Eleanor Cowell Biography

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Biography Theodore “Ted” Robert Cowell was born on November 24, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont to twenty-two year old, unmarried, Eleanor Cowell. Due to Eleanor’s family’s religious beliefs, having a child without being married was a disgrace. She delivered Ted in a home for unwed mothers and then moved to Philadelphia to her parents. In order for no one to find out that Ted was born to an unmarried woman, Eleanor and her parents came up with a plan. Their plan was that her parents would raise Ted as their adopted child and say that Eleanor was his sister. Later on, Eleanor and Ted moved to Tacoma, Washington and in 1951, Eleanor married Johnnie Bundy and together, they had children of their own. Johnnie Bundy decided to formally adopt Ted,…show more content…
In a normal healthy functioning human being there is a strong interaction between the three parts of the mind-id, ego and superego. The id is the pleasure principle. It is impulsive and illogical or unreasonable. It wants what it wants right this second and it does not matter how I get it. The ego is the reality principle or the mediator. It keeps the id in check and comes up with problem solving strategies. The superego is the moral principle. It “internalized the values, morals, and ideals of society.” (Larsen & Buss, 2014,pg 271) This is why we should or should not do something; the underlying reasons. The interaction of these three parts of the mind is extremely important for everyday functioning and if they are not balanced, it can lead to problems. This relates to Ted Bundy because they were not balanced in his mind. It was almost as if the ego and superego did not exist in him. He did not think of the reality of what he was doing or the moral aspect of it. The id is impulsive, and does not think first so Bundy wanted to hurt people and that is what he did. He did not rationalize his thoughts or even try to think of why he should not do it. Therefore, the id, ego and superego were off-balance in Ted Bundy. The defense mechanisms come into play as well.…show more content…
Stressors are “the events that cause stress.” (Larsen & Buss, 2014, (pg 556) In Ted Bundy’s case, three major stressors for him were finding out the truth about who his mother and grandparents were, his mother getting married and having children with the new husband and then the love of his life unexpectedly ending things with him. Everyone deals with situations completely different from each other and sometimes it is in a healthy way and in others it is not. Most people learn throughout their life how to deal with the daily stressors in a good and healthy way but unfortunately Ted Bundy did not. Within the adjustment domain is the concept of disorder. Ted Bundy was without a doubt abnormal. He did not think or act like the “normal” person would. Abnormal is the broad or big picture but it goes in specifics. Bundy’s abnormal personality fits into the erratic cluster or disorders and even more specifically within the antisocial personality disorder. Like mentioned before, Ted Bundy was impulsive but he also showed lack of concern for social norms and a lack of remorse which are traits for antisocial personality disorder. The adjustment domain is
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