Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos

1968 Words4 Pages

When the title ‘serial killer’ comes up, not many people think of a female. Many people attribute serial killers as being males (Hickey, 1991). The case of Aileen Wuornos can be seen as ‘special’ since she was considered the first female serial killer in America (CYRIAX, 2009). She was also later known by the press as the “Damsel of Death” (CYRIAX, 2009). The build-up of Wuornos includes historical background, criminal profile tactics, and general diagnosis. Wuornos was born on February 29, 1956 to Diane Wuornos and Leo Pittman (Jensen, 2012). Diane was pregnant at 16 with Wuornos and already had a son, Keith, with Leo (Jensen, 2012). Shortly before Wuornos was born, her parents separated. Her father was given a life sentence in prison for …show more content…

According to Hare, psychopaths are mostly nonviolent, engage in risky behaviors, driven by narcissism, and are indifferent to the needs of others (Hickey, 1991). Wuornos does not exactly fit the criteria for Hare’s psychopath. Wuornos often had violent rages, she did engage in risky behaviors and she was indifferent to the needs of others, particularly her victims. However, there tends to be differences between male psychopaths and female psychopaths (Hickey, 1991). Female psychopaths show a great need for attention (Hickey, 1991). They are dependent for approval from others, manipulators, pathological liars, impulsive, superficial charm, and engage in antisocial and criminal activity (Hickey, 1991). Compared to males, Wuornos had slightly different attributes of a psychopath. Her killings were also somewhat unique and consistent all throughout her criminal …show more content…

According to this theory, poor individuals commit more crimes because they are on a quest for financial success (Hickey, 1991). Wuornos began prostitution at an early age because of the necessity of food and surviving. She strived to bring in as much income to her lover causing her to engage in criminal activity (Doherty, 2004). Another theory that Wuornos would fall under is the Social Process Theory. This means that criminal behavior is part of socialization (Hickey, 1991). Offenders can turn to crime as a result from peer-group pressure, family problems, mediocre school performance, and legal problems (Hickey, 1991). Wuornos never actually had friends so she was constantly doing things in order to be liked (including prostitution). She had family problems since she was born and she dropped out of school while in the ninth grade. Her legal problems included the different crimes she committed before and after the killings. Wuornos also fits in the Neutralization theory. The technique of neutralization that Wuornos used was the denial of responsibility and the condemnation of the condemners. All through-out, she would state that all the killings were made in self-defense (Hickey, 1991). In other words, they tried to hurt her so they deserved to die. The Social Control Theory can also be applied to Wuornos. It consists of four elements, attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief that bond

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