So far I have not been able to find anything to prove that either Ted or Aileen had any kind of ASD. However, they are enough to give us an idea of how the quality of attachment can trigger particular behaviors that mark a person’s life forever. These are some of the similarities, among many, between two famous serial killers that involve attachment. Aileen had a grandmother who was alcoholic, and even though the problem she had was different this also kept her from taking an active and supportive role in Aileen’s life. In Ted’s case, his grandmother had severe depression that did not allow her to take part in Ted’s life and support him in any possible way. A third interesting similarity among these two serial killers was that both of their grandmothers had some kind of mental problems. In fact, they were physically and psychologically abused by their grandfathers for years. A second similarity in their attachment experience is that they both were unable to create any kind of bond with their primary caregivers (their grandparents). Their biological fathers left their mothers and they were raised by their grandparents to avoid comments coming from friends and relatives. The first similarity we find between them is that both grew up believing that their real mother was their older sister.
Taking a couple of examples from the lives of two famous serial killers, Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos, we see some interesting similarities between the kind of attachment they experienced as children and the paths they chose to live. As a general proposition, attachment theory asserts that the affective bonds formed in close interpersonal relationships between infants/adolescents and their primary caregivers are pivotal to understanding personality development. Although we might conclude that this is not true for every single murderer, the idea behind this question is to see how a good attachment versus a poor attachment could make a difference in the life of a potential serial killer. So, how can attachment theory help us understand homicidal behavior for those that have some kind of predisposition towards ASD? To answer this question we have to assume that those serial killers we want to study have some degree of ASD. However, they do not have the social skills of a normal person. They are also capable of getting a job, going to college, and having a life.
This is important because those that have AD or PDD are capable of developing a certain degree of attachment with those who surround them. It is worth highlighting that for those individuals who have AD or PDD, the severity of the deficiency of theory of mind and central coherence is not as much as those who have autism. Basically individuals that present some degree of ASD have a deficiency in these two cognitive capacities.
Two of the main ideas behind understanding the relationship between ASD and serial murder behavior are the concepts of Theory of Mind and Central Coherence. Among the ASD linked to criminal behavior, including, serial homicidal behaviors, we find Asperger Disorder (AD), and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). In a different study, Silva and his team found that there is a kind of association between ASD and serial homicidal behavior. This same concept is applicable to serial killers. Although these studies do not directly suggest that all people diagnosed with ASD have to have criminal behavior, they do suggest that there is something about ASD that makes people follow this kind of behavior. Recent studies completed in prison facilities by psychologists show a correlation between criminal behaviors and assessment of ASD in many convicts. It is not my goal to explain this, but rather it is to present a theory of how attachment theory can help us understand homicidal behavior for those that have a predisposition towards Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Far from being alarming, this make you wonder why someone like Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos could take someone else’s life without any apparent reason and then repeat the horrible act over and over with different victims. accounts for 76% of the serial killers world-wide.
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