Ted Bundy Social Control Theory

Theodore Bundy was an American serial killer and rapist who was one of the most terrifying criminals of the late twentieth century. He murdered and raped 36 women in many different states across the country and some say that had maybe committed 100 more vicious crimes. He was popping up as a suspect in a huge amount of Homicide cases throughout the United States. Bundy received several life sentences for the kidnaps, rapes, and murders he committed in the 1970’s and was set to the electric chair in Florida in 1989. There are many different influences from his childhood that could have contributed to his violent behavior and crimes. Many argue that the social learning theory and the social control theory offer the best explanations for Bundy’s…show more content…
Many experts believe that the Social Control Theory explains Ted Bundy’s criminal behavior the best. In Criminology Today, it says “A social learning theory says that all behavior is learned in much the same way and that such learning includes the acquisition of norms, values, and patterns of behaviors conductive to crime, meaning that crime is also learned and that people learn to commit crime from others” (Schmalleger). These criminal behaviors are products of the type of environment the person grows up in, not a particular characteristic of the person is born with. These people care about what other people think of them and then adapt to social expectations because they accept what others expect. Bundy’s first girlfriend and true love broke up with him because she didn’t think that his live was going anywhere and he became very depressed. Bundy accepted this expectation of himself which led him to stop going to classes, drop out, and begin a horrific murder spree to help gain back his confidence. This criminological theory also says that when social bonds or relationships start going down the drain then violent behavior or deviance can begin to take place. As mentioned earlier, Bundy had a very interesting family situation that contributed to his behaviors. He was told that his grandparents were his parents and that his actual mother was his sister.…show more content…
Bundy was also a very manipulative person. He could easily psychologically fool people and could deceive just about anyone. He was good at making people want to believe things he said and his good looks didn’t hurt either. He could easily hide his terrifying lack of sympathy for human life behind his physical persona and knowledge. Bundy would fool his victims by dressing nice wearing a sling on his arm and would walk up to the women asking them if they would help him lift something into his Volkswagen. The women would help him at his car and then that is when he would begin to attack them and put them in his car. He definitely had a manipulative personality. Bundy also was diagnosed with a mental condition called Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Symptoms of this condition include flattery skills with the ability to manipulate others, a lack of guilt and remorse, arrogance and anger, a habit of stealing or lying, plus the ability to act charming and witty. Bundy displayed all these traits so it’s safe to say that his mental health was definitely in a questionable state. “A serial killer with classic and severe anti-social personality disorder, had little difficulty gaining the trust of and trapping young women. Fortunately, only a small fraction of people with anti-social personality disorder are serial killers, and of this group, very few are as intelligent and clever as Ted