The present paper intent to enquire into a female serial killer. It shall describe and analyze the theories behind the occurrences and sequent offer explanations. The studies of criminology theories it is important to recognize why humans decide on living a life cycle of crime. Wikipedia.org defines serial killer as, “a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a “cooling off period”) between them.” Precisely of this, humans who tend to be a serial killer are prone to developmental and physical characteristics. Several of these trends could fit into a model standard of a crime. A good example of analyzing the life and crimes of Aileen Wuornos, an American female serial killer who killed …show more content…
As the years goes by, Wuornos life was becoming unstable and a nightmare. As a result, Wuornos childhood is well defined on how and why she became a criminal and killed those seven men victims. Her life consists of abandonment, mental and physical abuse by family, peers and neighborhood. While her mother was a teenager when she gave birth to Wuornos. Her father was absent in her life and abuse her mother. After he absent father was in jail for the rape of an underage child. Wuornos was abandoned by her mother as a teenager and left with grandparents. On the video stated she was emotional, sexually and physical abused by both grandparents. She became a prostitution to earn a living in the street of Florida. The life of Wuornos could be associated in with a diverse of theories of crime behavior. There are three various theories that could describe the life and subsequent in crimes of Aileen Wuornos. These three theories consist of biological/biosocial theory, self-control theory, and social control
Serial killers are a type person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. Most of the time something triggers them and then they go on their serial rampage. Some things that can be part of a serial killer's profile is they are normally white males, late 20’s early 30’s, kills with in own race, method of murder is hands on, and their victims are selected because they share specific characteristics. The types of serial killers are disorganized asocial and organized nonsocial. The different types of serial killers are: missionary killers, power seeking, lust killing, visionary killer, thrill killing. The profiling of a serial killer's changes upon the
Her abuse as a child just made her psychopathy worsen, which caused her to commit heinous murders. All the traits that she showed, impulsivity, manipulativeness, and deceitfulness, worked together to make her commit these crimes. Aileen Wuornos is the perfect example of how serious psychopathy can get and how childhood experiences can influence it.
Nature versus nurture has been argued in attempt to understand how criminals behave. The theory of what influences psychopath and serial killers’ violent and destructive pathways has not been agreed on till this day. Criminals such as psychopaths and serial killers have been researched for the past two decades. Scientists have found that genetics is a determining factor of who becomes a serial killer. It is important to understand the determinants involved within a serial killer, because if these social and environmental causes are discovered, they can be altered and controlled to reduce crime (Lykken, 1993). With more studies, we would therefore prevent mass murders and could assist in significant reductions of crime within society.
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
• Aileen Wuornos • Born February 29th,1956 in Rochester, MI • Died October 9th,2002 in Florida State Prison • She was very close to her brother Keith Wuornos. Later whet they got older they had sexual intercourse with each other.’ • At age 11 Aileen Started to to “Sell her body for Money” starting prostitution for money for drugs. • Preformed poorly in school. • She had many fights her grandparents and run away with her brother once found they were put in reform school temporarily.
The FBI defines serial killing as “the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s) in separate events” (Farrell, Keppal, & Titterington, 2011, p. 231). While individuals who partake in such activity do receive a large amount of attention, the female parts of this population are vastly under recognized. Female serial killers receive little academic attention, even though they are a complex and dynamic group to study (p. 229). Women make up 15% of American serial killers, with 36 known to be active in the last century (p. 230). It is speculated that at any given time there are 50-70 serial killers in the United States, and approximately 7-8 of them are female (Schurman, 2000, p. 12).
