Ted Bundy Psychology

Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.

Ted Bundy, is one of the United States’ most infamous serial killers, and portrayed a noteworthy model for an antisocial personality disorder (Bernstein & McCauley et al., 1997). Theodore Bundy was born, Theodore Robert Cowell, on November 24, 1946 in a group home for single mothers in Burlington, Vermont. His mother, in actuality his sister, Louise then marries in 1951, legally changing his last name to Bundy. Living in Washington, with his mother, Bundy attended school and remained, through college. Overall, Bundy was a satisfactory student; he had experienced some complications making friends, and a failed relationship, but appeared to have a bright future ahead of him (Salem Press, 2008).

Ted Bundy is known for charismatic personality, good looks, and charm; he is also known as the most organized murderer to have lived. Bundy would lure woman to his car using a number of excuses; he was handicap or else lost. Because he was so charming women would feel at ease around him and go where he asked. Once at his car, Bundy would grab and restrain the woman. He would then drive to a different location where he would beat and rape the woman until death. Finally he would drive to yet ANOTHER location to dispose of the body. In February 1978, Ted Bundy was finally captured and interviewed. As a child, raised by his grandparents, he showed no signs of previous abuse or neglect. He was raised well and sociable during high school where classmates report that he was well liked. After further analysis, Bundy was presumed to have low activity to his orbital frontal cortex; this is the part of the brain in charge of the conscious, and the “right or wrong” factor. This is not to say that Bundy had a deficiency that prevented him from knowing what he was doing. Just merely a common abnormality that should be noted. Bundy’s case supports the idea that an individual’s makeup can have an effect on their actions.

Ted Bundy attended college at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington. During this time, he took on various low-level jobs, such as being a busboy and a shoe clerk. Generally, he did not stay in one position for very long, which caused employers to view him as unreliable. He was always very focused on his studies and grades. In spring of 1967, he entered a life-changing relationship with his “dream woman,” a classmate of his at the University of

However, there are a select few as we saw within Ted Bundy’s case that they did not come from an abusive background. He grew up in a very loving home, with two very loving, and caring parents, so why did he still become a “monster?” From the studies, and interviews with him, he says that it is because of the pornography he was introduced to when he was young that put the thoughts of rape into his head. Yet, even though he personally said that it was the porn that enticed his interests, it is still argued that he may have been born with some sort of flaw within his brain. From the information that was found of his grandmother and her psychological problems may show that it can be a genetic problem. By these accounts, it would seem as if Ted Bundy would fall in between both the nature and nurture theories. He had psychological problems as well as, different encounters when he was younger, and when he was a teen that worked together to create his horrid ways.

Theodore “Ted” Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont on November 24, 1946, and later executed by the electric chair on January 24, 1989, after being convicted of a serial murder, rapist, and necrophiliac. Bundy brutally murdered and sexually assaulted 30 women but many believe that number to be higher. He would use his charm to lure these women, before engaging in sexual assault and murdering them. Bundy would also revisit some of his victims to again engage in sexual actions until their bodies would decompose. This essay will look at how the impact of Bundy’s disturbed childhood has one of the key factors of his psychotic behavior using attachment theory.

Ted Bundy was described as charming, handsome, charismatic, articulate, and intelligent. He was also known as one of the most horrific murders in the 20th century. Police suspect that he murdered over one - hundred women; all with the common theme of having a small waist and brunette hair. Starting at an early childhood his mother did not find any signs the Ted was anything close to the monster people thirty years later would find him to be. Ted was born Theodore Robert Cowell, born at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont on November 24th 1946.

He grew up in a constant working-class home (“Ted Bundy” Biography). He seemed to be growing up just fine but at the age of three, he seemed to have an interest in knives. Bundy was a good student in school and was very intelligent but didn't seem to get along with his other peers, he enjoyed creeping through windows and stealing without thinking anything of it (“Ted Bundy” Biography). As this may already be a sign of something wrong in this kids head he still managed to attend University of Washington and fall in love with a wealthy, pretty, smart girl from California(“Ted Bundy” Biography). After the breakup is when everything seems to have shifted, his victims resembled his ex-girlfriend with long dark brown hair(“Ted Bundy” Biography).

