BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
America's search for answers to why its disgruntled children are killing their classmates has led to a desperate question: Are some people natural-born killers?
There is a growing belief in the scientific community that some children are predestined to violent behavior due to genetic or biological abnormalities.
Yet most believe that biology has to be accompanied by other factors to cause violent behavior, and shootings like those that have occurred in the nation's school hallways only happen after all of the factors align in just the right way.
''I think it is unfair to pit nature versus nurture -- I think it is nature and nurture,'' said Charles Ewing, a professor of law and psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo who has written several books on kids who kill.
''It is biology and environment and then you have a third factor: circumstance. I've evaluated plenty of kids who have two strikes against them, but there was still some type of odd circumstance that put that gun in their hand.''
Fledgling psychopaths
Murderers and other violent offenders have long been thought to be products of cruel or neglectful environments. New research has led to a belief that the country is full of ''fledgling psychopaths.''
Adrian Raine, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, recently led a study that found killers have less brain activity in their prefrontal cortex than other people.
''This is the activity that is involved in regulating and controlling behavior,'' he said. ''It's sort of like applying the brakes to an out-of-control car.''
He said his study explains criminals who seem to have normal home lives.
Mr. Raine also studied the resting heart rates, sweat activity and brain activity of 15-year-olds in England and found those who had low-response rates were more likely to be criminals.
Mr. Raine believes those teens with low-response rates committed crimes to get a jolt.
Other scientists have theorized that a gene or gene mutation exists in violent people and not in others.
Hope for parents
If a child has a predisposition to violence, many psychologists believe environment is crucial.
''It is certainly true that very good parenting may overcome the biological deficit -- if the biological deficit is not so great,'' Mr. Raine said.
Dr. Donald Lynam, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, said children with a biological predisposition to violence may help create a poor environment.
He gives an example of two babies, one with a happy disposition and the other who is colicky. The happy baby is more likely to be picked up and played with and get attention.
''They end up having two very different life experiences,'' he said. ''And it could be made a lot worse with bad parents.''
Helen Smith, a Knoxville, Tenn., psychologist who is working on a book about kids who kill, doesn't agree that children are predestined to kill.
''Why weren't the bad seeds blowing people away 20 years ago then?'' she asked.
Ms. Smith said she has evaluated more than 4,000 kids who were either violent, homicidal or suicidal, in addition to reading about the recent killers.
''The common theme is a great deal of anger and a feeling the child has been mistreated in some way,'' she said. ''This is something that builds over time.''
She blames societal changes instead of biology, pointing to the media and fewer choices for disgruntled or mentally ill kids.
''Their anger was more internalized 15 to 20 years ago,'' she said. ''Years ago, if someone wasn't getting along in school and was having trouble adjusting and dealing with their peers, they could drop out and join the Merchant Marine. That's not an option today.''
