Ed Gein Psychological Theory

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In this paper I will be applying the psychological theories to serial killer Ed Gein. Ed Gein was a prolific serial killer in the 1950’s. He murdered and robbed graves for body parts to make furniture and clothing. He was apprehended in 1957, where he stood trial and was institutionalized. Edward Theodore “Ed” Gein was born August 27th, 1906 to George and Augusta Gein. He was the youngest of two children. A growth on his left eye caused him to have a lazy eye, which subjected him to teasing. His father was a abusive, raging alcoholic and his mother was fanatically religious. Him, his mother and his brother were regularly abused by his father, George. I believe this was a building block to his psychosis. His first instance…show more content…
After his mother’s death Ed’s mental started began to diminish. He stopped bathing and boarded up all the rooms in the family home but 2. He also experienced frightening hallucinations. 18 months after his death, Ed dug up his mother’s body, removed her head and shrunk it. This was his first experience in grave robbing. Between 1947-1951 he began robbing graves of middle aged women who reminded him of his mother. Taking their body parts. Though he never sexually abused the corpses, his compulsions for dead human flesh classifies him as a necrophilia. Ed’s upbringing and the seclusion from others by his mother’s deceit and fanatic religious practices influenced his behavior greatly. He never had a girlfriend or a wife, so he was not good with women. He was quiet and shy. His familial situation was a big contributor to his psychosis. In 1946 he began stalking and abducting victims in Plainfield. The first believed to be Victor Travis, the only man known to be killed by Ed Gein. Next was Evelyn Hartley, 15, her body was never found. These were his “practice kills” before killing the middle aged women who reminded him of his mother, strong and…show more content…
They took him into custody, upon raiding his home and farm they found human skulls, clothing and furniture made from human skin. His necrophilia attributed to him making human articles. He was charged with grave robbery, but the murder charge was withheld until he was examined by doctors. They diagnosed him as a schizophrenic and a “sexual psychopath. He was silent about his crimes for a while, but began to tell all the grim details. Though he never revealed them all. He was committed to the Central State Hospital, where Dr. E.F. Schubert suggested that Ed’s “abnormally magnified attachment to his mother” caused him to commit these crimes after her death. Although he was extremely shy and quiet spoken, Ed was intelligent. Ed’s intelligence did not extend from his schooling, but the fact he could read well. This helped him commit his crimes. His IQ was 106, extremely rare for someone with an eighth grade education. He was smart and reclusive. He was not handsome and cunning like Ted Bundy, so he used brute force and weapons to overpower
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