These are the three types of mums most likely to raise a murderer… is yours one of them?
A TOP psychologist has identified the THREE types of mum most likely to raise a murderer - and yours could fit the bill.
Dr Elizabeth Yardley, the Director of Birmingham City University's Centre for Applied Criminology, fronts CBS Reality programme Murderers and their Mothers with Donal MacIntyre, which returns this Sunday for its second series.
In an article for the , she outlined the three distinct types of mum that spawn evil.
She explains: "I argue that mothers matter more [than fathers] in the making of murderers because of the inherently gendered nature of society.
"We expect mothers to be selfless nurturers and primary caregivers - expectations we take for granted and apply to all.
"We defer to mothers, simply assuming that they know best and are prioritising the needs of their child, protecting them from harm both within and outside of the family.
"As long as mum is on the scene, surely everything will be alright?"
She then presents three sorts of mums with whom everything is definitely not alright.
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Anti-Mother
Elizabeth claims that these types of mothers grew up in brutal homes and were more often than not victims of abuse.
She is keen to state that not every person who grows up in such a household follows the pattern of behaviour they were subjected to, writing: "They are more likely to harm themselves than others, internalising their trauma as they struggle to wrestle back the control they never had as children.
"But a few women will repeat the cycle.
"They turn from victims of brutalization to ruthless aggressors - the same kind of aggressors they had once despised."
This in turn creates a new generation of damaged children who grow up to be damaged adults.
Using Fred West's mum Daisy as an example, she explains how his childhood could have influenced his later life.
The nation was horrified when it emerged that he had raped his own daughters, tortured female hitch hikers, pimped his wife out for money and buried victims' remains under the family patio and in the basement of their house.
It was reported that of Daisy's six children, Fred was her favourite. But it was also claimed that she had sexually abused him, and his dad had abused his siblings.
It's a pattern of behaviour that went on to play out when he was married to second wife, Rose.
Elizabeth explains that Fred's mum "actively abused or neglected [her] children, creating deviant value systems in which the abnormal became normal."
Uber Mother
Scarred from their own childhoods, which they felt were substandard due to external factors such as ethnicity, poverty or being born out of wedlock - Uber Mothers micromanage their children so that they achieve everything they missed out on.
In doing this, Elizabeth argues that they "become mother-managers who carefully chart the childhood and adolescence of their sons and constantly struggle to keep them on course.
"They are the gatekeepers that hold off the outside world, protecting their child from scrutiny as their behaviour becomes increasingly deviant."
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She says that the mother of killer GP Dr. Harold Shipman, Vera, fits this bill.
Elizabeth writes: "The mother of Shipman strove to cope with the circumstances that life threw at them.
"Wanting the best for their children, they encouraged their sons to be like others, hoping they would grow up to be men who looked and acted like other men.
"Through hypervigilance they tried to be the good mothers that society demands, being selective in the advice that they took on board from outsiders."
Vera died from lung cancer when she was just 17 after battling lung cancer, but before she passed she left him with a sense of superiority that meant it was hard for him to make friends.
He nursed his mum as she died, and was reportedly "fascinated" by how she reacted to morphine.
Harold went on to medical school - and years later went on to kill more than 250 people with morphine overdoses.
Passive Mothers
The final group of murderer-making mums are described as being "passive".
According to Elizabeth, these types of parent "fear the judgement that society may impose on their children.
"These mothers have lived out their lives following the rules, not crossing the lines, fulfilling social expectations.
"They have always been quiet, passive, just ticking along.
"Therefore when their children begin to bend the rules and cross society’s moral and legal boundaries the fear of labelling compels them to respond in the only way they know - denial and inaction.
"Sweep it under the carpet. It will go away. It’s a phase. They will grow out of it."
She claims that like the other two groups, these mums thrive as society rarely questions how a woman raises her child.
Elizabeth uses two well-known examples of killers raised by this type of person.
She writes: "The mothers of Dennis Nilsen and Rose West were in denial - looking the other way, unwilling to confront or discuss behaviours or abuses that might lead to their children being labelled as ‘different’, square pegs in the round role of mainstream society."
Dennis' mum Betty has been cited as the reason for her son growing up to be a killer after showing him his beloved grandfather's body in his coffin.
The sight of it changed Dennis' character and he later admitted he hated his mum.
As a teen Dennis also admitted to groping his older brother and younger sister as he struggled to deal with his sexuality - something never mentioned by the rest of the family.
He would go on to murder at least 12 young men he picked up at gay bars in Soho.
Meanwhile, Rose West's mum Daisy reportedly turned a blind eye to her teenage antics of walking around the house naked and masturbating her younger brother.
She, and husband Fred, would go on to abuse their children and Fred's daughters from previous relationships.
Murderers and Their Mothers is on Sundays at 21:00 from 3rd September on CBS Reality
