Robert William Pickton - Essay Example

? Robert “Willie” Pickton: The Man Who Almost Reached 50 [School] Number] November 24, This paper will provide a theoretical assessment of a newspaper article on Robert William Pickton, who was a pig farmer turned serial killer that was charged with 6 counts of first-degree murder after having admitted to having killed 49 women and is a prime suspect in 60. This report will explain how Pickton became such a monster and why he committed the murders by correlating the theory of psychological perspectives or trait theory using both scientific and rational techniques. It will present the two developmental theories towards the path to criminality, the latent trait theory or the life-course theory. It shall present the history of Pickton’s violent behavior tracing back through his childhood experiences, life experiences and his social interaction. It shall also provide a psychological explanation as to why a crime is committed and identify the root causes of human behavior in relation to social circumstances. Pickton’s demeanor and behavior shall be studied in connection with the biological positivism theory and mainstream criminology. Keywords: criminal mind, crimes, positivist theory, human behavior, biological perspective, mainstream criminology The Path to Crime: Developmental Theories “Developmental theories seek to identify, describe and understand the developmental factors that explain the onset and continuation of a criminal career. These theories not only want to know why people enter a criminal way of life, but also whether once they do, they are able to alter the trajectory of their criminal involvement. Developmental Theories fall into two distinct groups. Latent Trait Theory and Life-Course Theory” (Siegal, 118). The Latent Trait Theory provides that the human behavior is controlled by a master trait, present at birth, or soon after. This theory adheres that the criminal behavior remains stable and unchanging throughout a person’s lifetime. Suspected latent traits include defective intelligence, impulsive personality, and lack of attachment characteristics that may be present at birth or established early in life and remain stable over time (Siegal, 118). This theory presents that the criminality of a person is inborn and developed over time. Such individual is a born criminal. On the other hand, Larry J. Siegal (2010, 119) has reported that: “The Life-Course Theory views criminality as a dynamic process, influenced by a multitude of individual characteristics, traits and social experiences. As people travel through the life-course, they are constantly bombarded by changing perceptions and experiences. The criminals start their journey at different times. Some are precocious, beginning their criminal careers early and persisting into adulthood whereas others stay out of trouble in their early adolescence and do not violate the law until late in their teenage years. Early-onset, criminals seem to get involved in such behaviors as truancy, cruelty to animals, lying and theft. They appear to be more violent than other people their age. The course of social and developmental changes, through which an individual passes, as he or she travels from birth, through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and finally old age.” The life-course theory is applicable to Pickton because his criminality developed through the experiences he had in his lifetime. His traits and characteristics, and blended together with his social experience made him a hard-core criminal. Comparing him with his brother and sister who carry the same genetics, the two siblings did not transform into evil and demonic individuals like Robert. His lack of social interaction, isolation and living in the pig farm alone by himself created the horrible monster that he is. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual provides that Antisocial Personality Disorder or ASPD is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. It is firmly believed that persons like Pickton are suffering from anti-personality disorder or ASPD, which can be traced during the early stages of his life, which is evidenced by lack of remorse or empathy for the persons that he killed, weak behavioral controls, scanty relationships and history of childhood behavioral disorder. Under criminal law, it also recognizes the positivist theory which emphasizes more of the scientific study of a criminal. It traces back its roots to the late 1800s to the 1900s led by Cesare Lombroso, who led positivism to flourish in Italy. The same theory was also adopted in the United States. According to the scholars, there is a genetic difference between those criminals who committed crimes and those who did not commit any crimes. In this approach, the criminal is regarded as a person who is sick. Just like in medicine, the scholars believed that the key in unlocking this puzzle is by studying the offenders scientifically, by probing their bodies and brains for evidence of individual differences. This was influenced by Darwinism and medicine which concluded that the criminal possessed biological traits that determine his behavior. The crime was not brought about by a sinful soul by free choice, but rather was predetermined by a person’s biological make-up (Lilly, Ball and Cullen, 2011). Thesis: Pickton and the crimes he committed can be analyzed through trait theory as the core focus is on how people who commit crimes are different, especially in the ways they do and do not think which is a result of their personality, early socialization and early childhood. Thus, Pickton was not born a criminal as his brother and sister turned-out as fine individuals, but rather he became one through his childhood, life experiences and lack of social connection with community. Who is Robert William Pickton Robert William Pickton, commonly known as “Willie” by friends and family, was a pig farmer turned serial killer who was born October 24, 1949 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Although the case did not receive as much national media attention as O.J. Simpson’s partly because it was Canadian, it was not as high profile as Pickton was a farmer, the murders took place in Vancouver and the majority of the victims were drug-addicted prostitutes; it is far worse than O.J. Simpson’s case and given the sheer numbers and disturbing facts of the case some consider Pickton to be more of a monster than Paul Bernardo. Pickton was indeed a monster with no compassion or regard for human life as his methods of murder