The Case of Robert Pickton
Born in Port Coquitlam British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver in 1949. Robert Pickton grew up on a pig farm with his family including his brother and sister. “The Canadian pig farmer turned serial killer, preyed on prostitutes and drug addicts from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside luring them to his farm under the cover of a register charity ‘Piggy Palace Good Times Society’.” (New York Times 23 November 2003) Robert Pickton faced 15 murder charges in Vancouver’s missing women case in 2002, and in May of 2005 the Crown added 12 more first-degree murder charges against him adding up to a total of 27 charges.
On the anthropological aspect of this case, many different aspects of Robert’s case fit into the category. In
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This meaning he would have to work through blood, sweat and tears in order to be praised for the work he completed. This work was apparently hard for such a young boy to handle but he was pushed through it because it was expected of the Pickton family. With this being said Robert may have envied the prostitutes that he murdered for the reasoning being that those women earned their living from pleasure rather than pain like he had to. He more than likely he felt that this was unfair and that was a targeting reason towards those women.
Turning things to the sociological point of view, Robert didn’t grow up with a fun childhood in result of the family farm. Robert has a strong bond between his brother and sister because they were basically his only social interaction outside of the school setting and he really looked up to his brother. He was looked at as one of the kids with learning disabilities in school. When Robert Pickton was examined before trial he seemed to be completely normal to the ordinary eye, and then post-conviction he was tagged as a
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If broken down into the three stages Freud 's believes you can easily see the under development that occurred in different stages of Roberts life.
“The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality.”(Mcleod) Driven solely by instincts, of which Picktons impulse was very sexual. It’s fair to believe he went after the type of women he did because he felt they could satisfy he’s sexual needs. Robert might have grown up with internal conflicts that also contributed to this behaviour that he decided to express. The Id demands to have immediate satisfaction or else they feel that they have failed and this satisfaction came with the drugging, or intoxication of the women because they would easily agree to his acts that way.
“The ego develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It is the decision making component of personality.” Robert may have developed this attitude from experiences he has gone through. Examples being that it’s said to say when he was just 12; his families pet calf was slaughtered. Also having a strong sense of male dominance he obviously looks at his older brother has a role model, as he didn’t have the greatest father figure. His brother having a past record of violence, he killed a 14 year old in a hit and run. In the decision making aspect, Robert didn’t seem to have control over the urge to kill
“William Henry Furman, a twenty-six-year-old black man with a sixth grade education, was not what most people called a “bad” man,” (Herda 7). Furman was just laid off of his job and was struggling to find work. But there was none. Every job did not pay enough, or was a short term job. Eventually, depressed, hungry, and broke, Furman turned to breaking and entering and to petty thievery by means of survival. Furman was caught a few times and was given a light sentence. He was also examined by a psychiatrist and was determined to be mentally impaired, but not enough to go to a mental institution. But on August 11, 1967, Furman went to rob the house of twenty-nine-year-old William Joseph Micke, Jr. with his wife and five young children. When searching through the house, Furman made too much noise, which alerted Micke. Furman heard Micke walking down the stairs and pulled out his gun that he used for scaring people away. But Micke kept walking downwards. Not wanting to be caught, Furman tried to run away and tripped over an exposed cord. His gun discharged. The bullet ricocheted to the back door. On the other side, a body fell to the floor. William Joseph Micke Jr. was dead. “The police responded to the call quickly and, within minutes, they had apprehended Furman just down the street from the scene of the crime. The murders weapon was still in his pocket,” (Herda 9). Furman tried to plead guilty by insanity and the psychiatrists described him as legally insane. But then, several days later one of the psychiatrists revised their medical opinion. Because he was not insane, the case would go on. The state of Georgia charged him with murder and issued the death penalty. This was because Georgia state law stated that any form of murder is...
