Forensic psychology and serial murder case analysis

¶ … personalities and motivations of murderers who have been the subjects of forensic psychology as a tool to law enforcement. While this paper touches on some of the aspects of the individuals and the information processing that is essential to the forensic psychologist, it barely touches the vast wealth of information and expert thoughts on the subject. However, it does tease the reader's curiosity such that the reader is inspired to do further research on forensic psychology, and on the individuals mentioned here.

Forensic Psychology and Serial Murders

Once limited to the wok of treating offenders, usually in an institutional setting, forensic psychology has in the past three decades taken on an expanded role in law enforcement (Horley, J., 2003, p. 1). Today, forensic psychology plays an important part in analyzing crime scenes, and in helping to solve serious crimes. A professional who lends his or her expertise to the criminal justice system, forensic psychologists now work side by side with police detectives, lawyers, judges and other law enforcement officials to bring closure to cases that have in some instances gone unsolved for decades. By providing a psychological profile of the murderer based on crime scene information, a forensic psychologist helps bring justice to individuals wrongly convicted, as well as assisting to bring violent perpetrators to justice an perhaps even preventing future crimes.

Forensic psychology helps criminologists to better understand the minds of psychopathic criminals. This understanding has, and will continue to be of valuable service to law enforcement and society. The research presented here examines the role and work of forensic psychology in solving serial murder cases. The serial murders who will be studied for this report are Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Stephanie Wernick, Jeffrey Dahmer, and David Berkowitz; all convicted of brutal serial murders.

The Art and Science of Forensic Psychology

James Horley (2003), writes that forensic psychology exists today as a sub-discipline of psychology, and applies the application of its psychological research, technology, and principles to law (p. 1). Where does this synergy of law and psychology begin? That answer is that it begins with the crime scene, usually, but not always, violent in nature. From there, the professional merging of law and psychology to form a personal construct theory, or PCT.

The constructivistic theory that has been used and promoted by a number of forensic clinicians (e.g., Horley, 2000; Houston, 1998; Needs, 1988) is personal construct theory (PCT). Since its development by Kelly (1955), PCT has offered a unified psychological theory, personality assessment techniques, and clinical interventions to psychologists in various areas of practice (see Neimeyer, 1985, for the development of PCT). The relatively voluminous literature generated by PCT attests to the fecundity of the theory (for literature reviews, see Adams-Webber, 1979; Bonarius, 1965; Fransella & Bannister, 1977; Winter, 1992) (Horley, 2003, p. 4)."

Horley points out that the biomedical models to understanding, and, therefore, unlocking the crime scene, is lacking an essential element of "human agency," or the person affected by the pathology that leads to murder or some other harmful destruction (2003, p. 4). Horley refers to Weeks (1995), saying, "Agency, autonomy, and choice appear crucial to an adequate explanation of individual social behaviour to many observers (e.g., Weeks, 1995, as cited by Horley, 2003, p. 4). This, of course, arises out of the fact that humans tend to be medically determined in large part by their biology; genetically, neurologically, chemically, endocrinologically, and, most often, as these factors pertain to the irregularities of these systems and determinants, or their imbalances (p. 4).

As far as the excessively deranged thinking of a serial murderer is concerned, this is how the personal construct theory would lend itself to that process:

Extending a construct system" is one main reason for selecting one act or behaviour, and Kelly (1970) viewed all behaviour as experimental, or a tentative trial to observe whether an outcome was acceptable or not. Having sex with a young boy or killing a rival gang member could allow an individual, as normatively unappealing or repulsive as it may seem, to experience power or status through self-understanding as 'attractive' or 'tough'. The extension to an individual's construct system -- really, one's self-concept -- does not require any degree of social acceptability, although social demands undoubtedly shape an individual's likely construal of an act before, during, and after the experience. Definition, for Kelly and PCT, refers to more explicit and clear self-definition. The act of murder or rape could lead to a more refined sense of self. Whether the self-referent includes a 'negative' label such as 'killer', 'pervert', or 'loser', or whether it would lead to a 'positive' label such as 'predator', 'strong man', or 'someone no one messes with' probably is a function of the actor's thinking at the time and the immediate social feedback that they receive (Horley, 2003, pp. 4-5)."

This helps us understand the usefulness and application of PCT as it relates to the individual propensity for murder. It also begins to become clear that serial murder would be seeking the "public opinion," and would hope for that public opinion to describe him, or her, in a positive way,.".. A positive' label such as 'predator', 'strong man', or 'someone no one messes with' probably is a function of the actor's thinking at the time and the immediate social feedback that they receive (Horley, 2003, pp. 4-5)."

The publicity is probably as important to the serial murder as the act of murder itself.

