John Gacy Research Paper Outline

Topic: Serial Killers: Who John Gacy is, the theory of the fictional character the Joker, and how the concept of serial killers relate to psychology.

Goal Statement: By the end of our presentation the audience will know who John Gacy is, the theory behind the famous fictional character of the Joker, and the relationship between serial killers and psychology.

Introduction

Attention Device: Approximately there are between 35 and 50 active serial killers in the United States at any given time. Two of the most common reasons serial killers commit murder are:

ENJOYMENT (48%)

Anger and aggression

Body of the Speech:

Who is John Gacy and what is his history that lead him to kill?

In a book Called Mind of a Murderer, two agents Robert Ressler

and John Douglas in the 1970’s developed the behavioral science unit focusing on serial crimes, interviewing 36 incarcerated individuals, one being John Gacy.
“For the study they researched how the person was raised, indifferent negligent parents, psychiatric history, poor employment record, IQ usually above average, paraphilia, abuse physical”(Ramsland). As researchers, it is important to know the perpetrators state of mind.
John Gacy was eleven years old when he was hit on the head with a swing causes a blood clot where he persistently “blacks out”. His father was an alcoholic who verbally abused John while he was growing up. He was a well liked man in Illinois and his community. Gacy was charged with sexually assaulting a minor but the accuser never showed so the case was thrown out. Gacy went through two divorces. Gacy was a contractor where he asked his workers to dig grave like holes. He also dressed up like a clown and entertained sick kids in the hospital. After Rob Piest went missing and speaking to John Gacy last, John became a suspect for the murder. There was an odor lingering from Johns house. The police requested a search warrant and found many dead bodies under the floor boards. Several other bodies including Rob Piest were found in a river. There was a total off 33 young men that have been slaughtered by John Gacy.
John Gacy’s several claims for murdering these victims.
1. Each one of the men came over for drugs and alcohol and Gacy killed them in self-defense or because they deserved it.
2. Upon his arrest he pretended to have an altered personality whom he called John Hanley.
He claimed he blacks out and has no recollection of what happened, however they found maps of where to place the bodies.
According to Ramsland, “Through interviews with him she found that he committed these murders through: anger and aggression. ( most of it from the mental abuse from his father whom persistently called him stupid and dumb)(he could never please his father)”(Ramsland).
 Gacy pled not guilty by reason of insanity but was determined to be legally sane by the court. He was convicted of the serial rape and murder of his victims and sentenced to death on March 13, 1980.

The Joker

The Joker is so popular today because he expresses Existential values and ideals in such an entertaining way. There are many theories that contribute to the Joker’s actions and motives.
He was abused by his father as a child; therefore, the Joker had an issue with authority figures and social construct.
According to Anti Essays, “ Sigmund Freud would most likely say that the Jokers fixation in the ID stage would be due to complications during his childhood causing an imbalance in the ID, Ego and Superego”.

The Joker lacks the Ego and superego because he always goes by his instincts. This is why he always wants to be alone and he has trust issues. This was from the traumatic experiences he had at home.

He doesn’t trust anyone to look after him so he looks at himself following his own rules.

The Joker resents Batman because Batman represents order.

According to Know Tyself , “The cosmic irony is this: The Joker is, really, the sane one and Batman is the delusional one. Batman fights for Justice - for righteousness. And not only that, but he goes around in a giant bat suit to defend these socially constructed, arbitrary, subjective concepts that don't have any objective substance in reality.”

According to Nichols, "Society's morals, their code ... it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. You'll see. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these civilized people ... they'll eat each other.” The joker; therefore, represents a realist in society. Although his realism generally has a negative view on society it still has validity because society is reactive and will do whatever it takes to save themselves.

How John Gacy and the Joker relate to

Psychology

As stated before, two of the most common motives serial killers murder is due to either enjoyment or anger and aggression. Both John Gacy and the Joker acted upon aggression and hatred towards their fathers.
Father figures are typically seen as symbols of authority and order. Both the Joker and John Gacy had a very bad and abusive father, therefore, the Joker had a hatred for authority and order and John Gacy acted out by murdering 33 young men.
John Gacy was a clown because that was his side job entertaining children. The Joker was a clown based off of two theories. One was he fell into a pit of toxic waste and the second theory was gang members symbolically at that time used to slit their mouths to show their involvement. There is a grey area as to whether the Joker was apart of the gang or was a victim of the gang.
Self determination theory might be one of the factors that contributed to John Gacy and the Jokers actions.

This theory focuses on life concerns including the fears, angers, and frustrations associated with not full filling ongoing and central psychological needs. Both the Joker and John Gacy struggled with cultural world views and internalization.

According to Psychological Inquiry, “Strong evidence suggests that people who have become serial killers have typically suffered from sever over control, humiliation, neglect, or all of these from the individuals who should have cared for them at an early age”.

  According to the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, “Two Psychologists Ressler & Shachtman said that Possible biological contributions include head injury involving brain damage, brain anomalies, and faulty genetics. Familial contributions include the physical absence or lack of personal involvement by one or both parents and alcohol or drug dependency by one or both parents.”( John Gacy was hit in the head as an eleven year old resulting in a brain injury which indicates a biological issue and both John and the Joker experienced abuse as a

child).

For Future Studies

What we learned from this research is that most serial killers are motivated by internal issues or chemical imbalances in the brain.
As “experts” we intend to further analyze the psychological imbalances that go into serial killers. For both John Gacy and the Joker it was external factors that contributed to their behavior from childhood abuse. Both John Gacy and the Joker were declared “sane”; however, we have an interest in analyzing other serial killers in the future. We intend to study disorders such as specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, depressive disorders, schizophrenia, thought disorder, personality disorders, etc, that might contribute to serial killers and their delinquent actions.