Throughout the book, it is shown that Robert has a special connection with animals and the environment. The many animals he encounters throughout the story are symbols which reflect on him and his actions. After Robert accidentally kills the German sniper who spared the life of him and his men, he feels guilty for taking an innocent life. This is reflected in nature by the bird which “sang and sang and sang, till Robert rose and walked away. The sound of it would haunt him to the day he died.” (Findley 131) This scene uses the readers’ knowledge of Robert’s deep emotional connections with animals to emphasize the sadness and guilt that he felt after shooting the German. Robert is often shown as innocent and caring, traits he shares with animals. Rodwell realizes this and draws a picture of Robert in his sketchbook (otherwise full of animal sketches), although “the shading was not quite human” (Findley 138). In the sketch, Rodwell is able to show both the human and non-human side of Robert. Finally, Robert’s strong love for Rowena, his sister, is mainly because of her innocence. As a result of her disability, she is innocent and naïve like a child or animal; she relies on Robert to be “her guardian” (Findley 10)....
Robert lashes out because his mind “was challenged by something it could not accept” (40), a reaction Robert has later in the novel as well. In the early twentieth century, homosexuals were looked down upon by society and the thought of gay sex was appalling to most people, so Robert’s reaction when initially exposed to it is understandable. In this event, Robert is exposed to new ideas and feelings and realizes that with his profession he can no longer live the sheltered life he is accustomed to. Much later in the story, Robert is far more mature and is finally comfortable around women. Having already witnessed the horrors of the war, Robert is a different man. One of the final steps towards his maturity is his successful sexual encounter with Barbara d’Orsey. The encounter is described by the young Juliet d’Orsey who, like Robert had once thought, believes the two are hurting one another. Juliet believes “that Robert must be trying to kill her” (160). While Robert has lost most of his childhood innocence and become a man, Juliet is affected in the same way Robert was upon seeing Taffler in the brothel. Despite his successful encounter, Robert has one final sexual experience that ultimately pushes him to the edge of his sanity.
The appearance of a character is not always a good reflection of one’s true personality. In The Wars, Robert attempts to change how he appears to people; he tries to become what he believes a soldier should be. When Robert kills the horse on the ship, he is traumatized; he “began to squeeze the trigger and he squeezed again and again and again” (Findley 68) which indicates he is going insane, having to do an act he did not want to commit in the first place. Robert tries to act like nothing from the shooting has affected him; he exceeds his emotions and acts exactly like an officer by saying “if this damn ship would sell us one I’d buy us both a drink” (Findley 69), by changing the subject, Robert indicates that he is not affected nor cares about the killing of the horse, even though internally, he is. Likewise in King Lear, Goneril and Regan both intentionally appear to be something they are not. When Lear
...“the Vancouver department had a bias against sex workers.” The majority opinion of the department was evident, the women were no more than misplaced prostitutes. Therefore, they did not require priority status. Rather than, acknowledging the possibility of a serial killer, the VPD and RCMP ignored tips that could have incriminated Robert Pickton. The tips collected consisted of, public complaints regarding a serial killer preying on addicts and prostitutes, individual police suspicion, and a 1999, eye witness statement of a butchered women on the Picton farm. Lastly the report addressed critical devices which could have been used to apprehend Pickton earlier. The two specifically mentioned were, Kim Rossomo, a geographic profiler who was ignored when he warned of a serial killer, and the investigators who were not provided with key information relevant to the case.
Many times throughout Robert’s life, all those whom he thought were close to him, while he tried stick to his ideals, had betrayed him. When Robert lost Rowena, he felt that he had failed at his duty and he feels he must make up for it by joining the army. Expecting love and support from his parents, his mother verbally slaps him in the face. “I know what you want to do. I know you want to go away and be a soldier. Well you can go to hell. I’m just another stranger (p28).” Captain Taffler also betrayed Robert, even though he didn’t realize it. Robert set him up as a role model to emulate during the war, but once he found out that he was a homosexual, Robert’s ideals of people he looks up to in war were crushed. “He picked up a boot and held it in his hand. Its weight alarmed him and the texture of its leather skin appalled him with its human feel. He through the boot across the room and shattered the mirror (p45).” Finally, Robert was betrayed by his own love for others. By keeping faith with his...
...interracial relationships. However because of the way he acts when he hears about the two of them, it is obvious that he has led a sheltered life. But even after his entire life of not understanding what was going on in the world around him, one night with Robert enlightened him and changed his view on people and his surrounding environment.