were to butcher his victims and place their body parts in his freezer. He also fed some of their bodies to his pigs and used their flesh for soil after his freezer was full. At this point in time, he is serving life imprisonment for the first-degree murder of six (6) women, was charged with the murder of 26 more women and confessed to an RCMP officer that he had killed 49 women and wanted to make it an even 50 but they caught him because he “got sloppy”. To date, he has killed more people than any other serial killer in Canadian history and is widely regarded as the most notorious of all time. Part of Pickton’s biography reads that he, his brother and sister inherited the family farm when their parents died in the 1970s but his brother and sister moved out shortly after, leaving Pickton to live alone on the farm. The location of the pig farm is approximately 30 miles from Vancouver, but as the city expanded, Pickton offered to sell some portions of his land to encroaching housing estates and shopping centers. Downtown Eastside is one of the few locations which evade the development. It was Pickton’s favorite place and he was reported to visit this area where he was seen procuring prostitutes for his social club nights at his farm which Pickton nicknamed “The Piggy’s Palace”. Pickton found pleasure in enticing women with the promise of alcohol, drugs and money. His neighbors remembered him as a very quiet and hard-working man who would either work on the farm or his salvage business. But not all were fooled by his awkward quietness as it was one of Pickton’s own workers, Bill Hiscox, who reported Pickton to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) as a prime suspect. The police correlated this report in a previous incident where Pickton attacked a prostitute in 1997 who filed a case against him, but charges were later dropped. VPD really started to focus their investigation on Pickton as many prostitutes came forward and blacklisted him, suggesting to the VPD that Pickton might be responsible for the rise in missing women from the Vancouver Downtown Eastside District (Crime and Investigation Network, p. 9). Mainstream Criminology According to Lilly, Ball and Cullen, starting in the 1930’s, America has embarked on the positive schools advocacy of using science to study that crime cannot be found within the people, but rather in social circumstances where people lived (2011, p. 9). They further stated in their report that: “Scholars of this generation thus developed three (3) core ways of explaining crime: First, the Control Theory, which explored how crimes occur when the control is weakened; Second, the Differential Association Theory, which explored how crimes occurred when individuals learned cultural definitions supportive of illegal conduct and; Third, the Anomie and Strain theory, which explored how crime occurs when people endure the strain of being thwarted in their efforts to achieve success. Taken together, these three (3) theories are often referred to as the mainstream criminology” (2011, p. 9). The Control Theory is applicable in Pickton’s case. Based on reports, Pickton’s brother and sister moved out of the farm in the late 1970’s. He was all alone in the farm with no one to watch over him and no family around him to keep him company. The failure of his family or any extended kin group to provide him emotional needs and a sense of belongingness expanded that possibility of Pickton losing his control over himself, which induced him to commit the crimes. Therefore, he lived in an environment where he lived by himself with no social interaction. Social isolation can lead to loneliness and extreme depression that can develop to a psychiatric disorder. Pickton’s behavior is abnormal and odd because he found pleasure in killing people and became a coping mechanism for him to defeat his loneliness. His aggressive behavior in killing made him an outcast and withdrawn himself from any social interaction. Psychological Explanation/Trait Theory According to Lanier and Henry (2004) in their report: “Psychological explanations for crime are some of the most popular views which are regularly reinforced through media presentations about crime and criminals. They are more recently developed explanations as the last 100 years has focused on the mind, thinking, mental processes, personality, early socialization and early childhood. The focus is on the individual thought processes, how offenders perceive and react to their world and how they process, interpret, and use information”. This explanation was adapted by scholars who acknowledged that a criminal’s personality is the result of a poor or flawed socialization or that the criminal is not able to fully understand the consequences and harm of the crime(s) they have committed, and there are other explanations which are outside of socialization (Lanier and Henry, 2004). Biological Positivism Biological positivism is the central theoretical and methodical approach that covers the psychological perspectives (Lanier and Henry, 2004). The focus on this theory is on the human behavior of a criminal. Each individual differs in his own psychological perspective. No one is completely the same as the other. This theory focuses on the idea that man has a mental illness, which is not a matter of an individual choice. He has already acquired such illness by birth. This behavior can also be attributable to social factors which tend to influence the individual’s behavior. In order to cure this pathology or illness the criminal should be placed in treatment instead of being punished. Under this approach, the way to deter the crimes from happening again is that society must play a moral and active role by participating in early intervention to prevent criminality and deviance. One of the key things to keep in mind is that this perspective is that it provides an opportunity to see criminality as something that is preventable and fixable through treatment, therapy or counselling-rehabilitation. Clearly, Pickton falls under this category because he is a psychologically sick and disturbed man who needs treatment and can only be cured by admitting him in a mental facility. Analysis of Pickton’s Behavior An analysis of Pickton’s behavior during his early childhood to his adulthood can be seen in the table below: Date Age Life Event 10/24/1949 0 Born in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Childhood Shunned by peers Childhood No steady relationship with opposite sex Childhood Terrible smell- fear of showers because mom always insisted on taking baths 12 Had childhood pet- came home found that pet calf was slaughtered Childhood Younger brother David hit someone with father’s truck, returned home and told mother. The mother rolled victim into a deep ditch. 