Psychological Look at Aileen Wuornos free essay sample

She was not born with any physical or mental disabilities. At the time of her birth her father was incarcerated for child molestation and he was also believed to be a schizophrenic, he hung himself in jail and Aileen never met him. When Aileen was 3 years old her mother abandoned her and her 4 year old brother and left them with her own parents who legally adopted them. The family struggled economically and by age 11 Aileen would engage in sexual activities for food, drugs and alcohol. Home life was not easy for Aileen as she claims to be sexually abused by her alcoholic grandfather and beaten by her grandmother. She would also engage in sexual activities with her brother and at age 14 she became pregnant and there was confusion on whether the father of the baby was her brother, Keith, or her grandfather’s friend who had raped her. She birthed the baby and put it up for adoption as well as dropping out of school. We will write a custom essay sample on Psychological Look at Aileen Wuornos or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Shortly after all of this her grandfather kicked her out on the street. To stay alive she was forced to cling to prostitution to meet her basic needs and to stay alive. Growing up was extremely difficult and Aileen often felt worthless. Psychological and Emotional Development/ Personality Profile The home that Aileen was born into was very abusive which caused a lot of emotional and physical distress. Due to being abused at an early age her moral development was lacking. According to Gilligan’s Stage Theory of Moral Development â€Å"the first stage of moral development is the child’s first sense of what is good for him or her. Young children follow rules to obtain rewards for them and to avoid punishment. † And Because Aileen was a part of such a dysfunctional family she was punished no matter what she did so the lines between what is right and wrong were blurred for her. The next stage of Gilligan’s Stage theory of Moral Development states that â€Å"the person believes that, to be good and to be approved by others, they must sacrifice their own needs and meet the needs of others. Aileen was forced to make her grandfather happy as well as his friends so she did what she knew they wanted because otherwise they got angry and forced her to so to avoid disappointment she did things that in her mind were okay because they were the only thing she knew. Erik Erikson also gives us a stage theory of development. Stage 1: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust ages 0-1 year In this stage the child learns to feel comfortable with parents and trusts their care or develops a deep mistrust that makes them feel unsafe. Although Aileen’s mother did not leave her until age 3 she neglected them at a very young age and Aileen did not have a father to nurture her either. Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Ages:1-3 years This refers to learning a sense of competence by learning to feed self, use toilet, play alone or feels ashamed and doubts one’s own abilities. Aileen grew up having to do a lot of those things for herself and having to take matters into her own hands so she became very developed in this stage. Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt Ages: 3-5 years In this stage the toddler gains ability to use own initiative in planning and carrying out plans; or if cannot live within parents limits develops a sense of guilt over misbehavior. Wuornos grandparent’s limits were distorted and so from a young age she was confused and never developed a sense of guilt. Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority Ages : 5-11years In this stage an individual learns to meet the demands imposed by school and home responsibilities; or comes to believe that he or she is inferior to others. Aileen clearly came to believe that she was inferior to others because she lowered herself to a standard of prostitution. Stage 5: Identity vs. Role Confusion Ages 11-18 years During this stage the individual either acquires a sense of own identity or is confused about role in life. When Aileen was in this age bracket she was being sexually abused by her grandfather and began to experiment sexually with her brother. She was confused with sexual boundaries and the role sex plays in people’s life which may have led to her prostitution in her job because sex had no meaning to it anymore and it was something she believed everybody did casually. Also during this stage Aileen got pregnant and had to give her baby up for adoption. For anybody, that is a difficult thing to do and she was probably very confused with what her purpose was because she could not even look after her own child. Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation Ages 18-40 In this stage the individual develops couple relationship and joint identity with partner; or becomes isolated from meaningful relationships with others. During this stage Aileen met 69 year old Lewis Gratz and they fell in love. They married and nine weeks later they annulled the marriage. Due to the abuse men had put her through Aileen began to be interested in women and that is when she met Tyria Moore, a maid at a gay bar. They fell in love and moved in together. Tyria was not a part of the murders Aileen committed but she did know about some of them. She was unable to have a healthy relationship due to abuse in childhood and her job as a prostitute. Murders Aileens first murder took place on December 1st, 1989 and between then and November 19th, 1990 she killed 6 men. Wuornos confessed to the murder of all six men and she claimed that she killed them in self-defense. She would be working for them as a prostitute and they’d try to assault her. She would pull a gun out on them, shoot them and leave their bodies on the Florida highway. She had been abused severely as a child and was never able to get revenge on her grandfather and others that had sexually assaulted her so this was her way of getting back and taking power over the men that were trying to hurt her. In conclusion, Aileen was severely abused as a child, especially by men which caused her to cling to women in her adulthood. Becoming a prostitute was a difficult choice she had to make at the age of 15 and she never really got to let go of that. Due to everything she was put through as a child, I believe that her sentence was unjust. According to all of her cases of murders she killed the men out of self-defense because they were trying to abuse her. Aileen had a rough life and she did not stand a chance without psychiatric help and I believe that’s what she should have been given instead of a death sentence. Her difficult life does not justify her killings but from my point of view she was defending herself from something she had been putting up with her whole life.