Clifford Olson Essay

Over the past few years, the occurrence of serial killings has been evident. Such illegal events, has significantly impacted society as a whole, and has resulted in many attempts by the government to decrease the likelihood of future events from reoccurring. In doing so, psychologist must examine the factors and motives of offenders. Clifford Olson, for instance, helps comprehend the complexity of the human mind and helps researchers understand why serial killings occur. Furthermore, analyzing different psychological and sociological perspectives, will better our understanding of the mind of Clifford Olson.

Born January 1st, 1940, in Vancouver British Columbia, Clifford Olson at a young age, earned a reputation as a ‘show-off’ and deliberately

misbehaved in class to be the center of attention (Kerr, 2017). By the time Olson was ten, he had already skipped classes and later on failed the eighth grade numerous of times. As It was evident that Olson was not excelling in school, he made the decision to drop out once he had completed the eighth grade (Kerr, 2017). In addition to his early life, it was difficult for Olson to develop close relationships with others due to his compulsive talking and manipulation of others. In his adolescent years, Olson had many troubles with the law and was imprisoned for the first time at the age of seven-teen. Unfortunately for Olson, this was only the beginning. Over the span of twenty-four years, Olson was in and out of prison and had a total of 84 criminal convictions. His crimes included theft, armed robbery, breaking and entering, car theft, and escaping custody. By the age of forty-one, Olson had already spent majority of his life in prison and had only spent four years as a free man. Prison became a revolving door for Olson, between 1957 and 1968 he managed to escape seven times. While in prison, Olson was best known for being a homosexual rapist. In 1975, while restrained at the British Columbia penitentiary, Olson sexually attacked a 17-year-old inmate. As a result of his continual criminal conduct, he was denied parole in 1959 and 1972, but was later released from jail in 1980. Despite the number of criminal convictions Olson managed to pile up over the years, he is most recognized for the killings of 11 innocent children from 1980-1981.
On January 14th 1982, Olson was convicted of 11 counts of first degree-murder. Children between the ages of 9-18 were abducted, raped, sodomized, and were either straggled to death or knifed. Twelve-year-old Christine Weller was Olson’s first murder victim. She was found strangled and stabbed on Christmas day of 1980. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of Olson’s nine month killing spree. His next victims were colleen Daignault (13) and Daryn Johnsrude (16), both in which were murdered in April. In May, the same month he married his wife Joan Hale, he killed two other children, Sandra Wolfsteiner (16) and Ada Anita (13). By July, Olson, had already killed 10 children (Beech,2017). Finally, on august 12, 1981, Olson was arrested near Port Alberni after attempting to abduct two female hitchhikers. Shortly after his arrest, Olson made a ‘cash for bodies’ deal with the RCMP, only promising to pay his wife and newborn child $100,000 if he were to give up to locations of the victims’ bodies. Olson then pleaded guilty to the murders of the 11 victims and was given 11 life sentences (Beech,2017). In 2011, Olson passed away from cancer.
Despite being sentenced to life in prison, Olson’s ability to terrorize others did not stop.

Olson would send videotapes and letters to the families of his victims. In these videotapes/letters, he described in detail what he did to each of his victims, including the inhumane torture methods along with pornographic accounts of what he did to his victims. Furthermore, it is important that we analyze Olson’s actions and try to understand his mind. As it is evident, Olson displays personality traits of a psychopath. Psychopathy is defined as “a personality disorder characterized by lack of empathy and remorse, an inability to learn from experience, low arousal levels, and antisocial behavior”, studies suggest that a growing population of criminal offenders suffer some degree of psychopathy (Winterdyk, 2016). Researchers have noted that the automatic nervous system does not respond in a typical manner in those affected by psychopathy and other disorders linked to low arousal (Winterdyk, 2016). Though it is evident that Olson was abusive and certainly committed crimes, the proof of him suffering an antisocial personality disorder (ADP) is deeper than this. An antisocial personality disorder is further characterized by “a pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others” (Putkonen, 2007). In addition, ADP is categorized by torturing people, as well as cold blooded, remorseless murder. It is unquestionable that Olson achieved such actions. This is especially evident in the case of Terri Lynn Carson. Just like his other victims, Olson appeared seemingly kind. He offered her a job when she was in need, as well as alcohol to celebrate the occasion. Little did she know, the man that appeared to her was merely constructed for her to trust him. Shortly after she became unconscious, it allowed Olson to repeatedly rape her and eventually kill her by driving a 21-ounce hammer into her skull (Worthington, 2012). Along with his charming manner, Olson’s remorseless

