Is a Bad Childhood an Excuse?!

Over the years, convicted murders (or their lawyers) tried to ease up the jury by stating the defendant's childhood. Saying that their troubled upbringing made them the killers they became. Whether or not it's so, is that an excuse? Shouldn't we focus on the here and now of what they did...not their past?

If it's led to psychological problems then yeah I'd say it's relevant.

Maybe, but not all people are like that.

True, but it's always taken into consideration with things like that as killing people, etc. isn't exactly a rational behaviour.

Other people stated that some killers were born that way...

Yeah there's a whole nature/nurture thing when it comes to that, but I personally don't think it's innate. Perhaps a genetic predisposition to whatever mindset you have to be in, but I don't think that alone would make them kill someone. I'd have thought there'd be a trigger which would be environmental/social.

I think all of us are perfectly capable of killing someone, it's just that most of us would never actually act on those impulses.

and your point is?

Just because something doesn't do something to one person doesn't mean it doesn't do it to another.

That said, in answer to the op, childhood trauma does do a number of things to the psyche. Personality disorders generally result from childhood trauma for example. People say things like I know these really great parents whose son grew up to be anti-social blah blah blah. Bulls***. Someone was doing something to that kid. But there is a difference between recognizing how you got where you are so you can confront your demons and using it as an excuse. They will use it as an excuse because all they care about is themselves. They have no empathy for others so only have the goal of avoiding punishment, but no it is not an excuse. They still know what will get them in trouble and what won't generally. The motivators might all be external, but they can tell right from wrong most of the time. If they are traumatized to the point that they cannot predict what will get them in trouble/can't discern right from wrong even in the presence of external motivators, then the here and now is that they can't distinguish and it is an excuse, but one that needs to still be dealt with in a way that will protect society. They will probably end up in a long term care arrangement somewhere.

All people are born without knowledge of morality. Morality is developed in the context of the environment a person is in. Some people develop a greater sense of morality than others (internal vs external motivations for example). A person who is not taught morality, or is taught only external sources of morality will be more likely to kill than someone who learns to internalize those motivators, so in a sense we are all born killers. Some of us learn better.

I think it can contribute to their actions and behavior but do not believe it should be used as an excuse under any circumstances.
Many people suffer from various childhood ordeals or trauma and grow to become 'normal' members of society.

I think it is often used as a cloak to cover people's actions in life and in my personal opinion i find this a bit of a cop out.

Just because a person come from a bad home doesn't always mean they will turn out the same.
A child has a brain and can think for it's self,so how many kids HAVE come from homes like that and gone on to better things using the Childhood experiences as a guide of WHAT NOT TO DO.

My father did things to me as a child,that I swore I'd never do to my kids when I grew up,and believe me I didn't.

We here had people a few years ago now,going to court for robbery,rape and other charges and their legal people would claim Diminished Responsibility,because they were Drunk,Drugged to the eyeballs or some other stupid excuse.

We had one such case where a woman got drunk at a pub (bar to you in the US) and drove home,while on the way she was involved in a collision between her car and another and ended up having an arm amputated because of it.

She was charged with high range drink driving,but tried to charge the barman for her having the collision,her reckoning??,if he hadn't served her she wouldn't have been drunk ,didn't matter that SHE was the one who picked up the glass and drank the contents,it was his fault.
Consequently the case got thrown out of court after the judge gave her a dressing down about her own stupidity be the blame.

Far to many times now we hear of people blaming someone/something for them making a decision that Kills someone or a robbery where someone is shot,but it's not their fault they did it. Wake up,smell the Coffee and take responsibility for your actions,I think that should be something all courts around the world should be saying to people brought up on charges before them.

But maybe I'm just a little to Demented to expect that .

Not an excuse but it is important to delve into the social and emotional backgrounds of people who commit serious crimes.

This ^^^^

I do tend to take the more biological stance but am aware of how reductionistic this is so do accept that there will be some social or environmental factors but I am more of the nature rather than nurture of that debate. I do beleive some people really are natrual born killers and dont change their outlook before comitting the crimes