugs at a tender age as well as peer influences while in the streets which on overall greatly define the future of a child. Comparing this observation with Ellwood (1988), it is perceptible to note that, psychological aspects play a pivotal role in the way a child develops.

Based on the above argument, low income families have a high tendency of creating serial killers due to the fact that, most live in abject poverty. Sorokin (1947) claimed Over the past decade, the rise in violent crime corresponds to the increase in families deserted by fathers. High-crime areas are characterized by high concentrations of families neglected by fathers... The tempo of violent teenage crime parallels with the figure of families forsaken by fathers... Neighborhoods with a high degree of religious observations are not high-crime zones. More so, still in high-crime metropolitan regions, over 90  of children from secure established homes do not become criminals. By contrast only 10 of children from unsafe, unstable homes in these neighborhoods evade crime. Socially, this phenomenon of low income families being heavily linked to crime is critically disturbing. In addition, there is a widespread belief that race is also a principal decisive cause of crime.

This assertion is held due to large dissimilarity in crimes rates between whites and blacks. According to recent data however, it is established that, the actual inconsistent are not race but family structures and all that it provides in terms of commitment and acceptance between the family members. Though the ratio of broken familys incidences is much higher in black community, it is essential to aver that, the incidences of individuals becoming serial killers are equal in both white and black communities (Gottfredson, et al, 1990). Thus, it is the absence of stable marriage, and failure to create and nurture healthy families, that highly explains the tendency of high crime rates in most regions hence this may result to individual from these families to engage in serial killing. Despite psychological and sociological factors allied to low income families, it apparent that individuals from these families who are involved in serial killing practices develops propensity towards crime while still young. Though a number of convicted serial killers have shown that, most of them are single and lonely, have their roots in unstable homes, majority have an IQ that is above ordinary range, also it is evident that, most serial killers have issues in holding jobs and this is accredited with why most of them do not have permanent employment (Garfinkel, et al, 1986).

In addition from a social scope, as children, they are typically rejected or abandoned by their fathers and raised by either abusive or domineering mothers. Also, according to criminologists, most serial killers are said to have developed an interest in fetishism, voyeurism, pornography and sadomasochistic tendencies while still at a very tender age (Garfinkel, et al, 1986).

 Another factor that is linked to potential serial killers is that, they have a tendency to torture small animals. Though the real motives of serial killers are not generally known, they are classified into four diverse groups mission-oriented, visionary, power, as well as hedonistic, but they differ from individual to individual. Exploring such concepts, it is vital to realize that, most low income families are involved in activities that are socially rejected.

Hence, it is typically known that, most employ a low esteem towards individual status and this is also transferred towards other family members.  In a situation like this, an environment of rejection, hatred and conflict within a family is established. As Sullivan (2009) observed, this attitude destroys a childs experience, while diminishing his self esteem and this creates a room for isolation, fear as well as abuse. And eventually this leads a child to seek refuge from other individuals who have gone through such similar circumstances. All in all, this breeds a fertile environment in which a serial killer is created in a low income family.

Methods
Using practical procedures, I will evaluate and assess the quality of life, which most low income families are consigned to. Principally, the use of in-depth interview as the principal parameter in this case will be preferred and fundamental in that, it will provide an environment by which the stage would be set for collecting secondary data. This would be significant since there might be secondary data that had been previously collected for other purpose but can be employed in the current study. Such data may include police records, family history if documented as well as individual family health history. The government records would be valuable in providing the secondary data. The importance of employing secondary data is that, it minimizes the time employed in gathering data as well as reducing costs.

However, the major disadvantage is that, secondary data may not provide the necessary materials required. To eliminate the incidences of flawed secondary data in the course of the research, it would be paramount to seek secondary data direct from the source. Though, in principal my subject of study would be the families with history of having a first case of being directly linked to a serial killer(s). It would be crucial to examine and understand who the sources of the secondary data are this option is intended to avoid bias in regard to the projected results.

Despite employing the concept of employing the use of secondary data, this information has to be complemented with primary data which have to be collected either through observation or communication. The primary data would include information regarding demographic and socioeconomic distinctiveness as well as psychological and lifestyle factors among others. Therefore, collecting data would involve direct and indirect interviews either verbally or written questionnaires.

