Psychological Look at Aileen Wuornos
Profile: Aileen Wuornos
Nature vs. Nurture:
Aileen was born in 1956 to her 16 year old mother. She was not born with any physical or mental disabilities. At the time of her birth her father was incarcerated for child molestation and he was also believed to be a schizophrenic, he hung himself in jail and Aileen never met him. When Aileen was 3 years old her mother abandoned her and her 4 year old brother and left them with her own parents who legally adopted them. The family struggled economically and by age 11 Aileen would engage in sexual activities for food, drugs and alcohol. Home life was not easy for Aileen as she claims to be sexually abused by her alcoholic grandfather and beaten by her grandmother. She would also engage in sexual activities with her brother and at age 14 she became pregnant and there was confusion on whether the father of the baby was her brother, Keith, or her grandfather’s friend who had raped her. She birthed the baby and put it up for adoption as well as dropping out of school. Shortly after all of this her grandfather kicked her out on the street. To stay alive she was forced to cling to prostitution to meet her basic needs and to stay alive. Growing up was extremely difficult and Aileen often felt worthless.
Psychological and Emotional Development/ Personality Profile
The home that Aileen was born into was very abusive which caused a lot of emotional and physical distress. Due to being abused at an early age her moral development was lacking. According to Gilligan’s Stage Theory of Moral Development “the first stage of moral development is the child’s first sense of what is good for him or her. Young children follow rules to obtain rewards for them and to avoid punishment.” And Because Aileen was a part of such a dysfunctional family she was punished no matter what she did so the lines between what is right and wrong were blurred for her. The next stage of Gilligan’s Stage theory of Moral Development states that “the person
Nature vs. Nurture:
Aileen was born in 1956 to her 16 year old mother. She was not born with any physical or mental disabilities. At the time of her birth her father was incarcerated for child molestation and he was also believed to be a schizophrenic, he hung himself in jail and Aileen never met him. When Aileen was 3 years old her mother abandoned her and her 4 year old brother and left them with her own parents who legally adopted them. The family struggled economically and by age 11 Aileen would engage in sexual activities for food, drugs and alcohol. Home life was not easy for Aileen as she claims to be sexually abused by her alcoholic grandfather and beaten by her grandmother. She would also engage in sexual activities with her brother and at age 14 she became pregnant and there was confusion on whether the father of the baby was her brother, Keith, or her grandfather’s friend who had raped her. She birthed the baby and put it up for adoption as well as dropping out of school. Shortly after all of this her grandfather kicked her out on the street. To stay alive she was forced to cling to prostitution to meet her basic needs and to stay alive. Growing up was extremely difficult and Aileen often felt worthless.
Psychological and Emotional Development/ Personality Profile
The home that Aileen was born into was very abusive which caused a lot of emotional and physical distress. Due to being abused at an early age her moral development was lacking. According to Gilligan’s Stage Theory of Moral Development “the first stage of moral development is the child’s first sense of what is good for him or her. Young children follow rules to obtain rewards for them and to avoid punishment.” And Because Aileen was a part of such a dysfunctional family she was punished no matter what she did so the lines between what is right and wrong were blurred for her. The next stage of Gilligan’s Stage theory of Moral Development states that “the person