Forensic Psychology and the Psychopath

In the cases of Bundy and Berkowitz, there was an extensive body of work in forensic psychology done in connection with law enforcement efforts to apprehend these murderers. John Douglas (2007), former head of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, was involved in assisting local and state law enforcement officials in analyzing evidence and building profiles of serial killers.".. Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), and James Earl Ray -- to understand their motives and get inside their minds (p. 8)." Douglas says that to understand the artist, one should look to the work of the artist (p. 8). On using the tools and techniques of forensic psychology in helping to analyze and create profiles on lethal personalities, Douglas writes:

Profiling is not the only investigative tool available. For example, there are some cases where profiling an unknown offender would not be suitable because of the high risk-level of the victim. What could possibly still be provided are proactive techniques: research-based probable cause for search warrants, interview and interrogation techniques, prosecution and defense counseling, and possibly expert testimony... The very nature of profiling violent crimes makes for a highly stressful job. One must be able to identify with both the subject and victim in order to answer the investigative formula of why + how = who (p. 8)."

There are warning signs of danger that should not be ignored - if they can be detected. In the case of Berkowitz, the warning signs were there. Schlesinger cites Ressler and Schactman (1992), who.".. concluded that Berkowitz' fire setting as well as his torture of animals was an outgrowth of his control fantasies involving power over living things. These fires were all a prelude to his moving into the arena in which he could exercise the ultimate control, homicide" (p. 80) (Schlesinger, 2004, pp. 328-329)."

The Forensic Echo (2002), a web site dedicated to forensic psychology as a tool of law enforcement, found online at http://echo.forensicpanel.com/1997/1/1/neonaticidesyndrome.html, discusses Stephanie Wernick's neonaticide, or murder of her own infant following delivery of the child. Wernick's defense was that she was not of a sound mind, and that she demonstrated her psychopathic behavior not at the moment of delivery, but prior to that, when during the nine months of her pregnancy she denied to herself that she was in fact pregnant (2002). The outcome of her trial is as follows:

After a jury trial, the defendant was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to one and a third to four years in prison (NYU, 11/22/96, p. 1) the Appellate Division affirmed, and the plaintiff appealed.

Held: The conviction was affirmed. The trial court properly excluded the "neonaticide testimony" without a "reliability hearing" to determine whether it is generally accepted by the scientific community. Said the Court, even the defense conceded that its experts shouldn't be allowed to testify that Wernick suffered from "neonaticide syndrome" as such, since it had not been classified as an illness. But the defense claimed that its experts should have been allowed to utilize the clinical experience of various doctors to support their opinions that the defendant suffered from a brief reactive psychosis. The Court said that "regardless of whether defense counsel classified its proffered evidence as an attempt to establish a 'pattern', 'profile', 'theory' or 'syndrome'...the essential defense theory was an attempt to portray a pattern of behavior not generally recognized in the relevant medical...community." Further, said the Court, "No threshold evidentiary foundation whatsoever" was offered by the defense "that acknowledged the validity or existence of defense counsel's postulate" to warrant the expert's use of extrapolated material to bolster their opinions (2002, 2007).

The outcome of Wernick's trial continues to be debated, and there are some that hold that she is not the typical murderer as encountered in the profiles of serial murderers or other murderers who are more deliberately harmful. Commenting on the profiling of psychopaths and people who possess the strong propensity for harming others, Dr. Michael Welner commented this way (2007):

When does the profile of a typical offender rise to the level of a syndrome, and more importantly, a syndrome that serves as a basis for an insanity defense? This case is reminiscent of the defense of Jeffrey Dahmer, which attempted to portray predatory sexual behavior in the context of a profile for a disorder. Mr. Dahmer did share many of the qualities of profiled serial sex offenders who are repeatedly overcome by irresistible impulse, but the jury did not find the basis for an insanity defense. This does not mean that those who have a particular profile are not in need of understanding and help, only that to classify them legally insane has no basis in credible science."

In the case of Wernick, the profile of someone who denied her pregnancy is presented, along with the imagery of a bursting dam when denial can no longer be employed because the baby has been born. Does the bursting dam of denial usually result in psychosis? Consider those wasting away, with histories of intravenous drug use or sexual promiscuity who refuse HIV testing, even with evidence of the disease such as thrush in their mouths or sores that they can plainly see. Confirmation of AIDS in a patient who has been denying the disease is a profound stress, which can be associated with an upsurge of suicidal ideas. But is this breaking through of denial associated with psychosis? Rarely. Also consider those with cancer, who deny the seriousness of their condition. Is the shattering of this denial with the realization of impending death anxiety provoking? Does it cause depression commonly? Yes. Does it typically produce psychotic symptoms in someone who has no history of psychotic illness? No.

The suggestion is that Wernick is indeed a personality who, like Berkowitz, Bundy or Gacy, possesses the propensity for committing the same act of violence again if given the chance.

Forensic psychology is an important sub-category of psychology and law enforcement today, but it is far from a perfect science. There is much research, study and continued work to be done to continue to perfect it as a tool that will become more valuable to society as time goes on.