Psychodynamic Perspective of Criminal Behaviour

At the crux of the psychodynamic theory is the belief that human behavior can largely be explained and understood through unconscious processes- thoughts, feelings and forces outside of one’s awareness. This deterministic theory believes that interpersonal and intrapsychic experiences during one’s childhood forms the basis for future development (Deal, 2007). Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and Klein’s Object Relations theory will be used to understand Ted Bundy.

According to Freud there are three parts to the human personality- id, ego and super ego. Id is the personality component that seeks to satisfy one’s urges and is made up of unconscious psychic energy called libido primarily because of the nature of its content. Operating on the pleasure principle it has two major instincts – Eros (life instinct) and Thanatos (death instinct). During infancy stage, the ego develops from the id. The ego operates on reality principle and tries to satisfy the needs of id in a socially acceptable manner. Finally, during childhood, as Oedipal Complex resolves, the superego develops which is responsible for the establishment of morals and ethics in the individual. Content in the unconscious mind constantly seek expression and through a process of socialization, the interacting structures of the personality develop and the ego becomes able to balance the demands of the id and super-ego (Freud, 1927). However, if the sexual conflict from the past remains unresolved, as seen in Ted Bundy, conflict is said to emerge between the id and super-ego. If the id remains uncontrolled, much of their thinking and behavior is directed to satisfy violent desires (Freud, 1927). Object Relations theory places emphasis on consistent patterns of human relationships particularly that of their mother as they internalize both negative and positive feelings. A deficit in mother-child relationship and dominance of negative feelings then forms his core Self.

Ted Bundy throughout his life was deprived of a maternal figure and care and as a child from a wedlock, for a long time he was made to believe his mother was his sister. Nonexistence of a mother for the first three months during his life therefore created a disconnect in their relationship. According to psychoanalyst Otto F. Kernberg (2005), the primary attachments formed during the child’s earliest developmental phase functions as a blueprint for his/her future. His stay at Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers, away from his mother during his Oral stage wherein the impression of the world is created therefore becomes confusing, unreliable, and unsafe. His relationship with his mother was quite rocky for a number of reasons. He was jealous of his mother’s new relationship, despised her for hiding the identity of his father and for her absence in his life. Freud’s concept of ‘free aggressiveness’ wherein aggression is regarded as floating, and can attach itself to any other instinct as it chooses to do so (Freud, 1937) thus provides an explanation for the love-hate relationship towards the same object as seen in Bundy towards his mother. He was highly influenced by his grandfather who was described as an “extremely violent man who tortured animals and behaved brutally to family members.” However, his grandfather doted him and guided much of his behavior. Unconsciously therefore to Bundy happiness and pleasure was synonymous to hard pornography, mutilation, abuse and violence, thus much of the actions that provided him with pleasure were these. From the Kleinian understanding his developing psyche is consistently then internalizing an overwhelming amount of negative affect (Landsberg, 2019). This eventually resulted in a destructive self and object representations, forcing a release of anxiety, frustration, and anger. This awakens the defence mechanism of splitting wherein one of the two contradictory emotions are discarded and negative representations are then projected onto external objects and the outside world either through hostility or aggression.

These two put together explicates much of his serial killings and sexual gratification derived from his victims. Evidently his disproportionate libidinal and aggressive drives were never repressed into his id and found extreme overt expression early on in his life (dissection of animals). The notion of displaced aggression explains his crimes and his victims. Violence then becomes an ego-defense mechanism to cope with intense inner pain. To relieve himself from the frustration he holds against his mother, the hate is directed towards the person who has harmed them but the behavior is enacted upon his victims who resemble his mother - all his victims were young women. There is a form of dependency on his mother (a product of Oedipus Complex) therefore restricting the ability to harm her as his complex remained unresolved as there was no concrete maternal figure to do so. The frustration however never subsides as the id continues to seek gratification leading to the continuation of such killing. Since Bundy possessed more of negative object relations than positive ones, splitting as a defense mechanism continued into adulthood (Kernberg, 1984). 

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The excessive use of this defence mechanism has severe repercussions. Since he is unable to hold contrasting emotions and because others are just mere extensions of himself, he is unable to feel empathy for objects in their totality (Kernberg, 1985). This is in fact reinforced through the objectification of his victims and his reference to them as “damaged goods” evidences the same. The presence of his weak super ego that has failed to integrate into his psyche explains his lack of remorse and guilt during the act of murder as well as his during his trials. This is because to protect himself from any anxiety he projects any threat provoking stimulus of his self onto others thus enabling him to shake off any responsibility for the murders (Kernberg, 1967). 

Finally, his modus operandi that is through bludgeoning his victims using a hammer followed by sexual assault using an inanimate object, engaging in necrophilia and carrying ‘souvenirs’ home can be understood through the ideas of possession and control within Bundy’s psyche. The basic tenets of Kernberg’s (1966) Object Relations theory is that an individual embodying a borderline personality organization with display of narcissistic traits looks for objects that boost his self-image (Knight, 2006). These seem to arise from his abandonment experienced as a child, as well as the rejection he consistently seemed to receive throughout his youth and adulthood. Bundy’s negative self-representations then includes ineptitude and humiliation, pushing a need to attain complete control over his victims so as to reinforce his fragile ego. 

References

Deal, K. H. (2007). Psychodynamic theory. Advances in Social Work, 8(1), 184-195.

Freud, A. (1937). The ego and the mechanisms of defence. London, England: Karnac Books

Freud, S. (1927). The Ego and the Id. London: Hogarth

Kernberg, O.F. (1966). Structural derivatives of object relations. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 47(2), 236-253.

Kernberg, O.F. (1984). Object-relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis. North-vale, NJ: Jason Aronson

Kernberg, O.F. (1985). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

Kernberg, O.F., & Caligor, E. (2005). A psychoanalytic theory of personality disorder. In M. Lenzenweger & J.F. Clarkin (Eds.), Major theories of personality disorders (pp. 114- 156). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Knight, Z.G. (2006). Some thoughts on the psychological roots of the behavior of serial killers as narcissists: An object relations perspective. Social Behaviour and Personality, 34(10), 1189-1206. doi: 10.2224/sbp.2006.34.10.1189

Landsberg, M. (2019). A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF THEODORE ROBERT BUNDY: AN OBJECT RELATIONS APPROACH. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/270043821.pdf