Why Is Albert Fish Considered A Psychopathic Killer?

When discussing horrific psychopathic killers throughout history, there are many people that make us question how and why someone could act in such gruesome ways. While there are many names we could pull from when it comes to psychopathic killers, not many would come close to the deranged Albert Fish. Sometimes referred to as the “Gray Man” or the “Brooklyn Vampire”, Albert Fish had a strange obsession and fetish for pain, and murdered with the intent of sexual gratification, which often ended with the consumption of his victims. Albert Fish is widely referred to as the inspiration for the character of Hannibal Lecter. In order to analyze the origins of Fish’s criminal tendencies, it is important to pay attention to his early childhood and

adolescence, and then take a look at the lasting impacts of the difficulties he may have faced. By applying Displaced Aggression theory, we can attempt to create an understanding of the forces that led Albert Fish to live the life he chose. Expansion into Triggered Displaced Aggression theory will help provide more insight into the life and crimes of Albert Fish. While it may not apply to every psychopath the same way, applying Triggered and Displaced Aggression theory can help understand past psychopaths such as Fish, and hope to isolate future offenders to prevent future victims.
Displaced Aggression can be defined as aggression that is built up either quickly or over a long period of time that can have very complex mental impacts (Moschkowski, Kross, & Bushman, 2012). The built up anger can come from many sources, but children or pare most often victims through their parents (Miller, Pedersen, Earleywine, & Pollock, 2003). The definition of displaced aggression claims that when anger had been built up without a proper outlet that eventually claims a victim for which the anger was not intended, yet was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time (Moschkowski et. al, 2012). This theory provides an advanced look into the lives of psychopaths and serial killers as it allows us to point our direction to a tangible source of frustration that can hopefully be controlled in the future for others, with the goal of preventing as many unnecessary victims as possible.
Albert Fish born in 1870 to Randall and Ellen Fish.

At the time of his birth, his father was aged seventy-five years and his mother was thirty-one years of age (Rawlins, 2003). Fish’s family had a history of mental illnesses. At the age of five, Fish’s father passed away and his family could not function properly without him. Up to this point, Fish had been part of an unhealthy household in terms of mild conflict but was not physically abused in any way. The relationship between his mother and father was not ideal, and there were often high levels of stress in the atmosphere (Taylor, 2004). Fish’s mother saw the father’s death as a sort of escape and placed Fish in an orphanage. It was at this point in his life that Fish experienced major abuse and psychological trauma in the form of punishment from the orphanage workers (Rawlins, 2003). Fish was addicted to masochistic activities, and was reported to often inflict pain on himself with the purpose of self-pleasure. By analyzing the ways Fish acted in his early life and comparing it to the early trauma he endured, it is evident that the two have a strong connection to one

