Ted Bundy's Crimes Explained Through Social Control Theory

Early Life and Psychological Development

Ted Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell on November 24, 1946. When he was four years old, his mother moved with him to Tacoma, Washington and remarried Johnnie Culpepper Bundy. Ted did not get along with his stepfather, although he frequently babysat for his four half-siblings.

Throughout his youth, Ted showed signs of poor social skills and difficulty adapting to his environment. As Bell points out, "Ted became increasingly uncomfortable around his stepfather and preferred to be alone. This desire to be by himself increased and possibly led to his later inability to socially interact comfortably with others." His shyness became a defining feature of his early childhood, as he was "self-doubting and uncomfortable in social situations" (Bell). However, Ted seemed to come out of his shell in high school and was even described as "attractive" (Montaldo) and "popular" (Bell). In spite of being frequently bullied at school, Ted earned good grades and went on to attend college at both the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington.

Bundy remained socially awkward in college, which caused him serious problems in interpersonal and especially intimate relationships. His first serious girlfriend broke up with him in 1968, and "his obsession toward her haunted him for years" (Montaldo). The breakup led to a bout of depression, during which Ted dropped out of school. Around the same time, Ted learned a disturbing secret that would further shake his already fragile identity and emotional state. Until then, Ted had believed that his mother was his older sister — she had pretended to be his sibling in order to protect her own reputation for having had a child out of wedlock. Perpetuating this lie until Ted was in his twenties undoubtedly affected his ability to trust others, his attitudes toward the value of human life, and his capacity to control his thoughts and emotions.

However, Bell points out that Bundy's criminal tendencies had begun before he discovered his mother's deception. He was known for petty theft, and some of his high school and college friends accused him of dishonesty (Bell). Bundy's criminal behavior was also linked to other forms of deviance. For example, he frequently impersonated police officers. His most common method of luring young women on college campuses was to garner their sympathy by wearing a cast on his arm or leg and asking for help.

The Emergence of Charisma and Early Criminal Behavior

Ironically, Ted began to hone his social skills around the same time as his emotional breakdown. He became someone others described as "charming, articulate and intelligent" ("Ted Bundy: Getting Away with Murder for Five Years"). He "changed from a shy and introverted person to a more focused and dominant character" almost overnight, as if something in him had "clicked." His newfound personal charisma was also channeled into politics. Bundy considered going to law school after years of studying psychology, and he "worked on a campaign to re-elect a Washington governor, a position that allowed Ted to form bonds with politically powerful people in the Republican Party" (Bell). Ted also channeled his charisma into an area that gave him perceived personal power: seducing and abducting women.

Bundy's Killing Spree and Capture

According to the FBI, no one knows for certain when Bundy actually began to kill. Law enforcement knows only that Ted Bundy had started abducting, raping, and murdering women by 1974. His victims were exclusively young and attractive females, and almost always college students. Bundy most likely began his five-year killing spree in Washington before moving on to Utah, Colorado, and Florida. He displayed gruesome ritualistic behaviors — for example, he "displayed their lopped-off heads in his apartment and slept with their corpses until putrefaction made it unbearable" ("Ted Bundy: Getting Away with Murder for Five Years").

Bundy also proved to be a persistent foil for law enforcement. He was first arrested in 1975 in Utah, after officers pulled him over upon observing suspicious behavior and found items giving them probable cause for a burglary charge. The following year, Bundy was arrested and convicted for kidnapping and assaulting a teenager. In 1976, he was charged with murder in Colorado — and escaped. The FBI launched a full-scale manhunt, located him in Aspen, and Bundy escaped yet again. This placed him on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on February 10, 1977. Each time Bundy escaped, he killed more people.

It was in Florida that Bundy was arrested for the last time, in 1978, following a brutal killing spree at Florida State University. He confessed to thirty murders, though officials do not know the exact number of his victims. Bundy was tried and sentenced to death under Florida law and was executed in 1989.

Conclusion

The motivation for Bundy's crimes can be at least in part explained with social control theory, because social control theory goes beyond the individual to explore sociological factors such as socialization, norming, and identity. Bundy's childhood offers clues as to how weakened social networks and social ties allowed the young Bundy to exhibit deviance at an early age. His strained relationship with his stepfather, his shyness and being bullied at school, and his inability to accept rejection from a girlfriend all painted for Bundy a picture of a grim social world. Bundy likely wanted no part in this world. His low regard for individuals and society at large can explain, at least in part, the motivations behind his serial murders.