Childhood Trauma Affects The Life Of Aileen Wuornos

Every child grows up with a different background and experiences, which impact the

decisions they make later in life. For some, their destructive childhoods lead them down a wrong

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path in life. In their journal focused on how childhood trauma affects the lives of criminals,

Wolff and Shi conclude, “Traumatic abuse that occurred when the victim was a child or

adolescent has been found to increase the risk for violent and aggressive behavior and criminality

in adulthood” (3). Almost every criminal convicted grew up in a destructive household, which

impacted their judgement and morality. Although these people committed crimes, they possess

the right to be heard and show others what caused their lack of judgment in

the decisions made.

Since nobody knows what goes on in a criminal’s head, jurors and judges need to listen to what

they say in order to conduct a fair trial. People may blame criminals for all of the wrong

decisions he or she made, but most of the time their actions result from experiences they could

not control. According to Wolff and Shi, “Experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional abuse

during childhood is known to have predictable immediate and distal impacts on personality

development” (3).

Some kids grow up facing physical and emotional abuse, which disrupts the

normal development into adulthood. While some crimes derive from passion or hatred towards

another person, some people cannot control their actions because of the trauma experienced

during childhood.

Aileen Wuornos, a woman that murdered six men, experienced destructive events during

her childhood, which impacted the decisions she made during adulthood. At a young age Aileen

experienced horrifying events: her father killed himself while serving prison time for child

molestation, and her mother abandoned her and older brother Keith, leaving them to be raised by

their grandparents. Wuornos was sexually abused by her grandfather and had sexual relations

with her brother, which eventually led to an unplanned pregnancy (“Aileen Wuornos”). Child

molestation, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment traumatize people, especially children. The

events Aileen experienced in her childhood shaped the mindset she took on as an adult. These

experiences seen in her childhood clearly impacted the actions Aileen took during

adulthood.

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Aileen became a prostitute and murdered her first victim out of self defense; the man she killed

tied Aileen up and proceeded to rape and abuse her before she shot him (“Aileen Wuornos”).

The tragic events from Aileen’s childhood led her down the wrong path in life. She held a hatred

for men because of the horrifying sexual misconduct she faced from her grandfather. This hatred

allowed Aileen to murder men in cold blood without feeling any remorse. On January 27, 1992

a jury found Wuornos guilty of first-degree murder for the Mallory case and received the death

penalty (“Aileen Wuornos”). Aileen’s case shows that childhood trauma plays a big role in the

actions people take as adults. Not every person who experiences trauma as a child grows up to

murder people, but those who choose that path in life deserve to be understood. When something

is out of the control of a person, they should not be blamed for it. Criminals who experience

trauma as children deserve the help they need, and should not spend the rest of their lives rotting

away in prison.

Mental illness also plays a crucial role in the development of people from childhood to

adulthood. According to the National Institute of Health, a mental illness can be defined as a

health condition that changes a person's thinking, feelings, or behavior that causes the

person

distress and difficulty in functioning (“Information about Mental Illness”). These illnesses can

disrupt the normal functioning of a person. Some illnesses are severe, which leads to violent

behavior when untreated. Criminals who have a bad mental illness lack the normal judgement

and morals of a mentally sane person. The lack of communication of neurotransmitters between

synapses leads to mental illnesses, some of which can change a person’s personality and alter his

or her judgements (“Information about Mental Illness”). If a person who has a serious mental

illness is on trial for a crime, the jury should not disregard their state of mind. Mental illnesses do

not define people, rather they create problems that are overseen by others. Jurors and prosecutors

all over the United States choose to ignore mental illnesses, deeming it as personal problems that

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can be controlled. Mental illnesses impact the lives of criminals, and need to be taken seriously

when convicting a person on trial