Who Is Robert William Pickton's Behavior?

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Robert William Pickton’s behaviour can be analyzed using the psychological perspective of psychoanalysis. According to Sigmund Freud, the Id is driven by impulses, and in Pickton’s case, we can assume that his impulses were sexual, as the women he murdered were prostitutes (McLeod, 2013, “The Psyche,” para. 2). Pickton may have resorted to these specific women to satisfy his needs, while Pickton’s sexual impulses led to his Id satisfying them. While the Id is driven by impulses, the ego develops through experiences (McLeod, 2013, “The Psyche,” para. 2). Considering this, it is possible that Pickton’s violent and unmanageable urge to murder women was a result of experiencing some type of neglect and/or abuse by his mother or another motherly…show more content…
This theory examines the lack of balance in terms of men and women in an economic way. Stereotypical roles and class hierarchies divide the two genders: male and female. Women are to take on the “housewives” roles, taking care of the children and the home, while men are to work to earn an income. With this in mind, Pickton may have based his attacks on the fact that the women he murdered were a lower class level than he assumed himself to be in. Pickton was a pig farmer who produced and gave to others, while the women he murdered were prostitutes and drug addicts (Neilson, 2011). Perhaps, he believed that the women that he murdered were useless and that by murdering these women, he was doing good for the world. This imbalanced regard to class groups may have numbed or eliminated Pickton’s feelings of guilt or awareness to the fact that he was murdering, and harming countless women. Robert Pickton’s choice of targeting a specific group of women, women who were drug addicts and prostitutes, clearly shows the sociological perspective of…show more content…
As an observer, it appears as though Pickton’s relationships and social interactions were not fully developed. Throughout the documentary, The Pig Farm, it was mentioned that Pickton was a “socially awkward bachelor” (Neilson, 2011). Being socially awkward could have contributed to Pickton’s feelings of inferiority. As these feeling continued, one could argue that Pickton’s feelings of inferiority and rejection then developed into anger and rage, which he then chose to release through harming the women. As a result of the women’s inability to defend themselves, Pickton might have gained a sense of superiority, which then motivated him to continue to murder

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