Fuck it. If facebook is gonna censor me anyway, I might as well do a blog entry about true crime, a subject I've long been fascinated by and that I've wanted to dip my toes into for awhile. Not in the gross 'I wanna fuck Ted Bundy' way - seriously what the hell is up with those people? No, I more find it psychologically interesting to ponder what drives someone to that.
Child psychology in particular is interesting to me. In an ideal world, of course, this would involve the psychology of how a child grows, how their brain changes and how they learn, stuff like that. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world. Many people are completely unfit to raise children, and abuse them horrifically. Due to my own personal triggers, I will not go too into detail as to what that abuse entails, but I'm assuming you all can use your imaginations.
Children raised in such conditions often have long-term learning difficulties, problematic behaviors, and increased incidences of physical and mental health issues, all stemming from the abuse. Children learn who they are by interacting with their primary caretakers, and it's little wonder that the ignored, marginalised, or abused child has little sense of who they really are. They internalise what's been said or done to them, and lacking any healthy coping mechanisms (often they need, with their limited facilities, to quickly cobble together maladaptive coping mechanisms) they suffer greatly - and often turn to making others suffer as a way to regain some sense of the power that has been robbed from them.
The "Child of Rage" documentary about Beth Thomas is an example about how such treatment can damage a child's psyche. At only six years old, Thomas admitted to a clinical psychologist, on tape, that she would hurt her adoptive parents and birth sibling if given the opportunity. Her adoptive parents, Jill and Rob Tyler, locked their young daughter in her room at night because they were afraid of what she might do - all because of the way her biological father had abused her from infancy. (Also what kind of sick fuck abuses an infant?!)
Beth saw a series of psychiatrists who struggled to help her develop empathy, and overcome her psychopathic personality, which was the result of her father's sick behaviour. And, after years of intensive therapy, she was able to re-learn empathy and has grown to be a well-adjusted adult woman who helps others as a nurse. Her therapist, however, was one of the adults responsible for the tragic and terrible murder (and YES, I do view it as a murder, as they all should have known better) of Candace Tiara Ellmore, better known as Candace Newmaker. (Warning - That link is the most sickening and depressing story you’ll probably ever read, and not safe for sanity.)
Of course, Beth Thomas was not the first (and sadly not the last) child whose psyche was horrifically warped by early abuse. A few decades before her, in a working-class town in England, there lived a serial killing child named Mary Bell.