Purpose of the research
Due to the nature of the diverse factors that affect or are allied to low income families, such as, their social and economic set ups, the purpose of this research is to establish that, individuals from these families who turns out to be serial killers, are more of a product of failed marriages as well as psychological perception of inferiority. Thus, by exploring diverse aspects linked to factors that lead to family disintegration, it would be crucial to state that, this research would provide an in depth view and understanding of apparent factors that contributes significantly to the manner by which families affects individual growth and development from an early age to the point of becoming a serial killer. Though there are diverse studies which have been previously carried out, I would desire to indicate that, low income families, are more faced by diverse challenges which goes beyond economic and religious stability. This is linked to the fact that, our societies do define our destiny in regard to the nature of social networks that we establish or we become connected to. The fundamental purpose of the study will be to assess whether serial killers are a product of abusive community.                                                          
Research Method
The move towards data gathering and analysis will be both qualitative and quantitative. This is crucial since it will help in utilizing the statistical information collected from the preferred or proposed research instruments. Data analysis later will entail making subjective examination of the appropriate data. Therefore, it would be instrumental to utilize in-depth interviewing as the principal method to gather information. Interpretative procedure will be used for investigative quantitative design methodology which will involve creating appropriate questionnaire, prepared to elicit questions regarding the role of the family and the social concept of serial killers

There are several ways to obtain information that will be utilized in this research. The most frequent research techniques are telephone surveys, talking with people, email surveys, focus groups, personal interviews, mail surveys, literature searches, and internet surveys. In regard to the question at hand, it would be instrumental to employ the concept of Personal interviews which are regarded as a significant way to obtain in-depth and comprehensive information. Thus, putting fact into consideration, it will be vital to employ individuals, groups as well as families who are included in the cluster of families classified as low income. This would build stable and reliable units of analysis.

This is due to the fact that, individuals who will be interviewed should be able to provide critical information on how they have been affected by this social phenomenon.

It would equally be important to understand that, these specific units of analysis will help in understanding why the loss of parental capacity have aided in the explosion of serial killers among the low income families. Also, it is imperative to accept that, in regard to the manner the in-depth interview would be carried, there is a possibility of the target audience to provide the critical evidence as to why or how the escalating ratio of break ups in low income families are fuelling crime.
 Therefore, analyzing the empirical evidence, it will be paramount to reach to a profound base as to why young men and women from such families have very low connections with the broader society. According to the units of analysis employed, illegitimacy will be a factor that should be measured in order to reach conclusive results in this study. Therefore, when putting the variables in operation, it would be significant to realize that, in a situation like this it is difficult to establish which family has the biggest ratio of being linked to a serial killer. However, by exploring the dependent variables, it would be possible to establish the principal effects allied to low income families which can cause an individual to end being a serial killer.

Therefore, the causes can be said to be apparent where the families exhibit certain characteristics which are unhealthy to the future of their offsprings. While examining the independent variables, it is instrumental to aver that, these variables are those that are significantly defined as the cause by which low income families create serial killers (Garfinkel, et al, 1986). This can be attributed to the fact that, majority of individuals allied to low income families live without parental care and in most instances lack personal respect and tend to live in fear as well as guilt. Therefore, in this case, the dependent variables can be said to depend on the manner by which the participants behaved towards the independent variables. Thus, this procedure would significantly help establish that, low income families are highly susceptible to create an environment by which a serial killer is made. Employing the use of nominal scale will be crucial in that, the questions fielded are more open-ended and the nominal scales will provide statistics which in nature are non-parametric. Therefore, the questions fielded will be all inclusive and diverse in regard to various subjects allied to low income families. More so, it will be prudent to construct the measurements level putting in mind that, the subject under investigation is to unearth why low income families are attributed in churning out serial killers. The other factors that the measurements level would be employed to examine includes whether there are alternative factors, whether primary or secondary that influences the chances of an individual or a particular family to shape an individual with criminal intents which can culminate into creating a serial killer.

