Psychological Theory: How Ted Bundy Falls into the Categories of Attachment and Operant Utilitarian Theory Emily K. Rubalcava Criminology California State University, Fresno Abstract This paper explores the psychological theories of Operant-Utilitarian Theory and Attachment Theory to analyze the motivations and behaviors of Ted Bundy, an infamous American serial killer. Through this paper, I focused on understanding how human behavior, thoughts, and emotions are influenced by psychological frameworks. Through this research, I examined how Bundy's actions align with these two theories. The Operant-Utilitarian Theory suggests that criminal behavior is influenced by three factors: biological, social, and family factors. Ted Bundy's upbringing …show more content…
Someone who falls under the operant utilitarian theory shows it socially by having the “me-first” mentality, which has a strong influence on the individual level. Family relationships play a huge role as well, parental failures cause a child's criminality. Lastly, biological factors play a huge role in this theory. Those biological factors include gender, intelligence, impulsiveness, and body type. This theory supports that a person has a choice to commit the crime and their choice is based on “ratio of rewards.” A person's intelligence and impulsivity can influence an individual's ability to judge future and immediate rewards and punishments. Ted Bundy falls under the category of the operant utilitarian theory because he saw the reward and not the punishment of his crimes. The reward that satisfied him was the act of murder and the final expression of power and control over his victims. Ted Bundy’s victims were women in which he would rape and kill. Although he only confessed to 30 murders and assaults, it is estimated to be over 100 victims. Ted Bundy's life started differently than most when he was brought into this world by his young mother and did not have a father who was going to be involved in his life. Because Ted's mother was very young when she had him, he was adopted by his grandparents and grew up thinking his mother was his sister. Later in life, Ted found out who his mother was and she continued her life by getting married and having several children. Ted did not like his stepfather and resented him for being too “uneducated and working class.” Bundy grew up and later in life was known to pick apart mice in the woods and try to drown people while swimming or boating. He showed no sense of “remorse, guilt, embarrassment, or shame” according to
Ted Bundy was a notorious Florida Serial Killer, convicted of murdering and raping thirty women and girls, and suspected of having more than twenty other victims. After being convicted on July 31st, 1979 of these heinous crimes Bundy was sentenced to death and spent ten years in a Florida penitentiary until he finally faced the electric chair and his sentence was carried out. What kind of background did Ted Bundy have, and what insight might we glean from this? What criminological theories could even begin to explain the reasons behind such heinous crimes? What role, if any, did the seduction of crime have on Ted Bundy’s choice to carry out his killings? Perhaps more is unknown than is known, however, the evidence is clear: Bundy was a born
Richard dropped out of junior high school and was notorious for killing cats in his Polish neighborhood as a youth. Even Richard’s brother Joseph was convicted of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl (Carlo 2003). Amid the alcohol abuse of his father as well as physical and verbal abuse from both his mother and father, Richard began to develop those attributes that psychologists typically attribute to serial killers: an abusive childhood, family dysfunction, killing animals, a lack of self-worth (Holmes 1999), and alcoholism (Carlo 2003).... ... middle of paper ...
I chose to analyze the case of Ted Bundy because when I was in high school I saw the movie Ted Bundy. At the time that I watched this movie I was already interested in going to college and majoring in psychology. I wanted to know why people do the things they do. Going into this subject I find everything about Ted Bundy’s case intriguing. Throughout the course of this class I have learned so many theories and risk factors that explain why criminals do the things they do. I feel like writing about Ted Bundy and doing research on his case could benefit my future career in psychology by gaining knowledge in the field of criminology and all types of risk factors. This could make it easier for me to spot out what kind of risk factors are found in the younger generation. I want help avoid any risk factors that may cause adolescents to turn to criminal behavior. My goal in the future is to obtain a degree in psychology because I have always had a passion to help people that cannot help themselves. I want people to realize that everything starts with our thought processing and what we think, and what we observe repeatedly, we eventually become; watching family, friends, TV, listening to music we all learn from these things, if we watch for so long it is possible that these things could become a part of our character. Our minds are so powerful that if we can start by learning how to control our thought process, we can control the way we behave. Within the scope of this essay I have chosen two theories that I believe could provide us with insight in the mind of Ted Bundy.
The two killers' childhoods were obviously unrelated, and their differences bring to question the configuration of a killer's mind. It obviously is not childhood that affects the criminal mind's mentality, since their childhoods were completely opposite. Smith's lack of companionship during his childhood probably led him to search for companionship i...
Is Ted Bundy an average serial killer? What do you think of when you hear the words serial killer? Generally a serial killer is a person who looks for young and weak victims, most typically women, because they are the weakest, and cannot fight back to defend themselves. As stated by Serge-Moses Pakhomou “The term ‘serial killer’ was coined by Robert Ressler (Ressler & Shachtman, 1992, 1997) in the 1970s in order to replace the label of ‘stranger killings’, and in order to reflect the repetitive (in series) nature of those murders” (219). Ted Bundy is not the typical serial killer, he is very different, because he had a preference of woman he wanted to kill. “This group of offenders who committed a series of sexually motivated murders is referred to as serial killers in the present research” (220). It is also almost as if he is a celebrity murderer; he is so well known and popular, but nobody truly knows how messed up he was. Bundy did not go out and randomly attack young and weak people. He had a type. There are a few factors in the creation of this serial killer; Ted Bundy, which are a hard childhood life, pornography, and the rejection from his beloved Stephanie Brookes.
