Introduction
Theodor Robert Bundy (born Theodor Robert Conwell) is one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. However, Bundy was not like your ordinary serial killer, he was a very intelligent, good-looking man who was a master of manipulation. Bundy was able to take advantage of his intelligence and good looks to lure countless women to their deaths while remaining undetectable for many years.
The reason Ted Bundy went under the radar for years was because his lifestyle and personality did not fit any profile of past serial killers. However, there are a few theories that could be the root of his evil, the first theory that relates to Ted Bundy is the social control theory. Ted Bundy had a very dramatic childhood he grew up believing that his mother was actually his sister, and his grandparents were actually his parents. When he found out at the age of 13, he was devastated and felt as if he lost ties with his family. After his girlfriend broke up with him in college, he started his killing due to a loss of ties with society. Another theory that fits his killings is the social learning theory. Bundy was constantly exposed to violence and animal torture by his grandfather, who was characterized as an “abusive brute” by a psychiatrist (Michaud, 2019, p.18). Due to his exposure to violence at an early age, the social learning theory seems to be a prominent method when studying his motivations. The final theory that relates to his killings is the behavior theory because Bundy did not start his criminal acts with murder, he committed small-scale crimes and when they had no negative response, evolved to bigger crimes. These theories will be further discussed in the paper.
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Research Questions
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- How did Ted Bundy’s childhood affect his motivations for killing?
- Which criminal theory had the most impact on Ted Bundy?
Background of the Person/Crime
Ted Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1946 to a single mother, to avoid the negative stigma of an illegitimate birth Bundy’s grandparents acted as if they were his real parents, and his mother pretended to be his older sister. Bundy’s grandfather, Samuel Cowell, was a violent, and abusive man who many believe impregnated Bundy’s mother but there is no evidence to support that claim. (Michaud, S. G., & Aynesworth, H., 2012, p.56). However, Samuel exposed him to violence, animal torture, and pornography at a very young age. In 1987, family members told attorneys that Samuel Cowell was a bigot who hated blacks, Italians, Catholics, and Jews, beat his wife, and the family dog, and swung neighborhood cats by their tails.
(Michaud, S. G., & Aynesworth, H., 2012, p.330). Throughout high school, Bundy got arrested twice for the suspicion of burglary and auto theft but when he turned 18 the details were expunged from his record.
When Bundy got to college, he discovered the truth about his parents by finding his real birth certificate. Following this in 1968, he dropped out of college after only a year when his girlfriend broke up with him because she did not see him having a successful future, he then moved to Colorado to get away from everything. In the mid-1970s he re-enrolled in WVU, now focused and goal-orientated. He then graduated from WVU in 1972 and joined a government campaign. (Rule, 2000, p. 18-19). During the time he dropped out of college, he attempted his first kidnapping in Ocean City, New Jersey in 1969, but claims he did not kill anyone until 1971 in Seattle (Nelson, 1994, p. 282). This started his long reign of murders, however in 1975 Bundy got arrested, but managed to escape prison twice before his final arrest in 1978. Bundy was sentenced to the death penalty and put in the electric chair on January 24, 1989.
Ted Bundy earned the label of a serial killer, According to the FBI a serial killer is a person who has committed a series of three or more killings on separate occasions with a “cool-off” period in between (Serial Murder, 2010). Ted Bundy perfectly matches this description as he was found guilty of killing 30 women in seven different states over a four-year period (McElrath, 2015). Ted Bundy also fits the label of a psychopath because he was able to hold a job and act like a functioning member of society, however, he felt no remorse for any of his victims. In an interview with James Dobson, Bundy quoted “I’m the most cold-hearted son-of-a- bitch you’ll ever meet” and “I’m not going to kid you. I deserve certainly the most extreme punishment society has” (McElrath, 2015).
