Analytical Blog #1

Essential Question:

What psychological problems lead someone to commit heinous acts?

 

In the book, Serial Killers and Mass Murderers, By Niguel Cawthorne, each chapter addresses a specific killer with descriptions of their upbringings, psychological states, and the crimes they committed. One chapter touches on "The Boston Strangler," (Albert Desalvo) who brutally sexually assaulted all of his female victims before strangling them. One in five rapists/ molesters have experienced sexual abuse or trauma themselves. As I read more of the chapter, the author revealed that Desalvo witnessed his alcoholic father physically abuse his mother to the point of knocking her teeth out and breaking her fingers. He and his two sisters were sold to a farmer by his parents. Desalvo escaped, returning home to his father's care. His father taught him to shoplift, and forced him to watch as he had sexual intercourse with prostitutes. The traumatic images he saw drove his insatiable sexual desires, which he lost control of.  Research shows that witnessing abuse from a father figure or feeling unloved by them can cause sexually violent behavior. If Albert Desalvo had not seen such horrific things at the hands of his father, I believe he would not have raped and murdered thirteen innocent women.