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Psychologists are deeply fascinated by serial killers as they get to view a completely disoriented and unnatural aspect of human psyche, which is unapologetically immoral. There have been several psychopaths in the past who’ve long demanded the attention of psychologists.
Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker, dominated the streets of Los Angeles in the 80s. His reign of terror lasted from June 1984 till August 1985 and, during this time, he would break into the homes of the residents living in the Bay Area of California. He would brutally murder his male victims whereas rape and torture his female victims.
Related: THE FINAL WORDS BETWEEN RICHARD RAMIREZ AND ANASTASIA HRONAS (NIGHT STALKER)!
Of course, his killing sprees were driven by psychological motives that can be understood in light of theories of psychosexual development, sexual pleasure derived from violence, and social learning.
Related: FIVE SHOCKING FACTS ABOUT DIANNE FEINSTEIN, NIGHT STALKER!
One observation that stands out is that he had no demographic preference. He raped and murdered individuals between the ages of 9 and 79. The most elderly victim of his was sexually assaulted, brutally stabbed numerous times, and almost decapitated. This was the level of insanity that he possessed—rather suffered from.
He was finally caught by getting chased down by a bunch of bystanders and declared guilty of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries.
Related: NIGHT STALKER: THE UNKNOWN TRUTH ABOUT RICHARD RAMIREZ, ANASTASIA HRONAS AND DOREEN LIOY!
When you study the crimes committed by Richard Ramirez, you’d come to realize a set pattern: they’re all entirely sexual in nature. He was known for raping and torturing women before ultimately ending their lives. He would also force his victims to swear upon Satan, which was strange considering he did it all before committing violent acts of crimes.
He had actually earned a reputation for mutilating the bodies of his victims – a troubling sign indicating psychological corruption.
Related: 5 FACTS ABOUT NIGHT STALKER SURVIVOR, ANASTASIA HRONAS!
According to the Psychodynamic theory of sexual pleasure, some people find pleasure by indulging in serious acts of violence. They become predatory because of a paraphilic response they develop in their childhood during the psychosexual stages of development.
Paraphilia can be described as a disorder comprised of a number of strange symptoms like formation of bizarre fantasies and sexual excitement caused by unusual behavior. A person suffering from this disorder tends to gain sexual pleasure by imposing physical and psychological violence on a victim.
Related: NIGHT STALKER: WHERE’S ANASTASIA HRONAS NOW AND HOW SHE CAUGHT RICHARD RAMIREZ.
How can we understand Paraphilic individuals? According to research, sexual murders are essentially provoked by sadistic behavior, and are a result of personal fantasies and classical conditioning. These fantasies basically provide relief from a traumatic reality and offer you protection from the hovering past caused by perpetrators during the crucial developmental period.
These haunting truths of the past are dominated by humiliation, molestation, and revenge.
When it comes to Richard Ramirez, the role of his cousin, Miguel Ramirez cannot be neglected. When the psychopath was only 12 years old, his cousin had returned from war in Vietnam. As a young boy, Richard used to listen to Miguel’s stories of him raping and murdering Vietnamese women. He used to provide graphic details, that too, for the sake of entertainment. He often used to draw out the imagined crimes as a way to escape from his tragic reality.
One of the photos discovered has him holding in his hand the head of his rape victim. The head was placed in a way that the victim’s mouth was positioned near his penis. When Richard found these pictures, it awakened his deepest sexual desires as he often masturbated while looking at these drawings. A lot is already visible in Richard Ramirez teeth.
You can tell that this sadistic glorification of sexual behavior impacted Richard and catalyzed the deviant tendencies that already existed in some deep corner his mind. Naturally, the obscene images were not enough for him, and he started his hunt for his own set of victims.
When you view his actions in light of the Social Learning Theory, you begin to realize how his formative years impacted him, as that’s when he picked up habits from the people around him. According to this theory, your personality and behaviors are shaped by psychological processes when you are young. That is exactly what happened before Richard Ramirez death.
