Mental Illness in Criminals
Mental illness has been found in some of the most nefarious killers in history. That doesn’t necessarily mean that every criminal has a mental disorder or everyone with a mental illness is a criminal. But just to be safe in the wake of the crime committed forensic psychologists will investigate the mental correlation and criminality. They will ask questions like: “Did the accused have a troubled childhood? Does (s)he exhibit empathy for others? Does (s)he self-medicate with drugs or alcohol?” To get to the root of the problem.
If left untreated severe mental illness is significant in homicide- the extreme end of the spectrum of criminals. Illness is even more significant for mass murders of strangers. Compared to imprisonment, treating a person who is mentally ill in a mental institution is more expensive. Although expanded availability of treatment could save you in the road ahead. Spending those 90 days in the hospital might save you 10 years in prison. Early treatment is very helpful, many illnesses can be helped if treated before the first episode of psychosis.
There are three common disorders associated with serial killers they are Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder.
The definition of Schizophrenia is “a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation.” This is one of the most common mental illnesses diagnosed among criminals, it is especially common in serial killers. Some of the killers that had this are, Ed Gein, David Berkowitz(Son of Sam), Richard Chase(the vampire of Sacramento), David Gonzalez, Jared Lee Loughner, and James Eagan Holmes.
Ed Gein was the inspiration for Leather Face, Norman Bates, and Buffalo Bill after he snatch dead bodies from cemeteries and dismember them keeping parts as “trophies” around the house. After being diagnosed with Schizophrenia and was pronounced insane, he was committed to a mental hospital. After 10 years he was declared fit to stand in trial, in November 1968 he was found “not guilty by reason of insanity” and was sentenced to live out his life in psychiatric institutions.
“The Vampire of Sacramento” or Richard Chase was known for killing 6 people in a month and drinking their blood and cannibalizing their remains. As a child he exhibited evidence of the three parts of the Macdonald triad: bed wetting, arson, and animal cruelty. This is all seen as indicators to violent tendencies in the future. After his killing spree he stood on trial and was found guilty after being rejected for “not guilty by reason of insanity”.
David Berkowitz or “Son of Sam” was adopted into a childless family, his adoptive mother later died and he became estranged with his adoptive father after he remarried. At age 17 he joined the army and was discharged, once being released he began contact with his birth mother who gave him news of his illegitimate birth, which greatly disturbed him. He then began to loose his sense of identity. Killing 6 people he was questioned and explained that his neighbor had sent messages through his dog and had commanded him to kill these people. The dog was a demon-possessed Labrador retriever named Harvey. Due to these claims he underwent psychological evaluations, but was able to stand on trial and was sentenced 25 years to life for each of his murders.
Borderline Personality Disorder “this disease is characterized by impulsive behaviors, intense mood swings, feelings of low self worth, and problems in interpersonal relationships”. It is one of the most common diseases in female criminals. Some of the infamous serial killers have been diagnosed with this disease. These include Aileen Wuornos, Jefferey Dahmer, and Kristen H. Gilbert.
Aileen Wurnos murdered seven men by shooting them point blank, she claimed that her victims had either tried to rape her or raped her while she was in the line of prostitution. She claimed that her homicides were all in self-defense. She was put on trial and at her sentencing psychiatrists for the defense testified and said she was mentally unstable and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. She was sentenced to death row in Florida four days later by lethal injection. “I killed those men,” she wrote, “robbed them as cold as ice. And I’d do it again, too. There’s no chance in keeping me alive or anything, because I’d kill again. I have hate crawling through my system…I am so sick of hearing this ‘she’s crazy’ stuff. I’ve been evaluated so many times. I’m competent, sane, and I’m trying to tell the truth. I’m one who seriously hates human life and would kill again.”
Jeffrey Dahmer “Milwaukee Cannibal” killed, raped, dismembered, and ate 17 boys and men. Many of his later murders involved cannibalism, necrophilia, and permanent preservation of body parts- usually the the skeleton. Dahmer was found to be legally sane at his trial although he was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and psychotic disorder. He was charged for 15 terms of life for all of the murders he committed, then one more surfaced and that was added on. In 1994 he was beaten to death by a fellow inmate.
Antisocial Personality Disorder “known in the past as “psychopathy,” this mental disorder is characterized by a total disregard of the feelings of others. People with APD may lie, act out violently, or break the law and show no remorse” Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Charles Manson were all suffers of this disease.
Charles Manson was a criminal and cult leader. He began to form the Manson Family, his followers committed a series of 9 homicides. He was arrested then released in 1967, and he took his cult and moved to San Francisco later moving to a deserted ranch. Four members of his Family committed the Tate Murders where they killed five innocent people. They invaded the home of 8 and a half month pregnant Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski. They killed Tate, three of her friends, and an 18 year old visitor. The murders were carried out by Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel. Manson has a history of mental health issues including schizophrenia and paranoid delusional disorder and has been too great of a danger to release on parole.
How does mental illness need to be addressed in reports of criminal behavior? In some cases do people with mental illnesses become criminals but not in every case. There is so much controversy with how we should handle criminals with mental illness and it may never be solved.
