Psychology

Learning objective Unit 2 Topic E Are criminals born or made?

Learning Outcomes Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Learn about the unit we will cover BBC video nature or nurture debate

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? New title: Unit 2 Topic E Are criminals born or made?

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Firstly, what is YOUR definition of a criminal? Consider: Is everyone who has committed a crime in the past a criminal? Is every crime committed by a criminal? What crimes do criminal commit? Write down your thoughts to these questions.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Serial killers – a definition. A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually due to abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a "cooling off period") between them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Types of serial killers: Organised, disorganised, and mixed The FBI's Crime Classification Manual places serial killers into three categories: organised, disorganised, and mixed (offenders who exhibit organised and disorganised characteristics). Some killers descend from being organised into disorganised, or vice versa, as their killings continue.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Organised serial killers often plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing of them in another. They often lure the victims with ploys appealing to their sense of sympathy. Others specifically target prostitutes, who are likely to go voluntarily with a stranger. These killers maintain a high degree of control over the crime scene and usually have a solid knowledge of forensic science that enables them to cover their tracks, such as burying the body or weighing it down and sinking it in a river. They follow their crimes in the news media carefully and often take pride in their actions, as if it were all a grand project. The organised killer is often socially adequate, has friends and lovers, and sometimes even a spouse and children. They are the type who, when/if captured, are most likely to be described by acquaintances as kind and unlikely to hurt anyone. Ted Bundy is an example of an organised serial killers.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? In general, the IQs of organised serial killers tend to be near normal range, with a mean of 94.7. Organised non-social offenders tend to be on the higher end of the average, with a mean IQ of 99.2.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Theodore Bundy was an American serial killer who was regarded as handsome and charismatic by his young female victims, traits that he used to exploit to win their trust. He typically approached them in public places, feigning injury or disability, or impersonating an authority figure, before overpowering and assaulting them at more secluded locations. He sometimes revisited his secondary crime scenes for hours at a time, grooming and performing sexual acts with the decomposing corpses until destruction by wild animals made further interaction impossible. He decapitated at least 12 of his victims, and kept some of the severed heads in his apartment for a period of time as mementos. On a few occasions he simply broke into their homes at night and bludgeoned his victims as they slept.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell at the Elizabeth Lund Home For Unwed Mothers in Vermont on November 24, 1946 to Eleanor Louise Cowell (known for most of her life as Louise). His father's identity has never been determined with certainty. His birth certificate assigns paternity to a salesman and Air Force veteran named Lloyd Marshall, but Louise later claimed that she had been seduced by "a sailor" whose name may have been Jack Worthington. Years later, investigators would find no record of anyone by that name in Navy or merchant marine archives. Some family members expressed suspicions that the father might have been Louise's own violent, abusive father, Samuel Cowell.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Family members told attorneys in 1987 that Samuel Cowell was a tyrannical bully and a bigot who hated blacks, Italians, Catholics, and Jews, beat his wife and the family dog, and swung neighbourhood cats by their tails. He once threw Louise's younger sister Julia down a flight of stairs for oversleeping. Julia recalled awakening one day from a nap to find herself surrounded by knives from the kitchen; her three-year-old nephew, Ted, was standing by the bed, smiling.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Ted Bundy Criminal: Born or made?

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? In 1976, Toole met Henry Lee Lucas and they soon developed a sexual relationship. Toole later claimed to have accompanied Lucas in 108 murders. On January 4, 1982, Toole barricaded 64-year-old George Sonnenberg in a boarding house where he was living in Jacksonville and set the house on fire. Sonnenberg died a week later of injuries he sustained in the fire. In April 1983, Toole was arrested for an unrelated arson incident in Jacksonville. For that crime, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Toole confessed to killing George Sonneberg. Two months later in June, his accomplice Henry Lee Lucas was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm. It was then Lucas began boasting about the murderous rampage orchestrated by the two. At first, Toole had denied involvement but later began backing up Lucas's confessions.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Ottis was born and raised in Florida. Toole's mother was abusive; Toole claimed she would dress him in girls' clothing and call him Susan. His father was an alcoholic who abandoned him. Ottis claimed that as a young child, he was a victim of sexual assault and incest at the hands of many close relatives and acquaintances, including his older sister and next door neighbour. He claimed that his maternal grandmother was a Satanist, who exposed him to various Satanic practices and rituals in his youth, including self-mutilation and grave robbing, and dubbed him "Devil's Child". Toole claimed this abuse began when he came out as gay to his family. He was often designated as suffering from mild mental retardation, with an I.Q. of 75. He also suffered from epilepsy, which resulted in frequent grand mal seizures. He was a serial arsonist from a young age and was sexually aroused by fire.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Ottis Toole Criminal: born or made?

