Biological Criminal Behavior: Andrea Yates

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Biological Criminal Behavior Frederick Gammage, Kenda Julius, Kimberly Lowery, Dawn Nicewander CJA/314 July 14, 2014 Jacqueline Waltman Biological Criminal Behavior Heinous crimes such as murder take society by surprise, but none more so than when a mother murders her child or children. Emotional instability is the culprit that extends into psychopathic behavior. Andrea Yates is one of the individuals that fit this category. She drowned her five children in the bathtub, starting with the three youngest boys, then her youngest child, a daughter. She left her daughter floating in the bathtub while she chased down her eldest son then drowned him with his sister still in the tub. Andrea laid her children on the bed, with…show more content…
She was diagnosed with everything from depression to bipolar disorder. Andrea was very close to a preacher named Michael Woroniecki and his wife Rachel. When Andrea started having children, Rachel would write to her and tell her how evil Andrea was, and how it was "better to kill oneself than to mislead a child in the way of Jesus," (Denno, 2006). With those thoughts fresh in her mind, Andrea fell into a deep depression. Andrea’s husband, Rusty, took her to numerous doctors seeking help for Andrea. She was placed on different medications for years, but Andrea refused to take them. In 1999, Andrea tried to kill herself with a drug overdose, but was found and taken for treatment. She was prescribed medications such as Zoloft and Zyprexa, but also refused to take them. Andrea was shutting down and would not accept help from anyone to make her feel better. Andrea confessed that she had visions of hurting others, and would even go as far scratching herself and leaving sores. At this time, however, she had not hurt anyone other than herself…show more content…
Andrea tried killing herself twice before having "Mary" her fifth child. The first time she tried to kill herself, she overdosed on sleeping pills but she was found and taken to the hospital. The second time she had a knife to her own throat, but her husband came in and pried the knife from her hands. After the second attempt, she was admitted to a psych hospital for three weeks. She was given Zoloft, Effexor and an injection shot of an antipsychotic medicine called Haldol. Her husband said that after a dose of medication took effect they had the best conversation they ever had. The medicines gave him hope, and he could not believe the difference in her. He thought things were

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