Charles Manson Essay

Charles was born November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio (Jennifer Rosenburg). His mother, Kathleen Maddox, gave birth to Charles at the young age of sixteen (Jennifer Rosenburg). At the age of thirteen, Charles stole a vehicle and committed robberies (About Charles Manson). This was just the beginning for Charles, he resided in boys homes, jail, and prison most of his life. After Charles was paroled his second time in 1967, he began searching for people to control. “While Charles was in San Francisco, he started attracting groups of young drop outs and runaways” (About Charles Manson). “He took advantage of this confusion and injected himself into their lives as a father figure and a lover. Manson called his group the 'family' and they drifted in and out of towns,” Criminal Profiling

Charles Manson had a way of picking up on people’s weaknesses and fears, and used it against them. He preyed on vulnerability and, as Linda James said, he offered them wealth and perfect relationships (Fennel, 1993). And, although his claims were extraordinary, he was able to attract a good amount of followers.

At the age of twenty-six Charles Manson was sent to the US penitentiary. By 1959 Charles had been committed of rape, drug use, pimping, stealing, and fraud. Manson was emotionally insecure and was lacking attention.

He believed that waging a war between races was the right thing to do. Any sane person would be able to tell that waging war is wrong in this aspect. However, due to the Anti-social Personality Disorder, Charles Manson was unable to see the error in his ways. Also, those with Anti-social Personality Disorder then to exploit those around them. In the case of Manson, he manipulated his followers into committing murder for him by using religion. This trait could also be connected to the superiority complex that is often found in those with Anti-social Personality Disorder. Those with this disorder may consider themselves superior to those around them. This was evident in Manson as he claimed to be both the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and Satan. This sense of superiority over his followers allowed Manson to manipulate them as he saw fit and continuously fueled his delusions of grandeur. Manson fit other symptoms that fit this disease as well. Manson undoubtedly has Anti-social Personality Disorder.

Antisocial personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2007). It is often characterized by blatant inattention to social norms and laws, pathological lying, putting others at risk for personal benefit, and an obvious lack of remorse (NIMH, 2007). One of the most notorious people with this disorder is Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer and necrophiliac whose sexual nature and gruesome offenses captured the nation’s attention (Talbott, n.d.). This paper will attempt to provide an overview of Dahmer’s life, as well as explain how both nature and nurture played roles in not only the production of a criminal, but also in the personality of all people.

Manson was happy with the death of those six people, but was upset with the sloppiness of that night’s murders (“Manson Family Murders”). “Last night was too messy, Manson told the group when they assembled back into their bunkhouse. This time I’m going to show you how to do it” (Bugliosi 355). After driving for hours Manson stopped at a house in the suburbs. He had his ‘Family’ drive around the block while he looked through the window. After a few minutes Manson returned to the car and told them that the house had pictures of children. He continued on to

One of the first things that come to people’s minds when they hear the word psychopath is Ted Bundy. Bundy spent most of the 1970’s killing 30 or more young woman who happened to resemble his ex-girlfriend in some way. The exact time and number of Bundy’s kills will likely never be known. Ted Bundy is what is considered a successful psychopath. Psychopathy is a form of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Not every person with ASPD is a psychopath, but every psychopath has ASPD. No one knows exactly what causes this disorder, but there has been some speculation over the decades. The two main ideas is that an genetic influence causes psychopathy or an environmental influence causes psychopathy. The neurotransmitter MAOA has been linked to several brain structural differences in the brains of a psychopath when compared to the brain of a non-psychopathic person. Multiple studies have linked childhood abuse to the psychopathy development. Both of these causes have been shown to influence psychopathy development but it is my hypothesis that genetics hold

"Mr. Scott, Ms. Maddox? Here's your baby boy!" These were the first words that Kathleen Maddox heard when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, to whom she would later give her maiden name. Charles Milles Manson, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 11, 1934 (FAQ's 1), seemed to be a normal child, when, in fact, he was trouble from the start. The two had not planned to have a child, and certainly did not expect him to end up being the most notorious killer of the 20th century. In the summer of 1969, Manson made the residents of California afraid to leave their homes (Fillmer 2). Charlie Manson committed grotesque crimes, controlled his trials, and now resides in the California State Prison (FAQ's 1).

Charles Manson is an extremely intelligent and persuasive man, that created his own cult and manipulated people to kill for him, which led to his never being found guilty of committing murder, although serving time in jail for conspiracy to commit murder. His followers carried out several notorious murders in the late 1960’s. The cult was known as the Manson Family. He was roughly in his thirties when the cult was recognized. Born in Ohio in 1934 he did not have much of a childhood. He lived out most of his childhood moving around. His mother couldn’t take care of him so Charles spent his youth at homes of various relatives. He also spent large amounts of time in special reform schools and boys homes. By the age nine Manson had already began stealing. Burglary and stealing cars were added to his repertoire. As he grew older his crimes became more frequent.

These are some of the most infamous names in the history of murder, but they hid in plain sight, and Manson did not even commit murder. He was so manipulative he could convince others to do his bidding for him. How is that even possible? Surely one would be able to recognize someone who is such a dangerous threat or would they? One of the reasons these killers can be so successful is their ability to blend into their surroundings and at times even be considered a stand up member of the communities they live in, but what is going on inside their brains?

Charles Manson had two disorders. He was schizophrenic and he had a paranoid delusional disorder. His mother was a prostitute, and only sixteen years old when she had him. When he was younger, he was aggressively anti-social. He spent most of his middle school and high school years in three boy’s homes and in juvenile detention. After a while, he became the leader in what’s

As I’ve said previously, the life of Charles Manson revolved around interpersonal violence. From an early age Manson was the victim of child neglect – his mother (Kathleen Maddox) would leave him with neighbors, “for an hour, then disappear for days or weeks,”

Manson started his cult not only on his religious beliefs, but on his belief that society had given him a rough past and Manson wanted payback for the resentment he had gotten in his childhood. Therefore, he created a cult to kill.

Most know Manson as a notorious cult leader who inspired his followers to do the unthinkable. Upon reaching age 34, Manson chose to start a “family” (Abbas). However, this one would be far different than any other family to ever exist. He pushed the boundaries of sanity for several young girls whom he lured into his evil movement. Charles believed that an enormous race war would bring about the end of the world. He predicted that African Americans would prevail. During all of this, he planned to hide out with his family in the desert, only to emerge and take over the world because he thought the African Americans would be unfit to lead themselves. He even referenced himself as Jesus Christ incarnate (Abbas). All of Manson’s predictions came from what he thought were hidden messages in the song “Helter Skelter” by the Beetles (Henderson). It seemed as if all that was left to do was wait for the end to come.

The two perspectives that seem to best explain the life of Charles Manson are sociocultural and behavioral. The behavioral perspective represents learned behaviors. At an early age Manson was around drugs, drinking, and prostitution. Naturally Manson learned that these things were ok. His mother was a prostitute that wanted nothing to do with her son; she also had a drug problem. Manson grew up in and out of prison and developed a drug and alcohol problem. Manson could not have a functioning relationship, his first wife left him due to him being in and out of jail. Manson second wife was a prostitute and divorced Manson after he was arrested for pimping, stealing, and conning. After being released from prison Manson headed to San Francisco where he played guitar. Manson began to develop followers. Manson developed a need for followers, he and his followers moved to a ranch and soon it became a cult compound for “the family.” The consequences of Manson’s actions were reinforced each time he was thrown into prison but let right back out, or each time he was allowed probation. He was able to commit the crimes knowing he would just be back in jail and shortly