Ted Bundy had a hard life, he lived with mother and his step-father. John Philip Jenkins author of “Ted Bundy” stated. “Bundy had a difficult childhood, he strained a relationship with his step-father and his shyness made him a target for bullying.” (John Philip Jenkins 1) Ted Bundy had been bullied when he was young, looking back at his life when he was younger might have made him snap. The possible reason Ted became a serial killer was because of how bad he was treated by others.

He found it difficult to engage with people after breaking up with his girlfriend. This serial killer suffered from Antisocial personality disorder. without any empathy at all, Ted Bundy killed and raped at least 36 people, most of them were college students with brown long hair. Bundy was becoming better on the outside; a murderous rage was building on the inside of him. In other words, Ted’s superficial was charming, engaging, and he was intelligent. He took advantage of people who trusted him because of his appearance. He used double personalities when he was seducing women. The Charming Evil Bundy used to wear a cast on his arm and ask beautiful women to help him with his books to the car, after that he hit them with his crutches and push them into his car. He usually brutally beat, rape, and murder those women without any reason. Ted Bundy was untruthfulness, insincerely, and lacking empathy. Bundy was unable to have an interpersonal relationship because he did not understand the intrapersonal

The unit that focuses on crimes like serial and spree killers is now known as BAU-2. Robert Ressler worked alongside Douglass interviewing serial killers. The serial killer that disturbed Ressler the most was Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was active between 1974 and 1978, known for his good looks, charming personality, and violence. It is thought that Bundy killed around 30 women but the total number of victims will remain unknown.

Necrophiliac, narcissist, and pedophile are three words many would use to describe Ted Bundy, a man who has lived his life while taking others. Many would say he was always a beastly, vulgar man destined to be a murderer. Even though his time on earth was extremely limited, he quenches his blood thirsty instinct by murdering thirty-six innocent

This psychological investigation made me seeks to understand and explain emotion, and behavior of Ted Bundy. I really love studying human behavior by observing people around me interact to their surroundings, and how they face problems and solve them. I really learned a lot from reading many different articles on celebrities that I found online before focusing on my chosen character. Those readings helped me creating my own psychological investigation on my selected character, Ted Bundy. I did my research, and read a lot about him, and heard Ted Bundy's Final Interview with James Dobson. I believe I did sufficient research on him. If I got the opportunity to do a psychological investigation, I would do the same steps that I did before. I really

A book on Ted Bundy sparked my interest in criminology at the age of eight and it was fascinating to learn his methods and motives for committing such crimes. It caused me to wonder to what extent one can be satisfied until they become dangerous in their means for contentment. A few years later, my own contact with depression and anxiety at the age of ten made me question the disparity between me and my peers and analyze the behavior of people around me. Ever since, I have been perplexed by the way people are similar yet different and the role our brains play. Up until I was fifteen and properly diagnosed, I despised the feeling but now I can appreciate it because it made me self aware and made me realize that I wanted to study psychology and criminology. I treat my experience with depression and anxiety as a positive event, in that I have direct experience with the illness and know how it feels. Therefore, the yearning for a cure proves to be more efficient in the course over simply studying theories.

In The Communications Research Reports segment, “The Bundy Confession and Attitudes Toward Legal Restriction of Controversial Materials”, high-points the arrest of serial killer, Ted Bundy, who suffered from Antisocial Personality disorder. On January 24, 1989, the state of Florida executed serial killer Theodore Bundy. The night before the execution, a well-known religious broadcaster taped an interview with the condemned man. In it, Bundy alleged that exposure to mediated violence, especially sexually violent materials, contributed to the numerous murders he committed of young women (Perry, D. K., & Melson, W., 1989). Individuals who have this disorder are deceitful, and tend to disregard feelings and disrupt the rights of others, and break