Bell, R. (n.d.). Ted Bundy. A Time of Terror — — Crime Library. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/n
He has assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970’s. Bundy admitted to authorities that he murdered thirty women. However, he is thought to have murdered over one-hundred people, not just exclusive to women, though he never confessed to these killings. In his last interview Bundy seems to portray a very ordinary and highly intelligent man with an ordinary childhood. He seems like someone incapable of committing the acts of violence and murder that he has. Bundy had become a very popular killer in the media due to his charismatic charm. Often having some individuals even feel pity for him. Ted Bundy is the definition of the term psychopath. He found pleasure out of murder, and his actions were not derived from his upbringing, but a hereditary link for psychopathy that had formed deep inside his
Ted Bundy: psychiatric testimony. Serial Murder: Through the Looking Glass. Retrieved March 12, 2003, from http://serial- killers.virtualave.net/bundy2.htm
Ted had sickening intelligence to his murders, and how to avoid authority. A contained lack of empathy throughout trial as he claimed innocence and even represented himself for a number of cases. Representing himself also led to his escapes from authorities through a window, as he was not shackled. All of these are not tall tale stories that are made up, this is real action and with every action no matter how serious the offense; there is reasoning. So it is here where we need to dig deeper and find out what causes individuals to turn to these types of offenses. Throughout this submission I will be giving a overview of Ted Bundy’s background and personal life. It is here the situations of his upbringing and his own personal characteristics that shaped him so I will tie it with Biosocial theories and Antisocial-personality Disorder to further help explains how biological factors and so...
A person does not need to have acquired a doctorate in psychology to determine that there is something horrifically different about serial killers. Quotes from killers show this drastic difference, such as Ted Bundy who said, “What’s one less person on the face of the earth anyway?” (Scott 2). Or Charles Manson who, with seven simple words, disgusted and oppositely inspired millions by saying, “Death is the greatest form of love” (“Charles Manson”). It is inside these people where it is easy to be determined just how unstable the very fabrics of their genetic and brain codes are; many things can be genetically transmitted from parent to offspring through heredity; therefore, so can the biological urge to become a killer.
Ted Bundy is an American Serial Killer who made it to the FBI’s top ten most wanted fugitive list. He confessed to 30 homicides of young women between ages 17-25. On many occasions he would bludgeon the victim to death, while they were conscious or asleep. After the incidents he would visit his victim’s corpse several times and apply makeup and nail polish to beautify their decomposing bodies. Also, he would perform necrophilia until the body was too corrupted or decayed. As souvenirs, he would take polaroids of the dead victim, and confessed that he decapitated at least a dozen of his victims and kept their heads in his apartment. Now, this was the operation of serial killer. The neurological make-up of these individuals are interesting because it makes them incapable of human emotions. There are mainly two types; psychopaths and sociopaths, and I’m here to inform you on their differences and similarities Both suffer antisocial personality disorders. It can be due to genetic predisposition or their childhood surroundings. They are also said to be incapable of guilt or remorse for their hurtful actions. Although, serial killers may understand the appropriate way to behave in society, they lack the ability to care about it.
Many people encounter tragedies, trauma, abuse, and psychological damage in their life, but those who have said problems frequently, most likely evolve into serial killers later on in life. Statistics show that forty percent of people who withstand abuse in childhood develop into excessively abusive, violent, and sadistic criminals because they are burdened by problems for the rest of their existence (Nurturing). Generally, serial killers are violent and want to torture their victims. Those who were abused in their childhood rarely had any control over anything; as a result, in the future they want to dominate and inflict the same pain to their victim that they encountered in their youth; the dominance serial killers hunger for is usually presented through sexual abuse (Nurturing). In childhood, if one has abusive, manipulative, or irresponsible parents that neglect him or her at home, a part of his or her brain, which contro...
Simon, Robert I. "Serial Killers, Evil, And Us." National Forum 80.4 (2000): 23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
By 1978, roughly thirty women were dead and mutilated by the same man with little explanation as to why. Ted Bundy, one of the most infamous serial killers in history brutally took the lives of numerous women for seemingly no reason at all. His justification for these murders was simply that he felt like committing them. A serial killer is defined as someone who has killed more than three people over a period of a month or more for seemingly no reason at all. Most serial killers have no real motive for killing; for them it is an urge that they must satisfy. Was Ted Bundy and others like him always a violent psychopath or did certain events cause him to behave this way? One common belief is that abusive childhoods and other environmental factors are the main reason serial killers develop the way they do. The other belief is that serial killers are born with an innate desire to kill. The answer to this question lies within both arguments and there is no secret serial killer formula. Serial Killers are neither born nor made; instead many factors, both biological and psychological, contribute to the making of these destructive monsters.
The earliest warning signs of serial killers can be traced back to their childhood. It is believed that the mind of a murderer is charged with a turbulence of emotions stored from early childhood (Abrahamsen 18). When these often repressed emotions are activated, the mind, particularly when aroused or frustrated, becomes violent, and so it is that a person who may appear quite normal and well adjusted on the surface, becomes possessed by a mind that murders (Abrahamsen 18). The study of 36 incarcerated killers by Robert Ressler, Ann Burgess, and John Douglas, which can be found in their book Sexual Homicide Patterns and Motives, found many common behavior indicators in their childhoods. These behaviors include daydreaming, compulsive masturbation, isolation, chronic lying, bed wetting, rebelliousness, nightmares, destroying property, fire setting stealing, cruelty to children, poor body image, temper tantrums, sleep problems, display assault toward adults, phobias, running away, cruelty to animals, accident prone, headaches, destroying possessions, eating problems, convulsions, and...