Albert Desalvo: The Boston Murderer

Albert DeSalvo was a criminal who lived in Boston, Massachusetts. He is most remembered as the Boston Strangler who was responsible for murdering thirteen women around the Boston area. Although he was not sentenced for the murders, it is imperative to note that he was sentenced for being a serial rapist. His confessions as the Boston Murderer have been subject to debate and disputes since it cannot be ascertained the actual crimes that DeSalvo committed. A psychologist who was involved in the trial of DeSalvo stated that he was suffering from the mental illness known as paranoid schizophrenia. This psychological problem was responsible for making him to loose touch with reality and it has major repercussion on the psychological wellbeing of

an individual (Sie, 2011).

Psychological Analysis
Paranoid schizophrenia is a type of schizophrenia that is most known about around the world. The clinical image of a paranoid schizophrenic is highly characterized by a significantly stable individual with often paranoid delusion that is accompanied by hallucinations. In this way, this psychological condition affects the auditory variety and perceptual disturbances. The disturbances are associated with the element of speech, volition, effect, and catatonic symptoms are not dominant (Tsuang & Winokur, 1974). In this way, the symptoms may include delusions of reference, persecution, jealousy, bodily change, special mission, and exalted birth. An individual may also experience hallucinatory voices that threaten or commands the individual. Other auditory hallucinations may present themselves without the verbal form such as laughing, humming, or whistling (Sie, 2011).
To ascertain that DeSalvo was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, it is imperative to look at the causes of the mental condition. Schizophrenia is caused by three primary causes; biological, social, and psychological. In terms of biological causes, an individual may have inherited the condition from a family member although it has not be clearly identified which particular gene which is responsible for causing schizophrenia. In this respect, it is imperative to look at other aspects such as brain injury, fetal exposure to infection, and brain injury. Social causes include low socioeconomic position, with poor people being susceptible to the condition. However, the most notable cause is psychological cause which defines early living environment and stressful life events as major causes of schizophrenia (Sie, 2011).
In relation to DeSalvo, it is imperative to look into his up bringing which plays a critical role in the psychological development of a person. DeSalvo grew up with a role model as a man who did not consider women to be people and as such, he had no regard for women. His role model only used women as a means of fulfilling his personal purposes such as realizing his anger or sexual tension. While growing up, DeSalvo was understandably an angry child. In order to release his anger, he had to emulate his role model, a father who resorted to violence in order to release his anger. At the beginning, it is significant to note that DeSalvo’s means of releasing anger were not harmless at the start and he resorted to such activities as robbery. However, with age and the presentation of opportunities, DeSalvo’s method of releasing anger would perpetuate violence which was directed to the victims that his role model had identified as tools of releasing anger.
One manifestation of his paranoid schizophrenic mental state was the need to brag and boast of his various escapades. This is a need to derive security where he was aware that he was not secure. This bragging and boasting was a sign of the insecurities he experienced within different social contexts. He had hallucinations that the society would not accept him for being just DeSalvo and in order to derive some form of acceptability, he had to devise some form of sensational stories that would enable him to cultivate a persona that was irresistible to other. It is noteworthy that his history of having been sold by his father into slavery contributed to this sense of insecurity. This can be attributed to the verity that he felt he was not wanted and acceptable. In his later life, the need to derive some relevance within the society led him to get the delusion that committing crimes would make him noticeable to the society.
It is also imperative to note that DeSalvo’s upbringing also played a critical role in his later life outlook. DeSalvo’s voracious sexual demands reflect on his psychological pathology. DeSalvo reenacts the behaviors that his father showed him when he was growing up. Although this may not have been intentional on the part of the father, it is imperative to note that when a child is growing up, he is inclined to take up the behaviors of the role models that he encounters as he grows up beginning with the mother and immediate family members. DeSalvo’s father used to have him watch as he released his sexual tension on prostitutes. His father was an angry man and subsequently with a veracious sexual appetite and this was replicated by DeSalvo. However, due to the paranoid schizophrenia, DeSalvo’s emulation of his father was characterized by more violent and out of control means of releasing his anger and sexual appetite.
Another interesting aspect of DeSalvo was that he appeared to be non-threatening, kind, persuasive, likeable, and charming. However, his true identify was a dark man who held no regard of human life, a factor that can be attributed to a persona that is like that of the traditional Jeckyl and Hyde. However, this is in line with the typical serial killer who has to cultivate this outlook of Jerkyl and Hyde in order to be able to influence his victims into thinking that he was not harmful (Zhou et al, 2007). In this respect, it is imperative to note that many serial killers have adopted this personal including the infamous Ted Bundy and the BTK (Dennis Rader). With the absence of the two contrasting personalities, many serial killers would not have the opportunity of committing their murders without arousing suspicion. However, it is these murders that actually drive them and in this way, they have to devise some means of ensuring that they get their kicks but remain appearing as normal people within the society.
Paranoid schizophrenia is also manifested when DeSalvo went ahead and started experimenting before engaging in his more sadistic crimes (Warren et al, 1996).

In this regard, it is imperative to note that there was a time he was referred to as the measuring man through some of the crimes he committed. These crimes cannot be said to be as harmful as the crimes that he would later commit. However, these crimes have been identified as tests that he used to gauge how far he would go through manipulating women and getting into their homes. However, the step of committing murders was a gigantic step and it is likely that he was not psychologically prepared. But DeSalvo was insecure from the very beginning and it has been argued that these tests were done in preparation for worse crimes that would come

later.
As DeSalvo progressed into his crimes, he also gained confidence.

This psychology is highlighted by a pattern that reveals a lot about the killer (Gray et al, 2003). It is revealed that he first learned to manipulate women and gain access into their houses. He then moved on to target older women because he was of the view that these women would not be capable of efficiently defending themselves. He then moved on to include women of all ages as his targets. At this stage, his crimes were highlighted by increasing severity of his attack methods. With all successful attacks, DeSalvo increased his confidence and also derived the delusion that he would not get caught. Subsequently, this behavior psychologically led him to taking higher risk and this ultimately how people of this mental disposition get

caught.
However, it is imperative to note that due to the insecurities that were experienced by DeSalvo since his early childhood, he had cultivated the habit of bragging and boasting. This has led many psychologists wondering if it is really possible that there were more than one perpetrator of the Boston Strangler murders. In this respect, it is imperative to note that the fact that there was a pattern involved indicates that there was a serial killer at that particular time period. Since serial killers are known to eventually confess to their crimes, it is possible that DeSalvo was actually the serial killer behind the killings. However, it has not been ascertained whether with the paranoid schizophrenia condition DeSalvo was deluded and hallucinated about his criminal activities.

Conclusion
Paranoid schizophrenia has been noted to have been a condition that was inherent to Albert DeSalvo. With this state of mind, DeSalvo was delusional and did not differentiate between reality and fantasy. His upbringing worsened his state of mind and this led him to commit crimes that can be said to be very violent and that do not have any form of remorse. In this respect, it is imperative to note that paranoid schizophrenia can be attributed to some violence among some members of the society. Although this condition has been identified as affecting many people with minimal social consequences, it is imperative to note that at some instances, it can have devastating effects on some members of the society and their actions can be very harmful to the entire society.