Social Control Theory
Possibly the biggest influence on Bundy’s murders stems from the social control theory. Hirschi’s social control theory states that humans are naturally deviant and must be controlled in order to prevent their involvement in crime. It states that criminal behavior stems from the absence of a controlling force, which in this case is a social bond that links an individual to society. The theory assumes when the bond is broken or weakened, a person is much more likely to engage in criminal activities. There are four elements to the bond: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. The main focus for Bundy is the attachment element which is the value that an individual places on their relationships with a significant other such as a parent, school, or peers (Hirshi, 1969).
This theory directly relates to Ted Bundy’s actions because he committed his first murder in 1971, which was shortly after he went through a traumatic time in his life when he found out that his mom was pretending to be his sister for his whole life, and his grandparents were pretending to be his parents. When he discovered this he expressed a lifelong resentment towards his mother for not telling him the truth about his birth, and his real father (Rule, 2000, p.55-56). This demonstrates a break in the attachment element of a relationship with his family, along with this his girlfriend also ended their relationship, which demonstrates another broken bond with a peer. It does not seem like a coincidence that his first murder occurred shortly after this.
Social Learning Theory
Akers’ social learning theory states that humans are neutral, neither deviant nor social, but human behavior is a result of interactions with other individuals, groups, and social institutions. The probability of an individual committing criminal behavior is a function of the balance of influences a person has in their life. The four main elements are differential associations, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation. The two main ones are deferential association and definitions. Differential association is the process through which a person is exposed to definitions as favorable or unfavorable to a particular behavior. Definitions are attitudes or meanings an individual attaches to a behavior. An individual who has a greater number of definitions favorable to deviant behavior is more likely to engage in crime (Akers and Sellers, 2004).
This theory relates to Samuel Cowell, Bundy’s father figure, who was a violent and abusive man. As stated before, Samuel was a bigot who used to beat his wife, and the dog, and swing the neighbor’s cats around by their tails. Growing up Bundy was exposed to this on a daily basis and because it was his father figure doing it, he did not think of it as wrong, instead he gave violence and abuse a favorable definition in his eyes. According to the social learning theory giving favorable definitions to deviant activities will make a person more likely to commit a crime, which is exactly what happened to Ted Bundy.
Behavioral Theory
The final theory is the behavioral theory, This theory is a psychological model that is based on punishments and rewards for a particular action. Schmalleger believes the theory is based on whether an action receives a positive response or a negative response. When a behavior results in a reward, the individual regards it as pleasurable and is likely to do it more frequently, when a behavior results in a negative reward, the frequency of that behavior will decrease (Schmalleger, 2009).
When looking at the crimes Bundy committed in his life this theory seems to be prominent. When Bundy was in high school he committed small crimes such as burglary and theft, however, when he could have gotten punished for these crimes they were instead expunged from his record giving him a positive response from the action of deviance, which based on the theory will increase the frequency of the action. This encouraged Bundy to continue his acts of deviance because he believed that there would not be a negative result from it, which encouraged the acts to get more deviant. From the small crimes, he then committed a kidnapping which he did not get caught doing, Because of another positive result it allowed him to continue his crime spree while increasing the magnitude of his crimes. Eventually, when he murdered his first person he did not get caught either, which again rewarded him with another positive reward which encouraged him to keep committing the same or worse acts.
References
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- Serial Murder. (2010, May 21). Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder#two. Prentice Hall, 2009.
- Schmalleger, Frank. Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. Columbus, Ohio: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.
- McElrath, A. (2015, April). A Necessity of Morals. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/sturesearch/94/.
- Michaud, Gaynesworth (2019). Ted Bundy: Conversations with a killer. S.l.: MIRROR BOOKS.
- Rule, A. (2000). The stranger beside me. London: Sphere.
- NELSON, P. O. L. L. Y. (2014). Defending The Devil: my story as Ted Bundy's last lawyer. S.l.: ECHO POINT BOOKS & MEDIA.
- Hirschi, Travis. 1969. Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Akers, Ronald L. and Christine Sellers. 2004. Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Company
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