24 Allegedly had a pen pal named Connie. They were engaged, but relationship ended because neither would leave where they were to meet up. Adulthood History of drug abuse: crack cocaine Adulthood History of violence before series of killings- sexual assault and assault of a prostitute. 2/22/2002 53 Arrested for illegal weapons possession 12/11/2007 58 Convicted for 6 counts of 2nd degree murder. Information researched and summarized by Kara Gallagher, Stephanie Sodano, and Brandon Speers Department of Psychology Radford University Radford, VA 24142-6946 The behavior of Pickton revealed that he had already manifested an abnormal behavior that stemmed from his childhood. Since his adolescence, Pickton was practically destined for a life of crime as he fit the stereotype of a social outcast and socially awkward “freak”. Most trait theorists attribute problems and errors in criminals thinking to three different aspects. The first is the criminal’s socialization experience. As a child, Pickton was shunned by peers and never had a relationship with a girl which was probably due to his terrible body odor. The second aspect is some traumatic event in the individuals past. Pickton came home one day after school and to his horror found his pet calf slaughtered. Also during Pickton’s youth, his brother David hit somebody with their father’s truck and returned home to tell Pickton’s mother about the incident. Reports show that it was Pickton’s mother who rolled the victim David hit into a deep ditch and both he and Pickton witnessed their mother do so. The last aspect of errors in the criminals “thought process” is some organic or physical problem with the brain. Pickton had an IQ of 86 which is considered very low as a person who has an IQ of 70 or less is considered “mentally-challenged”. His grades reflected his IQ as he had low grades his entire life, spent years in special education and eventually dropped out of high school midway through Grade 10. It is illustrated in the chart above that Pickton was already exposed to violence, neglect and failure within society at a very young age. This affected his brain development as he got older as this chart is living proof that early childhood exposure to violence and neglect from society can be directly linked to the person to becoming a criminal in the future. The social influences played a major role in Pickton’s formative years. Based on the theoretical perspectives or trait theory, the crimes Pickton committed can be traced back to his childhood experience. Trait theory provides opportunity to see criminality as preventable and fixable via treatment/therapy/counseling. Rehabilitation is at the core of this perspective which is why Pickton needs to be enrolled in a treatment facility. Conclusion Pickton is not a born criminal, he was bred to become one. Based on the life-course theory, criminal develop over time as a result of their personality, early socialization and early childhood. Therefore, Pickton was not inherent and genetically born with a criminal mind. In fact, reports say that his brother and sister turned-out as fine individuals, who also possess the same genetic composition as Pickton. This was a result of his early childhood orientation, life experiences and lack of social connection with the community. Although the biosocial perspective and the prevalence of the research on brains, genetics and biological factors affecting the criminal mind is still debatable to a certain degree, there is a level of accuracy in this theory as there is now a “renewed search for the criminal man” (Lilly, Ball and Cullen, 2011, p.13) This research refers to the biological traits that differentiate offenders from non-offenders. “It is often nuanced and involves explorations of how biological factors combined with social factors shape one’s behavior. Its policy implications are potentially complex, since they might justify efforts to incapacitate or cure those whose criminality is rooted within their bodies” (Lilly, Ball and Cullen, p.13). Another valid explanation is the life-course or the developmental criminology that focuses its attention on how the roots of crime can be traced during the early stages of childhood. In order to fully understand how a criminal is developed to a full-grown offender, the behavior of such person must be linked to their childhood, past experiences and how it affected their emotional growth. Social influences are also essential contributors to why a person is forced to give in to his criminal mind. It can be concluded that the important source of criminal conduct resides in the minds, hearts, bodies and social relationships of a person. Therefore, Pickton’s criminal behavior was a result of the life-changing experiences in his early childhood through adulthood, coupled with the lack of social interaction throughout his existence which reared him to become a merciless, coldblooded and hardhearted criminal. References American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). Antisocial Personality Disorder. CBC News. Crown lays out grisly case against Pickton. Retrieved on April 5, 2011, from Crime and Investigation Network. Biography. Robert Pickton, Retrieved on April 8. 2011, from < http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/robert-pickton/biography.html> Einstatdter, W. J. and Henry, S. (2006). Criminological Theory: An Analysis of its Underlying Assumptions. USA : Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Gallagher, K., Sodano,S. and Speers, B. Robert Willie Pickton Summary of Behavior. Department of Psychology. Radford University. Radford, VA 24142-6946. Retrieved from:http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Pickton,%20Robert%20_2008,%20spring_.pdf Lanier, M. and Henry, S. (2005) The Essential Criminology Reader. USA: Westview Press. Lanier, M. and Henry, S. (2004) Essentials Criminology. USA: Westview Press. Lilly, J. R., Ball, R. A. and Cullen, F.T. (2011). Criminology Theory: Contact and Consequences. USA: Sage Publications Inc. Newton, M. (n.d). Robert Pickton: The Vancouver Missing Women. Crime Library. Retrieved From http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killer/predators/robert_pickton/1.html Siegel, Larry J. (2010). Introduction to Criminal Justice. CA, USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Read More