Several months ago, the BTK, a serial murderer in Wichita, Kansas, had been captured. As we all know, all serial murderers are psychopath. But in what way?
Keith R. Ablow, who himself is a well-known forensic psychiatrist, gave us one example of psychologically damaged serial murderer in his book “Psychopathâ€. This is a book that will chill your bone, unease your nerve, and end up assessing yourself critically.
Not surprisingly, the murderer was also a gifted psychiatrist, so do the hunters.It was a war between an evil psychiatrist and good psychiatrists.
There was no mystery who the serial high way killer was. In fact, the first chapter detailed the cruel killing and mental distortion the murderer experienced and enjoyed.Readers could give their own psychoanalysis on the murderer.The book was more likely for teaching purpose—how a highly intelligent man turned into a serial murderer.
As a traveling doctor, Dr. Jonah Wrens cruised across country, filling short-term vacancies from one hospital to another.He enjoyed working with new people in different places every several weeks.However, driving in the middle of night, the physical isolation and emotional loneliness made him overwhelmingly angry and thirsty for blood.On the other hand, he never killed persons selectively.He would approach a stranger gracefully and deceitfully.He wanted to know every bit of his/her life. If satisfied, he would not kill him/her.There was one occasion during which he made sex with his victim instead of killing her because she was nice and opened her heart to him completely. Unfortunately, most people would shun him away when approached too aggressively. He would be agitated and then kill them.The random killing relieved his tension, and most importantly, integrated his victims into himself.
As a dedicated child psychiatrist, Jonah showed his exceptional sympathy to his patients.His charismatic appearance and hypnotic voice always encouraged them to open their mind.For example, when he counseled the daughter of his last victim, he cried with her and convinced her that although her mother was dead physically, she would live inside her heart forever because they loved each other.Indeed, he thought all his patients were related to himself in blood. He loved his patients and literally lived in their pains.
After Jonah noticed that the forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Frank Clevenger, was hired to trace him, he wrote a public letter to the New York Times to challenge Frank.He knew Frank recently adopted a boy who was a victim of childhood abuse.He surmised, correctly, that Frank also had traumatic experience during his childhood.He further inferred, correctly again, that Frank’s love of forensic psychiatry and the adoption of the boy reflected his desire to dark side.He concluded that Frank was not much different from himself.
Frank was a brave man.He fought back by revealing his own childhood and by acknowledging his dark side.However, he pointed out that the vital difference between he and Jonah was that he himself turned his dark desire for good purpose, while Jonah turned his to Satan.
Interestingly, Jonah believed that God had a purpose for him.The Lord would save him by sending him an angel.He pleaded Frank to heal him.He described that he was abused by his father. For instance, he was beaten up severely by his father after his fourth birthday party.His Hot Wheels were crushed and he felt helpless.His beloved mother was also crying in the other side of room.Although this seemed reasonable, Frank and his son, Billy, discovered that Jonah was lying.It was not his father but his mother who abused Jonah.Frank believed that Jonah’s mother had psychological problems.She behaved like half angel and half devil.The conflicting characteristics of his mother confused Jonah and made him wish he had only the angel side of his mother.Frank encouraged Jonah to be strong and face the reality.
Jonah was ferocious and hurt.He started to make mistakes.He decapitated an old woman near the hospital he stayed, which confirmed Frank’s hypothesis that he was troubling with his mother.Jonah made another mistake to let a patient’s family took him back home ignoring the possibility that the patient would be beaten up again by his mother, a psychotic mother whom Jonah insightfully discovered.The FBI psychiatrist, Dr. McCormick, later pointed out to Jonah that he was projecting his patient to himself, and wishing the patient’s father would stand up for the boy.He would not be forgiven for the patient’s death.
Dr. McCormick’s revelation finally pushed Jonah into a psychotic state.He fled home to confront his mother, with an intention to kill her, only to find that she was a pure angel now. She regretted her mistreatment to him and pleaded for his forgiveness.Meanwhile, his home was surrounded by FBI agents.Jonah felt desperate but also relieved.He believed that God finally saved him.He committed suicide in front of Frank.There goes the whole story.