another.
Displaced Aggression in youth is shown to be a very powerful and important factor in the way children develop (Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Thomaes, Bushman, & Telch, 2013). The first source of aggression we can trace in Fish’s life could be the loss of his father at a young age. Rawlins states that Fish lost his father at the age of five (2003), which would have a large impact in the early childhood of Fish. The inability to help the family or help his mother at such a young age could lead to psychological strain and a feeling of weakness that could be translated into his later crimes, as he felt the need of dominance and being in control.
While his father was very old, his loss led to many negative impacts on Fish’s wellbeing, the most important change being moved to an orphanage (Rawlins, 2003). At the orphanage, Fish witnessed many physically and mentally brutal activities. On a regular basis, the staff of the orphanage would physically and mentally torture the children either for self-pleasure or with the intent to condition the children into obeying their orders. As the years progressed, Fish began to enjoy his beatings. On one occasion, Fish was receiving a beating and the other children noticed he had an erection and he was tormented for that fact from thereon. The relationship between the frustration of being tormented for his fetish and being beaten daily can form an evident correlation with his desire to torture and torment children during the later years of his life. This displaced aggression from the young ages at an orphanage remained built up until Fish went on his sprees of molestation and murder. The negative behaviour from the orphanage could be considered a trigger, as relating to the theory of Triggered Displaced Aggression (Miller et al., 2003).
Displaced Aggression theory is one that has the most relevance to the situation of Albert Fish for many reasons. One of the main theories presented by (Nesdale & Duffy, 2011) states that there are very evident negative impacts of peer rejection. The rejections from peer groups can lead to negative impacts such as depression, low self-esteem, and anger. Depression can be seen in Fish’s relentless pursuit for sexual gratification, which can be attributed to his attempt to escape depression (Bartol & Bartol, 2014). Fish’s lowered self-esteem would push him to feel the need for dominance, which he gained by being sexually abusive with his victims and eventually consuming their bodies to gain a sense of dominance. Moreover, the anger that Fish experienced from these traumatic experiences built up inside his mind and led him into a state of displaced aggression, which resulted in triggered reaction when encountering people with desirable traits (Bartol & Bartol, 2014).
Later in Fish’s life, he had many personal problems with his relationships. After a marriage that resulted in six children, his wife eventually left Fish for another man (Rawlins, 2003). It is highly likely that Fish’s wife saw his abnormal tendencies early on and decided to get out for the wellbeing of the children and herself. This was another point of abandonment for Fish that resulted in a high level stress and social embarrassment. This event was a large trigger for the displaced aggression against his mother for originally abandoning him and also for the feelings of pain when he arrived at the orphanage. Following his wife leaving him, Fish seemed to have a large chain of psychotic practices. On one instance, his son caught Fish spanking himself with a paddle that had nails sticking out, which caused serious injuries upon his body (Taylor, 2004). After losing his wife, Fish had many more short-term relationships. This was one of many psychopathic tendencies exhibited by Fish.
The eventual question we are led to is why Fish felt the need to commit such foul acts when others in similar situations might not have the same outcomes. Bushman & Baumeister present a very large argument that states that threatened egotism, narcissism, and self-esteem have a large part to do with how people react when they have been taken aback by a loss (1998). The research discussed how the link between self-views and the hostile aggressionism, and spoke of how a self-esteem level being too high or low can lead to imbalances that cause delinquent tendencies (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998). As a result of the major losses Fish repetitively took, whether it be the loss of his father, moving to the orphanage, losing his wives, or anything in between all added up to lower his self-esteem and cause him to feel like a lesser being. Because Fish had a lowered level of self-esteem and self-worth, he felt a heightened need for domination over situations, and his anger was displaced upon innocent children that had done nothing wrong other than remind Fish of his terrible childhood. Through Displaced Aggression theory, we can expand on the thinking of Bushman and Baumeister (1998) by adding the facts we know about Albert Fish’s past, and attributing his flawed history to his criminal tendencies.
When researching Displaced Aggression theory, there are certain branched of the theory that stick out particularly during the discussion of Albert Fish. One main branch that can be associated with the behaviour of Fish is Triggered Displaced Aggression theory. Essentially, this theory suggests that there are specific triggers that will offset the subject when it comes to the terms of their aggression. The aggression is essentially packaged into certain parts of Albert Fish’s life that comes to reality in certain situations (Vasquez, et al., 2013). When tracing backwards in his life, we can see the initial formation of resentment against other young children was when Fish joined the orphanage (Rawlins, 2003). From thereon, Fish developed a trigger that responded to a certain trait of children that reminded him of the way he was treated in the facility. When discussing his move to the orphanage, the change in atmosphere reminded Fish of abandonment from his mother, which was repeated when he lost his wife for the first time. These triggers formed a part of Fish that resented abandonment and had strong ties to his self-esteem, making him feel like a loser and loner, which may easily relate back to the initial abuse at the orphanage (Vasquez, et al., 2013).
One of the greatest triggers in the mind of Fish comes in the form of children that are weaker or vulnerable.

This bring us to one of the most gruesome cases related to Albert Fish in which he brutally murdered and consumed the body of young Gracie Budd. Apparently Fish had initially planned to do the same process to Gracie’s father, but upon realizing how vulnerable she was, Fish chose to take advantage of Gracie (Taylor, 2004). This is a direct example of how Fish had a special trigger that made him attached to vulnerable children (Miller, Pedersen, Earleywine, & Pollock, 2003). This can be traced back to the way Fish was aroused by the abuse he endured at a young age (Vasquez, et al., 2013). While he did not enjoy being abused, he eventually chose to take the role of the abuser in order to feel right with himself. Relating to displaced aggression, the displacement of Fish’s feelings eventually caught up to his victims upon which he released the anger he had developed. Whether it be with or without direct triggers, Albert Fish was a gruesome man with severe mental deficiencies which led to his mental and social

collapse.
When discussing the cruel acts of serial killers throughout history, there will never be a theory under which we can define acts of all killers at one. However, in the case of Albert Fish, the theory of Displaced Aggression is able to effectively attempt to explain and discuss the reasons behind Fish’s horrendous history. By analyzing the early history behind Fish’s traumatic childhood, we are able to pull major keys regarding why he would act in certain ways that led to his spree of victims. Displaced Aggression is a unique theory that focuses mainly on how and why the killers came to their current states. In the case of Albert Fish, we can conclude that due to his traumatic beginnings, between the loss of a father and early abuse, Fish was off to a terrible start as a human being. To add on to the stress, the adaption into regular society was made difficult for Fish due to his family’s history with mental illness. Moreover, his sexual fetish for pain was fed by the trauma he enduring during abuse at the orphanage. In general, Displaced Aggression theory helps us state how the trauma and hardships Fish endures ended up causing aggression that could not be released until a much later date, which developed unhealthy tendencies by that point. In general, Albert Fish was an evil man. However, a classical school of thought can help us believe that Albert Fish was not born a criminal. Due to the aggravating circumstances Fish faced in his life, we can conclude that his possibility to live a normal life was decimated due to the circumstances he endured out of the decisions of people around him. It is hard to theorize what exactly could have changed this outcome, but it is possible that Fish could’ve lived a normal life if he had been more fortunate. The usage of Displaced Aggression theory helps us speak of how certain factors will lead to a problematic lifestyle, and certain triggers can lead to negative circumstances. With the case of Albert Fish, it is evident that his anger and aggression was displaced from many locations upon his victims. With the analyzation of Albert Fish, we can hope to prevent further damage to society and isolate at-risk victims to prevent future crimes from occurring.