However, the indicators have to be varied, this is due to the fact that, each and every family is unique and it is not each and every low income family is said to harbor any higher chance of having a serial killer. It should be realized that, individuals from such families have equal chances of making rational decision like any other individual. The variance is only exposed where the given individual opts to dwell on his past, hence developing negative attitude towards other people. Therefore, it is instrumental to assert that, the use of non bibliometric indicators would be of great value. This is due to the fact that, in employing non-bibliometric indicators, there are more chances of being involved with diverse personalities who may include individuals who have a first hand encounter with a serial killer, parents whose offsprings have ever been classified as killers ,but the cardinal issue, having a chance of evaluating the primary information from the source.          

Thus, comparing non-bibliometric indicators with citation-based indicators, it will be prudent to dwell on non-bibliometric indicators. This is allied to the fact that, citation based indicators, though important, rarely reflect the influences of the targeted subjected. Though these indicators are library based, they do provide unlimited room for exploring diverse authors as well as unlimited literature which has been written to purposely examine the unique similarities and deviations  in low income families and the impacts they have in regard to the manner they relate to the common society. In principal, using comparative scaling procedures and techniques, will assist in structuring a composite measure(s). Technically, this is supported by the fact that, the process would entail combining at least two variable or more empirical indicators into a single common measure. And this would help us to determine diverse but complex issue which a single indicator could not have aided in examining adequately (Garfinkel, et al, 1986).

Thus, by carrying out concentrated surveys, it is instrumental to indicate that, using in-depth interviews would be the appropriate mechanism of understanding the core factors behind low income familys relationship with serial killers. From numeral regions, it has been established that using surveying procedures is quite often easier to collect the ground information required to kick start any given research. In essence, this kind of research can be classified as applied research. The argument can be linked to the fact that am dwelling on a practical problem solving angle. It should be realized that, applied research categorically reveals dynamic answers to myriad of social problems, these problems may relate to performance, actions or as well as policy issues.

Sampling methods
Diverse sampling methods are employed by the scientists typically, this is done to define a specific or a particular group in the course of research. Therefore the researcher must be in a position to apply unbiased logic and judgment. Sometimes when handling the issue of sampling, numeral problems may arise. For instance, the target area may fail to yield the expected results, or in a situation like this where the subject of study is low income families, may prove to be unreliable and this may create a compromised situation which can greatly alter the projected results. As a researcher, it is not possible to involve each and every family in the survey. Therefore, the use of a definite but well selected group to represent the entire low income families is paramount. It is prudent to aver that, this sample will reveal the characteristics of the families from which it is drawn (Ellwood, 1988). Exploring the nature of the research, I am of opinion that, convenience sampling would be the most appropriate. The reason behind considering this sampling procedure is due to the fact that, it is not costly, more so, it will consume less time. In principal, the sampling method is convenient, thus acquiring gross approximation of the results is guaranteed.

Ethical concerns
Due to the myriad of social dispositions, a number of low income families have been subjected to social stigma where one of their relative is convicted for being a serial killer. This phenomenon has been cited as one of the major factors contributing to stress, anxiety and depression. From a social perspective, individuals who end up being serial killers are said to be in one way or the other faced discrimination either in school, hospital or the church to mention just but a few. Having seen their individual plight being abused, many would be serial killers tend to recoil and lead a low profile life.
Though many have a record of pursuing their advanced education, the impact of being discriminated, hated or rejected fuels a deadly passion within. Typically, this leads to the individual developing abusive attitude and more being aggressive, and being provoked easily. Hence, when dealing with such individuals it would be paramount to be sensitive in regard to their emotions as well as their personal ties. More than often, the families or individuals identified with this phenomenon tend to curl away from the social limelight. Therefore, it would be a novel and courteous to approach the whole issue from a sincere and transparent manner. Socially, it has been established that, most low income families are subjects of social discrimination, and most are wary of individuals attempting to delve into their veiled life (Garfinkel, et al, 1986). Thus, building rapport with them will take the fear away. Too, relating with them will also diffuse the fear of social stigma.

