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Ted Bundy Research Paper

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Theodore Robert Bundy (a.k.a. Ted Bundy) is one of the most intriguing criminals this country has witnessed in the past century. A serial killer, rapist, and necrophile, Bundy had accrued a body count of thirty plus women over seven states before being caught in August of 1975. Bundy was ultimately given three death sentences, and died by the electric chair in Raiford Prison, Florida. Numerous books, films, and articles have been created about him and the horrendous crimes he committed, and his name is infamously known to almost every individual. It is reasonable to believe that Bundy may have possessed quite a few personality disorders, especially based on the crimes he committed and how he was described as an individual. My goal for this …show more content…
First, the DSM – 5 requires that the individual have significant impairment in personality functioning: in self functioning, either in identity, self-direction, or both, and interpersonal functioning, either in empathy, intimacy, or both. Based off various life circumstances of Bundy’s, I would argue that he was impaired in at least self-direction and empathy. The characteristics of his murders implies that he planned each rape and murder in a way that most deeply satisfied his sexual desires (goal-setting). He kept the bodies of his victims in secondary locations so that he could later return to them and continue to sexually gratify himself (absence of prosocial internal standards). Considering his young adult years, Bundy often took advantage of intimate relationships for his own gain, including dating multiple women at one time, and leading one of his girlfriends to believe he wanted to marry her, just to abruptly break up with her for the sake of …show more content…
Bundy was the master of manipulation, and often employed a ruse of an authority figure or having some type of injury/disability to trap his victims. He was known for being charming and handsome, and used these qualities to his advantage to seduce the women he later overpowered and murdered. He also exhibited callousness, especially in the way he murdered his victims. He often sexually assaulted his victims with various objects such as iron rods, or pieces of wood, which was sexually arousing for him. He did this and beat them repeatedly while they were still alive. Several of his early murders were right on college campuses, in the victims’ dorms (i.e. impulsivity). Furthermore, years later when he was first arrested, he made two elaborate escapes from jail, even after being told by his legal advisors that he should stay put because there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him (i.e. risky behavior). While in Florida, after making his second grand escape, he slipped into a sorority house and brutally raped and beat four different girls, consecutively, who’s room were within a few feet of each other. It was determined later that the attacks all took place within 15

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