Ted Bundy Attachment Theory

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Psychology of a Serial Killer Ted Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper and necrophiliac who assaulted and murdered at least 30 women, and most likely many more, in a number of states between 1974 and 1978. Bundy employed two separate and very distinct modi operandi. In both scenarios his assault methods of choice were blunt force trauma and strangulation as every recovered skull, bar one, showed evidence of blunt trauma, often with broken front teeth. Every cadaver on which an autopsy was possible exhibited evidence of strangulation. He purposely avoided firearms as murder weapons due to the noise they made and the ballistic evidence they left behind. Bundy was unusually skilled at minimizing physical evidence and his…show more content…
Based on the attachment theory which places great emphasis on the early relationship children have with their primary care-giver, it could be argued that Samuel’s poor attachment contributed to Bundy’s psychopathy by disrupting the process that leads to the development of morality. Bundy had no other male-figures in his life to look up to or act as a positive role model so it was only natural that he imitated the behaviour that his grandfather exhibited. In fact, Ted occasionally exhibited disturbing behaviour even at a very early age and his aunt Julia later recalled awakening one day from a nap to find herself surrounded by knives from the Cowell kitchen; her three-year-old nephew standing by the bed, smiling. As a boy Bundy roamed his neighbourhood, picking through trash barrels in search of pictures of naked women as he had been introduced to pornography by his grandfather. Ted may also have been catapulted into his killing streak by the revelation that his mother had deceived him his whole life (by claiming that she was his sister), creating resentment towards women. Due to his troubled upbringing, it is impossible to know for certain whether Ted Bundy was born a psychopath or became one as a result of the poor care and guidance he received as a child and later as an adolescent, during a period in his life where his fatal character flaws began to blossom. However, regardless of the origin of his immorality, it is undeniable that Ted Bundy was truly the embodiment of

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