murder is a visible sign that he did in fact suffered from ADP.
Psychologists Robert Hare and Hans Eysenck are among the researchers that have attempted to relate social learning, poor parenting skills, and learning environment, to psychopathology. `Although their research models may differ, both have argued that psychoticism and antisocial behavior is correlated to a breakdown in the ability to process information (Worthington, 2012). Robert Hare has spent much of his career in search to identify and understand the behavioral characteristics and personality traits of the psychopath. Much of his research was developed through the psychopathy checklist (PCL). The checklist is a method used by psychologists to understand the correlation between criminal behavior and personality disorders. The list consists of a 20-item inventory of observed personality traits and recorded behaviors intended to gather information for official records. The intended purpose for the psychopathy checklist is to diagnose psychopathy in individuals for legal/research purposes. Because psychopaths tend to be associated with criminals, the list is now finding use in the courtroom and acts as an indicator of the potential risk an offender has towards society. In addition, the psychopathy checklist has been a major factor in deciding the length and type of sentence along with the treatment an offender should or should not receive. Essentially, the list describes psychopaths as being impulsive, manipulative, abusive, and egocentric individuals. Olson, for instance, had the ability to control a conversation using the interpersonal skills of charm, conning, manipulation, and pathological lying as a powerful tool to lure his victims. Subsequently, he was scored a 38/40 on the psychopathy checklist by three mental health experts. On average, inmates who take the test are not psychopaths between 22 and 24 out of 40. Today, Clifford Olson has one of the highest numbers ever recorded on the PCL. Likewise, psychopathy is a collection of psychological symptoms that typically appear early in childhood and affects all aspects of an individual’s life including relationships with family, friends, and school (Kiehl,2014). As we have already seen, Clifford Olson, from a young age; already had many problems with the law. As described in the PCL under ‘juvenile delinquency’, psychopaths tend to have behavior problems early in their adolescent years and typically involve themselves with crimes that involve aspects of aggression, callous, and tough-mindedness. Predictably, a child who demonstrates these qualities tend to develop psychopathic tendencies. As mentioned earlier, Olson did not excel in school and earned the reputation of being the school bully. Although it may be difficult to conclude that being a drop-out will automatically result in becoming a criminal, statistics show that out of the “40,000 drop-outs each year, 300 will go to federal prison- 7 times the normal rate” (Heller,2008). Alternatively, students who conform to school rules are more likely to perform better in school and are less likely to commit deviant/criminal acts. So what turned Olson into such a monster? It is hard to understand why Olson was the way he was, given the fact that his other siblings had grown into middle class, law-abiding citizens. Olson did not experience any traumatic childhood event that would trigger rage. However, as a child, Olson was rumored to have killed rabbits and tormented cats and dogs. Although the PCL does not provide a clear answer, it does provide information that helps us understand how Olson became the killer he was.
The need for stimulation is one of the 20 personality traits displayed by the PCL. It is the constant need for thrilling and exciting stimulation. It is associated with high and low arousal levels. For a variety of genetic and environmental factors, our brain functions differently than others. Every individual attempts to reach an optimum level of arousal from their environment, whether it’s going out with friends or watching a sport event. On the contrary, when our arousal level is too high, we become overstressed or anxious, we often engage in activities to employ relaxation methods. On the other hand, some people are more biologically and naturally prone to undertake in deviant activities. For serial killers like Olson, killing reinforces an adrenaline rush that provides them a false sense of power. Despite the fact that each serial killer has their own reasons, the psychological satisfaction is a result of their arousal being fulfilled. Hence, why, Olson repeated the same behaviour for 9 months until he got arrested. Furthermore, the aggression displayed by serial killers may be due to MOA-A, short for monoamine oxidase A. The MOAA gene produces high levels of aggression in demanding situations. Individuals that carry the MOAA gene are more likely to commit violent crimes. However, there is very little research on whether this gene actually determines behavioural manifestations. Although there is no further research in regards to Olson’s biological makeup, one can assume, Olson was possibly a carrier of the MOAA gene increasing his likelihood of becoming a serial killer.
As it is evident, the issue of serial killings has been an alarming issue in society and will continue to do so if no further actions are taken. Researchers and psychologists continue to make efforts and strive to understand the underlying factors and motives attributing to criminals. In this particular case of Canadian born Clifford Olson, his antisocial personality disorder helps comprehend the mindset of a serial killer. Furthermore, the psychopathy checklist developed by Robert Hare is a method in which is used by psychologists to recognize the connection between criminal behavior along with personality disorders. The list is consisted of a 20 item inventory and essentially, it summarizes the main characteristics associated with a psychopath. In addition, the PCL has now found use in the courtroom and acts as an indicator of the potential risk an offender has, along with deciding the length and type of sentence an offender should receive. In short, Clifford Olson is one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers to date, and was convicted of 11 counts of first degree murder on January 14th 1982. Despite Olson’s death, he will continue his legacy of being one of Canada’s most dangerous serial killers.