1-2 Journal: Topic Selection Lillian Crawford Southern New Hampshire University PSY-310: Criminal Psychology Professor Crystal Connors October 29, 2023
When looking over the topics to select from, I immediately found myself drawn into serial murders. Personally, I find serial murders, or true crime in general, to be very intriguing because I enjoy learning what caused people to make certain decisions and analyzing how, despite the different upbringings, those individuals came to make those negative choices. I also challenge myself by trying to see things from the criminals' perspective and try to figure out what they may have been thinking. For my topic of serial murders, the individual I'll be analyzing is Aileen Wuornos. One reason I chose this is because I have questions I want to figure out about Wuornos. Such as wanting to learn more about her childhood with her biological parents and more about her time with her grandparents. Another question I have is what could have turned Wuornos from a male partner to a female one, and if that played any significant part in why she made the decisions she did. Back onto the topic of this crime being a serial murder, let's discuss what makes it a serial murder. Reading the scenario, Aileen was convicted of six first-degree murders, and confessed to a seventh, but his body was never found so Aileen never went to trial for this murder. Digging deeper, I discovered, that Wuornos was found guilty on all counts, which includes first-degree murder and armed robbery[ CITATION Ail \l 1033 ]. Moving on to motive for committing these crimes. Motivations will never be certain, but we can analyze what those motives might have been. For example, Wuornos experienced a significant amount of childhood trauma that began with her biological parents that continued into when her and her brother were moved to live with their grandparents, who also abused them. Alongside her getting pregnant at fourteen and giving the child up for adoption, as well as her turning towards sex work as a means of survival, these are probably only the tipping point of what could have motivated Aileen to make the choices she did.
Resources Aileen Wuornos - The Trial: Capital punishment in context. Aileen Wuornos - The Trial | Capital Punishment in Context. (n.d.). https://capitalpunishmentincontext.org/node/77455 Psy 310 final project scenario serial murder. PSY 310 Final Project Scenario Serial Murder - Southern New Hampshire University. (n.d.). https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/lor/viewer/view.d2l?ou=6606&loIdentId=25056