Aileen Wuornos killed seven men. Her life story is one of abuse, neglect, abandonment and violence. Wuornos’ disturbed behaviour from a young age failed to attract positive intervention or support, although she easily fit the criteria for the disorders with which she was later diagnosed. Although Wuornos was made a Ward of Court at age 15 (“The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts”, n.d.) within a year she was alone, unsupported, living rough and surviving as a prostitute (Note, 2004). This case study examines whether psychological theory supports the premise that Wuornos’ background and life experiences led to the offending which culminated in her becoming a serial killer. Relevant risk factors in her life are also evaluated in terms
She was raised by her grandparents but her grandmother was an alleged alcoholic and her grandfather was said to be abusive and had been molesting her. She was forced out of her home at a young age and became a sex worker. “Aileen reported that she would fight with her victims about sex and that when they became abusive, demanding that she have intercourse with them, she endeavored to protect herself from being raped” (Arrigo, 2004, p. 386). Living a dangerous life in order to survive, Wuornos had said that she murdered seven men because they had raped her. In the film, “The Selling of a Serial Killer,” it shows Aileen Wuornos testifying on her behalf. In the particular scene she describes on of the times where she felt forced to kill a man in fear that he would kill her if she did not defend herself. She had said he had been raped, choked and then he had threatened to hill her. So, in order to protect herself she felt the need to kill a man before he ended her life (Broomfield,
It was 1976 that Aileen would eventually land a husband. While hitchhiking Wuornos got a ride from Lewis Fell who was way older than Aileen. Lewis who was seventy years old at the time had married Wuornos in 1976. While married Wuornos would continue her tyrant ways at the bars. Lewis was being abused by this monster and was forced to get a restraining order. That same year in July 1976 Aileen was arrested in Antrim County and was charged with disturbing the peace, and assault for hitting a bartender in the head with a cue ball. Aileen’s temper has always been an issue in her life and that would be her downfall. It would nine weeks later that Lewis would file for divorce from Aileen, she also had lost her brother Keith to cancer where she received a check from the insurance
1989 she killed a man who had picked her up. She went on to kill at least 5 men and was caught and placed into death row. Though her sanity was questioned, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in 2002. The young Wuornos experienced horrifying tumult during her childhood: Her father killed himself while serving prison time for child molestation, while her mother abandoned Aileen and older brother Keith, leaving them to be raised by their grandparents. Wuornos’s grandmother was alleged to be an alcoholic and her grandfather a terrifying, violent force. Wuornos would later state that she was sexually abused by her grandfather and had sexual relations with her brother. She became pregnant by her early teens, and the infant was given up for adoption. David Spears, 43, Winter Garden construction worker, body found June 1, 1990, along Highway 19 in Citrus County. Except for a baseball cap, Spears was nude. He had died of six bullet wounds to the torso. Charles Carskaddon, 40, part-time rodeo worker, body found June 6, 1990, in Pasco County. The medical examiner found nine small caliber bullets in his lower chest and upper abdomen. Troy Burress, 50, a sausage sales man from Ocala, was reported missing July 31, 1990. On August 4, 1990 law officers found the body in a wooded area along State Road 19 in Marion County. The body was substantially decomposed, but evidence showed he had been shot twice. Charles "Dick" Humphreys, 56, retired Air Force major, former police chief and Florida state child abuse investigator, body found in Marion County on September 12, 1990. The body was fully clothed, and had been shot six times in the head and torso. Humphreys' car was found in Suwannee County. Walter Jeno Antonio, 62, body found on November 19, 1990 near a remote logging road in Dixie County. His
To understand this question one must first understand what was not in place in terms of social factors or controls to create a healthy environment for Aileen to grow up in. After being abandoned by her mother and losing her father to the criminal justice system on molestation charges Aileen was raised by her grandparents. According to Biography.com “Wuornos's
Aileen Wuornos Carol born on the 29th of February 1956 was one of the most famous serial killers of all times. Regarded as the first female serial killer in the United States, Aileen depicts the life of thousands of other people around the world whose lives were either changed or altered by their biological, environmental and developmental factors that made them to commit unimaginable crimes. This study analyzes the life of Aileen beginning with the crimes she committed. In addition, the study will examine the biological, developmental and environmental factors that led to the crimes she committed. Theories that could be applied to her actions including factors such as psychopathy will also be analyzed together with how they may have led to her crimes. In conclusion, the court
penalty (“Aileen Wuornos”). Aileen’s case shows that childhood trauma plays a big role in the
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
Criminals are the individuals who have committed a crime. Crimes refer to any unlawful activity that is punishable by a state. The term “criminal” is not a strictly defined one as different states have different laws regarding crimes and unlawful activities. A crime generally can be said to be an activity that causes harm to an individual, the community or the state. Criminals may commit crimes as a means of earning their livelihood, out of jealousy, greed or malice, for recreational purposes, out of boredom, or for a plethora of other reasons. Crimes may be classified as personal crimes, property crimes, inchoate crimes and statutory crimes. Offences that cause harm to a person such as assault, murder, sexual offences, etc. come under personal crimes while robbery, burglary, arson and forgery are categorized as property crimes. Often high profile criminals are given wide coverage in mass media which accords to them a sort of celebrity status. The first famous woman serial killers Aileen Wuornos was best known for being a murder and a serial killer some of her names include Sandra Kretsch, Susan Lynn Blahovec, Lee Blahovec, Cammie Marsh Greene, Lori Kristine Grody. Aileen was born on February 29th 1956 born in Rochester Michigan and died on October 9th 2002. She died in Florida state prison, Bradford County, Florida. Aileen Carol Wuornos was a serial killer who had killed seven men, widely believed to be the United States’ first female serial killer. She was convicted for six of the murders and sentenced to death, ultimately meeting her end through