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Serial killers have always been of the main interest for different social scientists and theorists. The reasons for serial murders have been discussed many times and from different points of view. Considering the murders of people by Theodore Bundy, the problem may be discussed from biological and psychological perspectives as all murders may be characterized by the “trait theory”, which is going to be characterized by Bundy’s crimes.
Trait theory is the characterization of the crime provided from the law-violating or conventional behavior issues. Trait theory in crimes describes personal behavior through thoughts and emotions. Each criminal is considered an individual, who is “unique, physically and mentally; consequently, there must be different explanations of each person’s behavior” (Siegel 123).
Trait theory may be divided into two main subdivisions, psychological functioning, and biological makeup, which differ by the traits, which influence people’s intentions for crimes. The biological theory considers the crime reasons as causes of some biological processes in people’s organisms (Siegel 123). The other theory is a psychological issue, where “associations among intelligence, personality, learning, and criminal behavior” are taken into account (Siegel 136).
To analyze the trait theory of the definite case, Ted Bundy’s crimes were chosen. Starting the discussion, a summary of Bundy’s life should be provided. Being born in 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers, he had never seen his father, moreover, there is no trusted evidence of his location. Being pressured by the fact that he was illegitimate may have deformed his understanding of the surrounding world and may have made him inveterate.
Till the very death, he did not want to confirm his relation to the crimes committed, but in the night before his capital punishment, he named one more state, where he had killed a woman, which was not considered before. In general, he was convicted for killing about 36 people of the female sex in about ten states. The last words of the killer were “I would like you to give my love to my family and friends” (Holmes and Holmes 154).
The provided description above, the last words of the serial killer, and his behavior make it possible to make up the whole picture of the criminal portrait. The limitations, which he suffered in his childhood, the lack of parental love, the absence of a father, and the understanding of himself as illegitimate or waning were the main backgrounds for future crimes.
The ways how women, the eldest of which was 26 years old, (sometimes even children, the youngest of which was 8 years old) (Holmes 156) were killed (bludgeoning or strangulation in most cases) tells about his desire to watch people’s suffering, that is the result of the psychological trauma. In addition, most of the killed women were not found and only the witnesses and indirect evidence allowed convincing Theodore Bundy. The main peculiarity of his murders, which any serial killers have, was that he killed women before leaving the state.
Discussing the reasons for the crimes, committed by Theodore Bundy, the two subdivisions are going to be used, biological theory and psychological one. Starting with biological theory, it may be concluded that the analysis of this issue shows that there are several types of it. The neurological type mostly fits the discussed case. Ted Bundy was ill mentally because of the absence of the necessary upbringing, the consideration of his deprivation, and constant reminding about it.
These were the reasons for his brain impairment, which overgrew in chronic brain disease. A great many of evidence show that Bundy was ill mentally. First of all the reasons for crimes were absent, second, the crimes were committed not because of some emotional condition or the body desire, but because leaving the state, he lust wanted to kill woman, any woman. The refusal to concede his crime, when all evidence was against him is the other sign of his mental disorder.
Considering the psychological trait theory, the psychodynamic type was chosen as the characterization of ted Bundy’s crime. He was brought up in a one-parent family with a mother, and the attitude to such families was not so liberal as now. The fact is that Bundy’s ego was weak and he was damaged as a personality. His alien attitude to people may be characterized by the injuries in his childhood, which rose all the time when he was reminded about his father and his illegitimate birth. The reasons for killing young women may be also characterized by his ideas about their ability to give birth to children and their upbringing without fathers. He may have thought that he protected unborn children from destiny as he had.
In conclusion, serial killers are the data for investigations in different fields of scientific knowledge. Furthermore, the reasons for murders may be discussed from different points of view and theories, which are already identified. Ted Bundy’s history of crimes makes it possible to investigate him from trait theories position, such as biological and psychological, and identify the real reasons for crimes. Serial killers like Bundy are usually mentally disordered people, whose attitude to life was spoiled and deformed in childhood.
Works Cited
Holmes, Ronald M., and Holmes, Stephen T. Serial Murder. New York: SAGE, 2009.
Siegel, Larry J. Criminology. London: Cengage Learning, 2008.
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