Concluding Thoughts...

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  As my time blogging comes to and end many thoughts about what I have learned come to mind. First, I feel that I am better able to understand my initial question as to why women marry murderers. The answer that I have reached is that there are many combinations and possibilities as to why. Love, companionship, power and fame were the most common reasons stated by women or thought to be by psychologists.

I think that this question is a seemingly impossible to answer due to the wide variety of women and their varying reasons. Some may say that they are involved because they love them, when they are really only interested in the fame that comes along with it. So it is very hard to to get an accurate gauge of the real rationale.The case study's gave a small sample of a possible outcomes that could represent the general female consensus. Amanda Vicary, who conducted the study, found that dominance is not a characteristic that women find attractive. Also, that there is not a correlation between fame and if the women found the man attractive.

Before I started the research process for this blog, I thought that these women were crazy to become involved with these dangerous men. After researching the reasons behind it, I deduce that these women are often normal, but with a stipulation. Whether that is that they were abused as a child, have abandonment issues, or a poor relationship with their father. 

Some things that I wish I could research further, would be the many books that look at this topic. For the sake of time and my limited understanding on psychology jargon, I avoided using them. I think that these books may have different methods for arriving at the same conclusions about power and fame being possible factors.

Overall, looking into this topic further was very interesting and I enjoyed it. I am glad I chose this topic as an offshoot. Due to the fact that it was about women made it easier to relate in someways and offer my opinion. The research was intriguing and thought-provoking.

Case Study #2

Note: This was not the picture used in study.
www.fanpop.com

This study looks into whether women find dominance attractive in killers and whether women with certain personality characteristics are more likely to find killers attractive.

• 190 female undergraduates.
• Completed the same questionnaires as Study 1.
• Participants read one of three stories on the computer. The stories appeared to be from a site called True Crime Library. 
•  In the “dominant” condition, the individual was described as a 6’2”, 210 pound killer who murdered three young women. 
• The first two girls had been “mutilated” and “stabbed repeatedly.” They had been “tortured” and their bodies showed signs of “bruises and strangulation.” 
• It also was mentioned that the killer tied up the women with rope.
•  During the third murder, the killer nearly cut off the woman’s head.
•  In the “less dominant” condition, all components of the story were held constant with the exception that the killer was 37 described as being 5’9”, 160 pounds and having used a gun to shoot the victims. 
• No mention was made of stabbing, ropes, or injuries to the bodies beyond the gunshot wounds. 
• In the “bank robber” condition, the individual was described as being 6’2”, 210 pounds and having robbed several banks. 
• During one robbery, he held a gun to a woman’s head and yelled at the employees. 
• During another robbery, he shot a woman in the foot; however, he did not kill anyone. 

Vicary stated that the purpose of including the third condition was to determine whether women with certainly personality characteristics may be more or less attracted to someone who has killed versus a criminal who has not killed.  

After reading the stories, the women answered the same questions regarding attraction as the first study and additional questions such as:

1. How exciting would it be to go on a date with him? 

2. How exciting would it be to have sex with him? 

3. How exiting would it be to get a letter from him?  

Participants also were asked to rate on a 1-7 scale how dominant and famous they found the individual. Again, they were told that the stories were fictional.

Results

 Results revealed that women considered the killer who stabbed as more dominant than the killer who used a gun. Specifically, women were more attracted to the bank robber than the killer. Vicary also found that dominance does not appear to be a characteristic that women find attractive. Also, women found thoughts of a relationship with the lesser dominant killer to be more exciting.

-  I suppose that dominance could be shown as a form of power. This does prove other theories to be true, that woman want the power and control. Hence, why they would not seek a dominant. So why are women attracted to murders?- it sure doesn't have anything to do with the killers dominance.

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26208/Vicary_Amanda.pdf?sequence=1

Case Studies

I am continuing to look at the dissertation by Amanda Vicary. This time I will look at two different studies that she conducted; analyzing each of them and the different methods used.

Note: This was not the picture used in the study.
www.fanpop.com

Case #1

This study was done to  investigate whether women find fame attraction in killers and whether women with certain personality characteristics are more likely to find killers attractive.

This study looked into the idea that women are attracted to fame. 

Vicary's study looked into characteristics based on her hypothesis, that an insecure attachment orientation, low self-esteem, and high sensation seeking will correlate with women’s attraction to murderers.

•  Participants were 241 female undergraduates
• Completed several questionnaires
• Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire
• Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale 
•  11-item Sensation Seeking scale of the ZuckermanKuhlman Personality Questionnaire
•  Basic demographics questionnaire
•  After completing these measures, participants viewed one of two short videos on the computer. The videos appeared to be from a news broadcast. 
• They both featured the same individual (a male in his late 20’s) starring as the serial killer. During the video, a “newscaster” described the man as having murdered two women on different occasions. 
• In one condition (the “fame” condition) the broadcaster also made note that the killer made headlines around the country and had been the focus of three true crime books and one made-for-TV movie. The other video did not include this information.
• The killer’s mug shot was shown an equal number of times in each video.

After this, the participant filled out a questionnaire with several questions. One of the questions was:

"2. How interested would you be in writing to this person while he is in prison?" 

The participants were also asked to rate on a scale of 1-7 how famous they found the killer. After they were told that the individual was not an actual serial killer and that the crime was fictional.

Results were not clear. There were no differences in ratings of attraction between women who viewed the famous video versus the control video. However, there was a correlation with the women who considered the killer to be more famous found him more attractive. Also, women who were higher in sensation seeking and attachment avoidance with their fathers found the killer more attractive.

