An Assessment of
Charles Manson: Two Points of View on a Killer’s Personality
Crystal L. Boyanski
Columbia College
Abstract
There are many theories about what shapes an individual’s personality and when following these approaches, sense can be made of a certain person’s behavior. Charles Manson is a well-known serial killer whose personality is reflective of two specific personality theorists’ views. Sigmund Freud, whose psychosexual stages of development could explain some of the traits held by Manson. Karen Horney was another theorist whose views on childhood love and nurturing, or lack of it, could explain Charles Manson’s personality. Gathered information on
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Charles Manson ended up on the streets and this led to his life of crime. By 1952, Charles had spent 17 years, which was half his life, imprisoned. He had 8 assault charges already. While in prison, Charles Manson was known as a model inmate and he even got released against his wishes because he felt he could not adjust to the world. (Rosenberg, 2009) He also fathered two children, one by his ex wife and one by another woman.
In the 1960’s, Manson gathered hundreds of followers which he called “The Family.” They lived on a deserted ranch. Most of Manson’s followers were impressionable young females and he used LSD and amphetamines to help manipulate and convince them to act out his wishes. He slowly broke down his follower’s beliefs and made them believe that he was Jesus and that a race war was impending. Eventually Manson’s most loyal followers carried out his acts of violence and left seven people dead. In 1969, police raided the ranch on suspicions of vandalism, unaware of the murders committed until after the arrests. Charles Manson has been labeled “The Icon of Evil.” (Rosenberg, 2009)
Charles Manson had a long history of neglect and abandonment since his childhood and this may have played a role in the development of his personality. The psychoanalytic analysis could argue that since he spent his childhood and feeling he had no control of his life due to the instability, this could have led to his personality traits.
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
Charles was placed in a boys school at an early age. Charles ran back to her, but she didn't take him back. By 1951, Manson began spending time in prison, and early on, before he discovered the benefits of being a model prisoner, he was considered dangerous. He would eventually spend half of the first 32 years of his life behind bars. His life began to change, Biography online says, “A new chapter in his life began in 1955 when he married a 17-year-old girl and moved with her to California. She became pregnant, but Manson resumed a life of crime again, once again stealing cars” (Charles Manson: Biography). By 1958, Manon had been in and out of jail for a variety of offenses, including “pimping” (Charles Manson: Biography). Also, he was in prison for passing stolen checks, and he was also sent to McNeil Island prison in Washington State for 10 years. During this time he
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,”
Charles Manson and his followers murdered about 35 people in total. Charles Manson's murders became the worst in history because of his cruel ways, manipulation, and psychopathic manner. Charles Manson was born on November 12th, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio (Jabion and Rogers). Charles had lots of trouble in his early life. Wiehl and Rother add “He had served nearly a decade for driving stolen cars and prostitutes over state
Since his birth, Charles Manson has led a life of rejection, jealousy, and incarceration. Due to his absent parents, he began a life of crime which eventually led him to manipulate a group of people who were responsible for multiple deaths and assaults in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Charles Manson’s hectic childhood led to his life of crime and caused his imprisonment for life.
When people hear the name Charles Manson, people automatically think of the string of horrible murders this man was involved in during the summer of 1969. Charles Manson is infamous for creating “the Manson Family” and sought to create a war between races with his followers. The book Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, the main prosecutor in the Manson trial, chronicled the murders carried out by Manson and his followers, the trial following the murders, as well as the psychological diseases that may affect Manson as a person. Manson is responsible for several murders, including that of the pregnant Sharon Tate and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. While Manson never took part in the physical murders, he was
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
His followers claimed that he was their “God”. They said that he made them feel like they were one with him and that he could be whatever they wanted him to be. Manson had manipulated them to thinking they could do nothing or be nothing without them.
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
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.
Charles Manson is notoriously connected to the brutal border of Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents. Born Charles Milles Maddox to sixteen year old Kathleen Maddox, Charles was born into mayhem. Kathleen was an alcoholic and a prostitute; she was not very accepting of her son and showed him no love. Kathleen married William Mason and quickly that marriage dissolved. Fighting for his mother’s attention Charles left his home and lived on the streets. Manson began to do petty crime to get by. Charles Manson spent about half of his life in prison; he was noted for being a model prisoner. In 1955 Charles got married to a seventeen year old and moved to California. She became pregnant and soon after Manson began his life of crime,
Troubled childhoods lie behind many criminals, and Charles Manson is no different. On November 12, 1934, Charles Milles Manson was born to a drug abusing, criminally involved, 16-year-old girl in Ohio (“Manson Family”). She is said to have sold him for a single pitcher of beer (Henderson). As one can expect, this was only the start of an extremely troubled life. By the age of 9, Manson had gone from residing with family members to living at reformatory schools. He was beginning to follow in his mother’s footsteps, also committing his first theft at this age (Henderson). Young Charlie’s life would take an even sharper downward turn as the years progressed.
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?
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.
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.