Research Paper Psyc 475

Abstract

The FBI considers Aileen Wuornos to be the first predatory female serial killer. Wuornos was accused of killing seven men with a .22 caliber pistol and leaving their bodies in the Florida woods near an interstate highway between 1989 and 1990. Some believe that Wuornos as an independent strong woman that is a hero for defending herself against these men, others believe she was a psychopathy that suffered from integrated attachment theory and predatory aggressions as well as other personality disorders. Wuornos's mother abandoned her as a child, and her father was prison for raping a seven-year-old girl. Adopted by her grandparents, Wuornos was emotionally and physically abused growing up. All of these factors led her to a life of crime.

Throughout history, there have been several women convicted of murder and multiple homicides. However, the FBI considers Aileen Wuornos to be the first predatory female serial killer (Hamilton, 1993). Wuornos was accused of killing seven men with a .22 caliber pistol and leaving their bodies in the Florida woods near an interstate highway between 1989 and 1990. In 1991 Wuornos was arrested, she confessed to the killings but claimed they were in self-defense. She said the men were attempting to rape her and assaulting her (DellaSanta-Percy C. , 2002). Was Aileen Wuornos a serial killer or did she truly kill these men in self-defense? Some believe that Wuornos as an independent strong women that is a hero for defending herself against these men (Jenkins, 2012). Others believe she was a psychopathy that suffered from integrated attachment theory and predatory aggressions as well as other personality disorders (Arrigo,B.A.,& Griffin,A., 2004). Psychopaths can be successful in business or become strong leaders; not all psychopaths are driven to kill. However, when it is easy to degrade others, and have had a lifetime of abuse and rejection, murder might seem like a natural choice.

Psychosocial Background

Aileen "Lee" Carol Wuornos was born in 1956 in Detroit, Michigan to adolescent alcoholic parents who divorced around the time of her birth. Wuornos father was convicted of raping a seven-year-old girl and was in prison in Kansas. At nine months old, her mother abandoned her and her brother. Wuornos's alcoholic grandparent Lauri and Britta Wuornos, adopted her and her brother. Lauri was an emotionally abusive to Wuornos calling her derogatory manes such as "whore" as well as physically abusive beating her on a regular basis. Britta overlooked the abuse and was emotionally abusive to Wuornos. (Myers, W., Mad., 2005).

At age, 10 Wuornos began to shoplift and smoke. She had a terrible temper and was a habitual liar. Her peers were scared of her outburst and temper therefore she had very few friends. Wuornos first sexually experience is believed to have happened between the ages of ten and twelve years of age. It is believed to have happened with her grandfather or her brother. Wuornos grew up believing that her grandparents were her biological parents. When she was 13 years old, her father committed suicide by hanging himself while in incarcerated. Lauri and Britta decided to tell Wuornos and her brother the truth about the family, Wuornos never came to terms with this news (DellaSanta-Percy, 2002).

Wuornos begin to exchange sexually favors for money, cigarettes, beer, and drugs with the teenage boys in the neighborhood. By age 14, she was pregnant. She gave birth to a son and gave the baby up for adoption. Her grandmother died when she was 15 years old. Then at 17 years old, she dropped out of high school. Within the next two years, Wuornos's brother died of cancer and her grandfather committed suicide (DellaSanta-Percy, 2002).

Wuornos began living on the streets at age 15. She was relying on prostitution to support herself. While working as a prostitute she reported being beaten, or raped by "johns" at least 12 times (Myers, W., M.D., 2005). "Wuornos was never any kind of happy hooker" (Greenberg, 2004, p. 16). She worn sneakers and roadside gear and attracted "homebound husbands with a yen for the gutter, as well as rough trade with more sinister urges" (Greenberg, 2004, p. 16). There were two of six suicide attempts by Wuornos between the ages of 14 and 22.

At age 20, Wuornos married a man fifty years older than her. The marriage lasted sixty days and ended with a restraining order against her for beating her husband with his own Cain. After her divorce, she was arrested several times for Assault and Battery, Disorderly Conduct, Driving under the Influence and two weapons charges. She moved around a lot and sometimes lived with her sister. She did not work on a regular basis. In 1981, Wuornos robbed a convenient store, she was charged with Robbery with a Deadly Weapon. She spent three years in prison in Florida. In 1985, she was arrested again for forging bad checks adding up $5,595. She did not show up to her court hearing. During this same time, she confessed to prostituting herself at times 25-30 times a day. This is also when Wuornos met Tyria Moore, this relationship last four and a half years during which time Wuornos committed all seven murders (Hamilton, 1993).

Was Aileen Wuornos a Serial Killer?

The FBI classifies Aileen Wuornos as the first female serial killer. "Serial killers are mainly white male drifters, obsessed with pornography and woman-hatred, who sexually use their victims, either before or after killing them, and who were themselves paternally abused children" (Chesler, 2012, p. 14). Each year in the United States, thousands of women disappear; this may be due to serial killers. Many of these women are prostitutes. The murderers who kill prostitutes believe they are worthy of death and are rarely found or convicted of their crime. According to Chesler (2012), "Wuornos does not fit the general description of a serial killer." Wuornos was not interested in pornography; she did not hate women or men, and did not sexually abuse her victims. Wuornos's testified in her trail at least fifty times that she acted in self-defense, she claimed that the men were going to rape, beat, and kill her. Serial killers do not claim they killed in self-defense (Chesler, 2012).

According to Leung (2005), "A serial killer is defined as a person who attacks and kills victims one by one in a series of incidents. These individuals usually kill more than three people on different occasions within 14 days." Wuornos admitted killing seven men from December 1989 to November 1990. There are several types of serial killers, one type being the Gain Serial Killer. This killer kills to