1. Richard Mallory, age 51, November 30, 1989—Electronics store owner in Florida. Wuornos' first victim was a convicted rapist whom she claimed to have killed in self-defence. On December 13, Mallory's body was found several miles away in a wooded area; he had been shot several times, two bullets to the left lung were found to have been the cause of death. 2. David Spears, age 43—Construction worker in Florida. On June 1, 1990, his nude body was found along Highway 19. He had been shot six times. 3. Charles Carskaddon, age 40, May 31, 1990—Part-time rodeo worker.. He had been shot nine times with a small-caliber weapon. 4. Peter Siems, age 65—retired merchant seaman who devoted much of his time to a Christian outreach ministry. On July 4, 1990, his car was found. Moore and Wuornos were seen abandoning the car, and Wuornos' palm print was found on the interior door handle. His body was never found. 5. Troy Burress, age 50—Sausage salesman. On August 4, 1990, his body was found in a wooded area along State Road 19He had been shot twice. 6. Charles "Dick" Humphreys, age 56, September 11, 1990—Retired U.S. Air Force Major, former State Child Abuse Investigator, and former Chief of Police. On September 12, 1990, his body was found. He was fully clothed and had been shot six times in the head and torso. 7. Walter Jeno Antonio, age 62—Trucker, security guard, and police reservist. On November 19, 1990, Antonio's nearly nude body was found near a remote logging road. He had been shot four times. Five days later, his car was found.

Wuornos was born Aileen Carol Pittman in Michigan, on February 29, 1956. Her mother, Diane Wuornos was 14 years old when she married Aileen's father, Leo Dale Pittman on June 3, 1954. Less than two years later, and two months before Aileen was born, Diane filed for divorce. Aileen's older brother Keith was born on March 14, 1955. Wuornos never met her father; he was incarcerated at the time of her birth. Pittman was diagnosed with schizophrenia, later convicted of sex crimes against children, and eventually hanged himself in prison on January 30, 1969. In January 1960, when Wuornos was almost four years old, Diane abandoned her children, leaving them with their maternal grandparents, who legally adopted Keith and Aileen on March 18, 1960 By the age 11, Wuornos began engaging in sexual activities in school in exchange for cigarettes, drugs, and food. She had also engaged in sexual activities with her brother. Wuornos claimed that her alcoholic grandfather had sexually assaulted and beaten her when she was a child; before beating her, he would force her to strip out of her clothes. In 1970, at age 14, she became pregnant, having been raped by a friend of her grandfather's. Wuornos gave birth to a boy at a home for unwed mothers on March 23, 1971, and the child was placed for adoption. A few months after her baby was born, she dropped out of school at about the time that her grandmother died of liver failure. When Wuornos was 15, her grandfather threw her out of the house, and she began supporting herself as a prostitute and living in the woods near her old home

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Aileen Carol Pittman / Wuornos Criminal: born or made?

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Do you think serial killers are born with an Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) or do you think they develop this condition as a result of their upbringing? Write down the question & answer in your book using examples you have just learned about to back up your point.

Discussion – what do we mean by criminals? Horizon – BBC 4 9th March 2015 Are you good or evil? The nature nurture debate http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014kj65 (video currently unavailable) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAbUmF4Pujc&list=PLNhTuOfKKcjHbYIvzlb8baMFYeu 3UEPD0