Stay tuned to Hayvine to know more about when did Richard Ramirez die and how old was Richard Ramirez when he got caught.
The story of Richard Ramirez also appeared in American Horror Story especial halloween episode. Type 'Richard Ramirez ahs' and watch it.
Hence, he picked up many things in his childhood. His cousin, Mike was the most important figure in his life, as he learned from him how to shoot a gun and wield a knife. Mike had already damaged the impressionable mind of Richard by encouraging sadistic behavior – a behavior that molded his future killings.
Related: FIVE FRIGHTENING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN RICHARD RAMIREZ, BONNIE & CLYDE AND JACK THE RIPPER
When he moved in with his married sister, he used to lurk in the backyard and watch random couples while having sex. He would get excited by catching the glimpse of a nude woman. This practice of voyeurism was later caught and disapproved by his elder sister.
Thus, no one can tell what kind of person Richard Ramirez would’ve become had he not experienced such instances in his life. He was largely influenced by the male individuals around him. His pervasive mindset was further corrupted by his cousin to induce a sense of euphoria and instant yet temporary fulfillment.
Jack Unterweger was one of the most infamous serial killers who terrified half of Europe if you haven't watched Jack Unterweger movie; his name has most recently been attached to the killing and death of Elisa Lam if you are wondering who killed Elisa Lam (Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, true crime documentary series).
The Austrian serial killer has murdered people in West Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and the United States. He started his reign of terror in the 1950s and got convicted for the first time in 1974. He was extremely creative, as he wrote a lot during his time in prison – it even gained critical acclaim at the time.
Related: EXCLUSIVE: THE ACTUAL FOOTAGE OF ELISA LAM INSIDE CECIL HOTEL IN L.A.!
The serial killer was eventually released on parole in 1990 after severe lobbying. He soon turned into a celebrity for writing as a playwright as well as a journalist. However, he couldn’t get rid of the most repulsive and triggering voice in his mind, and ended up going on a murder spree yet again. By 1994, he got caught again, and this time for nine murders. He ended up hanging himself in prison.
Related: EXCLUSIVE: JACK UNTERWEGER, RICHARD RAMIREZ, CECIL HOTEL, ELISA LAM AND EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!
It comes as no surprise that his mother was a sex worker who had been jailed when she was pregnant. She, too, was involved in severely demented and deviant behavior. In 1953, he was sent to live with his grandfather – the latter had already been accused him of being a “rough fellow” by someone. The grandfather and grandson duo ended up stealing animals at the farm.
He, too, was obsessed with sexually driven murders. He strangled one of his victims with her own bra. In fact, this was his trademark as he killed almost every victim across borders using the same technique. He certainly seemed obsessed with the life of sex workers and often took out his anger on them.
Related: 5 SHOCKING FACTS OF JACK UNTERWEGER’S DARK HISTORY OF GRISLY MURDERS AND CRIMES!
Clearly, his experiences during his early childhood along with the observation of deviant behavior in family are to be held accountable for his pathology.
Widely known in the pop culture, Jack the Ripper has been the inspiration behind many Hollywood features. He terrorized the city of London in the late 19th century and specifically targeted the working class. His case is still a mystery, as he was never really caught. He was responsible for killing five prostitutes during the months of August, September and November. He, in fact, mocked the police several times at the time.
Although five is the general number given, there are speculations that he actually murdered 13 women. Apparently, these women were all sex workers who had sold their bodies to the sailors arriving in East London. The area is now known as Whitechapel. His intentions were similar to the other two serial killers we discussed before.
Although we don’t know much about his past, we’re sure that he was also influenced by sadistic behavior in his childhood.
Hence, the combination of Psychodynamic theory of sexual desires, theory of psychosexual stages of development, and Social observation theory can be used to understand the vulgar and inhumane behavior of these serial killers.
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