During the latter part of the 1900s, several infamous sociopaths appeared in the news; one of them was Ted Bundy. Bundy was feared for his violent crimes against women: he raped them, killed them in horrific ways, and then raped them for weeks after their deaths. After Bundy's execution, psychological experts began studying his behaviors and the causes of his sociopathic tendencies. Experts soon noticed several parallels between Bundy, other sociopaths, and the families in which they grew up. Starting in the 1700s, many philosophers had already begun to study human behavior. Two famous philosophers known for the Empty State theory and the Ghost in the Machine theory were John Locke and Descartes respectively. Although Locke claimed that human behavior was not based on nature: it was defined by human experiences, Descartes argued that humans were naturally wild as a result of civilization. Another debate began when people began to question the nature of sociopathy; Was it caused by nature or is it a product of nurture? Although hereditary traits contribute to sociopathy in some way, sociopathic tendencies are largely caused by the way a child is raised or raised. Sociopathy is defined as the tendencies of a person who is sociopathic. Sociopaths are infamous for their “excessive” amount of crime. They cannot understand cold, often have an absence of empathy, and usually respond differently due to a lack of “love, shame, guilt, empathy, and remorse” (Mealey 134). Sociopaths are irresponsible, impulsive, and self-centered. Although sociopaths make up only a relatively small portion of the entire population, there is a correlation between criminal behavior and sociopathic tendencies. A recent study concluded that although… middle of paper… such tendencies are avoided. Although parents cannot avoid inherited traits that could influence socialization, if parents can raise their children and teach children morals, then the chances of sociopathic tendencies can be greatly reduced. Works Cited Dohrenwend, Bruce. "Social status and psychological disorder: a question of substance and a question of method". American Sociological Review. vol. 31. American Sociological Association, 1966. JSTOR. Network. January 26, 2012.Mealey, Linda. “Sociobiology of Sociopathy: An Integrated Evolutionary Model.” The maladjusted mind. Psychology, 1997. 133-35. JSTOR. Network. January 26, 2012.Patrick, Christopher. “Deconstructing Psychopathy.” Book review essays. vol. 8. Taylor and Francis, 1997. 244-51. JSTOR. Network. January 26, 2012. Pinker, Steven. The tabula rasa: the modern denial of human nature. 1st ed. Viking, 2002. Print.