Prototype Post
John Wayne Gacy - The Killer Clown
Biography
Born into an abusive home in 1942, Chicago, Illinois, John Wayne Gacy grew up to be one of the most infamous serial killers of all time.
From a young age, Gacy and his siblings were abused by their alcoholic father for "bad behaviours", which manifested in acts of physical violence, often involving razor blades.
Despite Gacy's dire upbringing, he managed to prove a successful business man through managing fast-food changes and being a self-made building contractor. Gacy also organised cultural gathering within his community, and dressed up as a clown to entertain in children's events.
However, during this time, Gacy also led another life as a serial killer. Gacy lured his victims with the promise of construction work, and then captured, sexually assaulted and eventually strangled most of them with rope. When he killed, he sometimes dressed as his alter ego "Pogo the Clown." Gacy's victims were mainly young men and boys, which has been linked to his hidden homosexuality (Gacy was married with children).
Eysenck's approach
According to Eysenck, criminals have particular personalities. For instance, Eysenck's personality test depicts that a true criminal personality must consist of extroverted, neurotic and psychotic traits. Therefore, this theory entails that a criminal will be outgoing, anxious, and egocentric.
Application of approach
Previously highlighted within this blog, was the fact that Gacy was an active member of his community, through organising events and acting as a clown entertainer. Therefore, we can assume that Gacy would be labelled as an extrovert, due to his outgoing behaviour., and therefore may have lower levels of cortical arousal. Additionally, this then could Moreover, Gacy sexually assaulted & raped his victims before murdering them. Gacy's sexual crimes have been linked to his suppressed sexuality, due to homosexuality being social unacceptable at the time. Thus, it can be argued that this sexual oppression may have led to Gacy become neurotic (anxious, low self-esteem and tense). In-turn leaving Gacy with an overly sensitive sympathetic nervous system. Finally, due to the violent and dominating nature of Gacy's crimes, we can conclude that he demonstrated psychotic traits, such as aggressiveness and being unsympathetic, making Gacy one of Eysenck's perfect criminals (ENP).
Eysenck would then explain this combination of personality to lead to criminal behaviour, as Gacy's desire for social interactions, with his highly reactive sympathetic nervous system would then entail violent outcomes.