Robert Ross is a pure, righteous, ethical person in the beginning of the novel; he obtains a strong morality. Roberts’ integrity prevails when Mrs. Ross asks Robert to murder Rowena’s rabbits. “Why do the rabbits have to be killed? …I’ll take care of them. Please!!! Robert-control yourself. Silence. Who’s going to kill
Robert Ross becomes the anti-hero because of his need of to save others but inability to do so; Robert, himself, is not aware of the fact that all he wants to do is save others because he could not save the one person he cared about, Rowena: “It wasn’t Stuart’s fault. It was Robert’s fault. Robert was her guardian and he was locked in his bedroom. Making love to his pillows.” (16) Furthermore, Robert tries to save Rowena’s rabbits: “I’ll look after them. […] I’ll take care of them. Please!!!” (18) Meanwhile, he fails again when someone else was hired to do so: “It took him thirty seconds to emerge from his pain and to realize why Teddy Budge was there.” (20) Robert unknowingly feels the need to be a savior for the people in his life, but constantly fails to do so with every attempt. Throughout the book, Robert blames himself for not being able to save Rowena or her rabbits. Another reason Robert enlists in the war is to unintentionally make up for the lack of lives he could not save in his own household.
Erik Erikson developed eight psychosocial stages that occur through life. These stages help parents of younger children understand what the child is thinking and why they are acting the way that they do. For a person to become a well-rounded adult they need to succeed in each level. This essay will discuss the first six stages into young adulthood.
Erik Erikson’s eight Stages of man, is also known as the eight stages of psychosocial development. He promotes social interactions as a motivation to personality development. Erickson studied stages from the beginning of the life cycle to the later stages of life. Erickson was trained under the famous Sigmund Freud. His belief was that it wasn’t only sex that motivated personality development. Social interaction and a growing sense of competence is the key to it all. Since his beliefs differed from the beliefs of Freud, Erikson quickly began to work on his own. Erickson has focused on many different eras of psychological development.
Robert William “Willie” Pickton is currently serving a life sentence for the second degree murder of six British Columbian women. Although convicted for the murders of six victims, physical and forensic evidence for thirty-three women was uncovered at Pickton’s Port Coquitlam pig farm which served as the crime scene for his murders. Numerous other missing women, mostly marginalized prostitutes with chronic drug addiction, from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside area remain unaccounted for. It is not unreasonable to assume that they too, met the same disturbing fate as the other murder victims. Pickton’s modus operandi for the serial murders was the same; he would prowl the drug and poverty ridden Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver looking for potential victims, take the victims back to his Port Coquitlam pig farm, and then sexually abuse, torture, and murder them before mutilating and disposing their bodies. Most disturbingly, the victim’s remains were allegedly fed to the pigs on his farm, which were then slaughtered with the meat given out to associates of Pickton or to visitors of the farm (The Pickton Trial, CBC.ca/news).
I believe Erickson’s phenomenological theory concerning the eight stages of psychosocial development was inherently designed to be very simplistic, yet impetus. Not only does Erickson’s work expand from Freud’s psychosexual stages of development but it has improved and broadened the concept and understanding (my opinion) of childhood development from a conscious perspective, thereby betiding core conflicts as a framework to support therapists for making appropriate interventions. Erickson’s stages seem to have built upon a systematic biological foundation of development. It makes sense. In life we all go through stages of life from conception to birth to adulthood and thus eldership. His theory demonstrates basic chronological characteristics.
Erikson’s theory emphasized how both earlier and later experiences are proportionately important in the person’s development and how personality develops beyond puberty. But, Freud would argue that most development occurs during the earlier period of an individual’s life. Freud’s psychosexual stages comprised of five stages that ends in puberty. Erikson’s first few psychosocial stages are somewhat similar to that of Freud’s stages one to three but Erikson further expands his developmental stages to eight, covering old age.
But perhaps Robert’s most enduring quality is his artful pillory of those about him. When on form, his wisecracks at the expense of others can be as withering to the subject as they are amusing to everyone else. Take the incident earlier today when he asked the vicar (preacher), ‘Do you charge for taking a church service?’ ‘Not a penny’ he replied. ‘From what I saw this morning, you’ve got it spot on!’ I am convinced Robert’s personality and sense of fun resulted from the games his dad played with him as a kid. He used to throw him in the air – and walk away. Needless to say, another good thing about Robert is that he can take a joke as well as. Mind you, so can Pamela, because she's taken Robert.