Although many of Freud’s ideas have been dismissed by contemporary psychologists, in particular by behaviorists, one idea survives and is even accoladed.That is, one’s childhood experience will have life-long effects on his/her mental development including personality and emotion. Most criminals suffered childhood abuse or had no parents to love them.The lack of love turned to the hatred to innocent people.Many, like Jonah Wrens, found their internal tension relieved from violence.The weakness in their personality leads them to offensive behaviors.
In reality, I believe that the results of psychological analysis for BTK are more complicated that that of Jonah.Nonetheless, in terms of religious beliefs, there were stark similarities between Jonah and BTK in Kansas.Both were religious people believing that God used the victims to teach him and the world lessons.Both internalized their thirsty for blood through religion.Jonah constantly sought for redemption, and BTK diligently served his church and treated himself as God Himself.
Fortunately, it seems that everybody has a good part in his/her heart, even among criminals.Frank Clevenger turned his dark desire for good use.In reality, an Atlanta woman, herself just reborn from misery, saved a rapist and murderer from going down to the hell by reading a religious book to him.The criminal admired her and believed that she was an angel sent from God to save him.He turned himself to authority, which testified that the mighty God is still living within us, hopefully.
Having written thus far, I felt this essay is not complete without some reflections on our own lives. Have we done anything wrong to our children?What if…?
Thank God, for most families do not abuse their children.However, no one is a saint.As a father myself, I know that there are occasions when parents are so despaired and irritated that they could not control their emotion.Sometimes my son refused to sleep while both my wife and I had too much things to do (e.g., final exams).We went mad at him and he cried hopelessly.It always ended up so miserably that we all completely exhausted in the middle of night, back studying for the whole night, resenting each other, and wishing we never married.Even though my son is big now, similar incidences still happen.This is the life, as I always told my wife and myself.
Children are very sensitive.They can sense something is happening and parents are ignoring them.The fear of being abandoned grasps their minds but they don’t know how to express it.Parents don’t know how to communicate with him either (and often children could not understand it).I don’t know how this kind of impulsiveness will affect child’s development.However, I believe that if the traumas are severe enough, they may have unwanted effects.
When I looked inside my heart, back as far as when I was four years old, I find there are only very few incidences I can remember, and some are indeed heartbreaking.I remember that I was always very sad and lonely because no kid wanted to play with me partly because there were not many kids around, partly because I behaved differently from others. I didn’t like physical activities such as fighting and running around.I didn’t play dirty mud and stones which were almost the only stuff you could do in a rural place.I recall that I overreacted when my older sister started her school.We had a fierce fight in her first school morning.I tore her books and kicked her like a mad boy.Surely, my father spanked me but luckily I didn’t remember how badly he hit me.Superficially, I might be jealous of my sister because she could go to school while I had to stay at home.Deeply, I might fear of losing her because she was the only companion during most of the day. Retrospectively, this, I believe, may cause my forever longing for friends but always failing to establish and maintain friendship (I found this is a characteristic of many giants too, e.g. Benjamin Franklin and our Chairman Mao).
Fortunately, all my bad memories, beside unreasonable hunger, are at this level, not traumatic enough to trigger my dark side.Furthermore, there seems to be more happy moments than miserable ones.
Nevertheless, childhood traumas are not easy to heal.In fact, even happy memory can have profound influences.All my childhood memory, good or bad, are associated with extraordinary events.Those happy incidences were mostly resulted from indirect deprivation.For example, I still remember the joy of eating meats and trying new cloths at every new year eve and my parents’ hearty laughter during that time.It was registered in my memory as happy events not only because it was happy but also because it was the compensation for the lasting deprivation.They constantly remind me to be frugal.This further leads my inclination to the over-compensation to my son.I am now too liberal to my son’s desire for toys and books.Meanwhile, I kept warning him not wasting my money. I am not sure how this will affect my son (I am implementing money management training for him now).
I wish there will be no major traumas inscribed in my son’s mind.I recently threw a lavish birthday party for him (admittedly, it cost me almost $1000, which also left a memory in my mind).He seemed very happy about that.I hope that happy feeling will stay in his memory forever.