However, it would be disastrous to attempt to introduce bias, where, the comparison of two families from diverse background is done concurrently. For instance portraying whites community as less likely candidate of creating a serial killer may ignite fully in some quarters. Thus, creating a level ground by which to set the research standard is crucial. From time to time, it is paramount to avoid bias through concentrated analysis and examination of available primary and secondary information. Though bias might be injected unintentionally, but it is against any procedure to dwell on the principal of bias. In situation like this, where matters pertaining to family and individual life are concerned, bias will be avoided at all cost.

Avoidance of bias will only be possible if the factors that can lead to create bias are eliminated through a more appropriate framework. Therefore, in the course of research, avoiding any circumstance that may prompt an individual to present any community negatively is not accepted. It should be understood that, research calls for thorough openness, in regard to dealing with research subject as far as serial killers and their subsequent families are concerned. It is ethical not to use abusive or manipulative mechanisms which can lead to receiving biased information. Therefore, the best option of avoiding bias is to establish a standard procedure which is wholly applicable to all.

Risks related to human subjects
More than often, troubling ethical questions are posed in regard to risks related to human subjects. Numeral studies have established that, human subjects were previously mistreated and exposed to dangerous conditions in the course of both scientific and behavioral studies. However, incase of exploring the reason why low income families are such tied to crimes which in some instances yields serial killers, the human subjects to be employed in terms of disclosing personal or family information have to be protected from the risks of being exposed unlawfully to the society. More so, it would be wise to protect their image. This should be based on the basic ethical principles. Due to the nature of the social subject investigated, there is a dire need to evaluate the consequences of using human subjects directly.

This is attributed to the fact that, a significant ration of the human subjects to be involved in the study might be drawn from low income families. Thus, the other risk to consider is how they are to benefit as far as they are involved in the study. In addition, the validity of the information obtained from them should also be secured in order to stop profiteers from manipulating them. Therefore, the information provided by human subjects will be accepted only if provided out of individual consent. So, when considering the concept of risks, justice, openness and respect will be given a wide berth. Another factor to consider is whether the human subject is volunteering or he-she is there to make money, for this can greatly affect the actual purpose regarding this study. The risks related to human subjects are numeral and varied, however, by establishing a stringent procedure of collecting information. Such risks as bias due to color, race, sex or religion can be evaded among others (Gottfredson, et al, 1990).

Using collected data, it would be appropriate to employ statistical approaches or measurement procedures. This process will see to it that the information gathered is considered worthy and reliable and it can produce consistent results if repeated again. Therefore, reliability will depend upon the sample rather than the behaviors or characteristics involved in the test, and this may include, quantitative and qualitative studies (Garfinkel, et al, 1986).                                                              

Analysis Plan
Considering the magnitude of the subject under investigation, constructing a holistic approach toward the subject under study would be vital. Therefore, designing unique research questions which are to be complemented by survey questions would be significance. This is due to the fact that, specific information has to be highlighted, and would help in understanding the real problem in regard to the issue at hand. Also, this would entail evaluating the percentage of target respondents. Despite such observation, it would be important to design a specific standard by which to assess the distribution of answers in regard to both research and survey questions.

Combining this with data analysis, it would be easier to categorize the survey issue to be used in answering the research question. And also, help in stating the intensity and extent for every survey question, as well as note down which questions are weigh against group .In addition, affirming what numerical test(s) andor explanatory procedures to use in answering the research question.

In conclusion, the importance of this research lies in that, it would greatly helps us understand the demerits of mishandling family. More so, it will provide a coherent challenge on which to reflect on the future generations, if parents are to abandon their children or where the fathers have opted to abscond their responsibilities. It is disastrous when a child grows in the glaring exposure of violence and physical abuse. Thus, in regard to the importance of the said studies, low income families, too have produced individuals who have impacted on the larger society positively (Garfinkel, et al, 1986). Thus, it is quite important to embrace the importance of this research on the profound light of understanding the underlying factors that are injurious to the entire society. Individuals from low income families, too, have a chance of living positively, personal traits are not defined on anvil of financial stability but rather on the context of proper parentage due to casual living as exuded by a majority of low income family, resulting in their offsprings being convicted of being serial killers.