Biological Perspective of Criminal Behaviour

Confessing to the murder of 36 young women from 1974 to 1978, America’s romanticized yet terrorizing serial killer and rapist was put to death on the electric chair in 1979. Theodore Robert Bundy, notoriously known as Ted Bundy, is believed to have murdered more than 100 women in seven states from Washington to Florida. He lured women by feigning injury or impersonating authority in public places. Appealing to their empathetic side, he kidnapped them to secluded regions where he raped, tortured and killed them until putrefaction. His death was cheered on by citizens after he previously escaped prison twice.


But what makes this case interesting? No one around suspected him due to his appeared intellectual and kind personality. Even if he matched the said description perfectly, it didn’t seem believable to those around him due to his natural unemotional demeanor and societal acts. In this blog, we are going to delve into the biological causes of Ted Bundy’s actions by analyzing his childhood and home environment.

Bundy’s childhood was a mess but he believed otherwise. He was born in a home for unwed mothers and investigative journalists presented that he was a child of incest. After being at the home for 2 months, he grew up believing that his biological parents were his grandparents and his mother was his sister. Some sources believe that his physically abusive grandfather is his biological dad. Bundy claimed that he wasn’t affected when he discovered the truth, but prison psychologist, Dr. Al Carlisle believed that it impacted him to choose violence.

He was bullied for speech impediment, his grandmother suffered from depression and agoraphobia and he didn’t get along with his step-father. But his intelligence and interpersonal skills helped him succeed in college career and develop normal emotional relationships. His previous partners couldn’t understand how he lived such a double life. So, here are a few biological evidences:

1. Constitutional biological theory of William Sheldon:

Using body measurement technique, he connected body types to personality on the basis of temperaments. Ted Bundy fits in the mesomorphic category, muscular and hard body type with an aggressive and adventurous personality.



 2. Genetics Abnormalities:

Bundy had a genetic mutation of the X chromosome called MAOA (Monoamine oxidase A). MAOA produces enzymes that break down neurotransmitters for a healthy brain. This serial killer gene is a contributing factor of increased aggression. Abnormality (MAOA Low) causes neural disruption/hyperactivity due to inefficient metabolism of neurotransmitters:

 Serotonin- Regulates impulsivity, sleep and appetite.

 Dopamine- Controls mood, motivation and arousal

 Norepinephrine- Facilitates fight-or-flight reactions and autonomic nervous system activity

 


More likely to affect men due to singular X chromosome, but women can be carriers. MAOA-L males show increased activation of amygdala (emotional salience) and decreased activation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (impulse repression) correlating to anti-social behaviour.

3. Evolutionary Theory:

Bundy ensured social survival by gaining self-confidence and belonging to a group. Even though he had high IQ of 136, he dropped out due to low motivation/ambition. Classified as high factor 1 psychopath, he required extra mental stimulation than others. He received thrill of sensation seeking without accepting responsibility through such acts. This could be why he insisted innocence until his death. His personality type of ENTJ (Extraversion, Intuition, Thinking, Judgment) have high intelligence, arrogance and selfishness.

4. Neurophysiological:

Psychologists didn’t understand Bundy’s brain dysfunction before/after his execution. But few speculations are below:

 Antisocial Personality Disorder: Matched all the criteria on DSM-5: egocentrism with personal gratification, lacked remorse and inability to maintain intimate relationships. Could be result of change in brain functions during development and childhood conduct disorder. He had disturbing behaviour such as placing knives around his sleeping aunt, watching violent pornography and killed a neighborhood girl in his teens.

 Psychopathy and Addictive Disorder: He had a superficial charm, lacked sincerity and nervousness and was a pathological liar. He got highs from specific behaviors like sadism/necrophilia to ease depression and to mentally stimulate the dopamine neurotransmitter.

 Bipolar Personality Disorder: Psychiatrist Lewis said he switched moods euphoria to anger, compulsive talking to silence. Result of loss/damage of brain cells in the hippocampus or imbalance of neurotransmitters. This may have also affected memory and impulses. Abnormal mitochrondrial problems also changed patterns of energy production.

 Dissociative Identity Disorder: Psychiatrist Lewis explained that Bundy’s frontal lobe and limbic system didn’t provide impulses of control. After analyzing love letters written to Carole Boone, she concluded that he was dissociated. He used different names, signatures and himself used to say that he had an uncontrollable entity in his head. He had no memory of his childhood abuse and the first three years of his life. Bundy may have taken on his grandfather’s persona as he signed, Sam, on some love letters.

He also may have narcissistic, borderline and schizoid personality disorder but due to overlap psychologists were never sure.

5. Biochemical: Neurotransmitters & Hormones

 Oxytocin: Bundy’s killing spree started due to rejection from his girlfriend. This love hormone increases desire for revenge in people with conflict and influences the decision-making section of the brain. Low oxytocin from his mother during the first 2 months could also be the reason.

 Dopamine: Bundy had heightened behavioral activation system where he couldn’t inhibit his killing impulse. The act of murdering released the feel-good neurotransmitter and activated the reward center for pleasure.

 Serotonin: Due to low levels, regulation of anxiety, happiness and mood may have caused depression. The medication may also decrease arousal which was unfavourable.

 Male sex hormones: Due to his pornography addiction, levels of testosterone, androgens and pheromones may be irregular. Increased testosterone is related to aggression.

Till date, people are still curious about Bundy and the reasons for his crimes. The judge didn’t call him “extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile” for no reason. To conclude, this blog provides an analysis of his behaviour using the biological perspective but we’ll never find the true reasons unless we meet Bundy himself.

 

References:

Examining serial killer Ted Bundy. (2019, December 30). Psychology Today. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201912/examining-serial-killer-ted-bundy

 

Neurodevelopmental and psychosocial risk factors in serial killers and mass murderers. (n.d.). ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178914000305#bb9000

 

The real reason why Ted Bundy killed 30 innocent women. (2019, May 4). True Crime Magazine. https://www.thecrimemag.com/real-reason-ted-bundy-killed-30-innocent-women/

 

UK researcher unravels serial killer Ted Bundy's mental health. (2019, June 4). UKNow. https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researcher-unravels-serial-killer-ted-bundys-mental-health

 

Miller, J. (2020, November 20). Is this why Ted Bundy became a murderer? Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/ted-bundy-dorothy-lewis-documentary

 

Do all serial killers have a genetic predisposition to kill? (2018, March 26). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201803/do-all-serial-killers-have-genetic-predisposition-kill

 

[Photograph]. https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5909711d1c7a8e33fb38ecb2/master/pass/Beale-AnnRulesTedBundybook.jpg

 

[Diagram]. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/intropsych/chapter/biological-approaches/

 

[Diagram]. https://fos.cmb.ac.lk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1280px-MAOA_Gene_with_ChrX_Ideogram.svg_.png

 

[Diagram]. https://fos.cmb.ac.lk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/MAOA-Diagram-semanticscholar.com_.png

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