 Lastly, it was not the case that women higher in certain personality characteristics were more or less likely to find the famous killer attractive. However, women who suffered more abuse as a child found the killer more attractive.

- I was surprised that their wasn't a proven correlation between a women thinking the killer was famous and their attraction. Fame is thought to be a factor in why many women are attracted to killers, as I I have found in my research. This proved all the other experts to be wrong. But I am sure that if the sample size was as big as the world population and had a wide variety of all the different types of people, the results might be different.

I found it to be strange that the women who stated they had been abused as a child found the killer more attractive. One would think that the woman would be repulsed by his violence, but it is the opposite. A possible explanation for this could be that they are used to it or "expect" it. So they do not know any different. Whereas a woman who did not have an abusive past knows to stay away.- But I would think that she might not be as afraid, because she has not experienced it in the past, so she would be more likely to find him attractive. Very interesting!


As I have previously stated, this source has invented ethos and gains even more credibility for conducting case study's.

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26208/Vicary_Amanda.pdf?sequence=1

Dissertation 

As I discussed in a previous blog, I discovered a dissertation by Amanda Vicary. She wrote it in order to fulfill the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Once again, as Amanda stated, there has been no research conducted to investigate the phenomenon. I am going to use her findings to compare it with other conclusions that I have found in my research process. 

Amanda's hypothesis is that an insecure attachment orientation, low self-esteem, and high sensation seeking will correlate with women’s attraction to murderers.

Attachment

The first thing that Vicary addresses is a woman's attachment to her father. Was he there during her upbringing? Did he pass away at a young age? Or was he just emotionally unavailable? 

Findings from research conducted in the area of life history theory (Belsky, Steinberg, & Draper, 1991) provide support for the notion that a woman’s early childhood experiences may impact her subsequent relationships.

avyakt7.com

Attachment theory was developed by Bowlby (1982) to explain the bond that develops between an infant and his or her caregiver. According to attachment theory, children instinctively form an attachment to their primary caregiver that helps to insure their survival. In 1987 Hazan and Shaver  extended theory on attachment to adult romantic relationships when they noted that the same patterns of behavior observed between infants and caregivers also seemed to exist between romantic partners.

With this information, Vicary proposed that women who are high in attachment avoidance with their fathers and romantic partners will be more likely to find killers attractive.  Individuals who score high on avoidance prefer not to open up to others and are uncomfortable being close to others. Vicary went on to state that they, the women, may prefer a partner with whom they do not need to interact with emotionally on a level that would occur if he were free, due to the score of high avoidance.

-In other research I have came across, they never gave "daddy issues" as a reason for these women to be drawn to these dangerous men. But if you think about it, it does make sense. They know where the man will be at all times and they have the power to come and see them as they please. I think that desire for power and control, as discussed in a previous post, could come from this theory.

Vicary added on to her conclusion, "Highly avoidant women, possibly due to their fears of being abandoned, their dislike of closeness, or distaste for sexual relations, will find a man who  is behind bars more attractive than women of a more secure attachment orientation."

- So plainly stated, if a woman didn't have a father figure, she is more likely to become involved with a killer for reasons as simple as that he can't leave her and she has control of what happens.


Self-esteem

"Isenberg (2000) states, based upon her interviews, that women who love killers are often suffering from extremely low levels of self-esteem. They seek out killers because they want something that society has also branded as unacceptable", stated Vicary in her dissertation.

- I have found that self-esteem issues is a common reason given to explain these women's actions. They are using "love" to boost their self-esteem and give them self worth. They don't think that they can do better. Another idea to think about is that these criminals with settle for anything, They are lonely and seeking companionship. I don't think a criminal is going to be to picky as to who he accepts letters and maybe even money from. We need to remember that these convicts are cons, con-artists. They can lead these women to believe anything, they are the perfect targets.

Self -esteem and attachment are just some of the reasons that Vicary discusses in her dissertation. I chose to use this dissertation as apart of my research process because this id the first work I have come across that attempts to answer my initial question in its entirety. Her dissertation is entitled, "An investigation into the potential romantic appeal of convicted killers."  I feel that she has invented ethos due to the fact that she has done extensive research and cites many credible sources. She is writing it in order to fulfill the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, so she is of an advanced level. Additionally, if she chose to write her dissertation on it, she must be passionate about the subject.

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26208/Vicary_Amanda.pdf?sequence=1


Isenberg, S. (2000). Women who love men who kill. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.

Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511-524.

Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books. (Original work published 1969)

monkeytraps.wordpress.com

Control and Power

This article, "Control and power: why some women fall in love with convicts", is by a German broadcasting company. This article describes a story in which a prisoner stabbed his girlfriend to death during a visit. They had been together for five years.

Women falling in love with convicts is not a rare phenomenon: It's all about control and power, according to German psychologist and media expert Christian Luedke. 

Luedke also stated that women who fall in love with dangerous criminals are more often than not suffering from depression. That they would rather have a relationship with a dangerous criminal than deal with their own fate.
"...but in the end "it is the women who need the relationship, they are giving the convict what they themselves have lacked most in life: time, affection, love and devotion," Luedke said."

-In my last post, I discussed the "Savior Complex," this theory by Christian Luedke states another possible reason into why women are attracted to men who are incarcerated.This is an interesting concept, that the women are really doing it for themselves, and not to "save" the other person.

 Another thing that he stated that differed from the other research I have found is that he states the women suffer from depression, whereas in another blog the entire article was about how the women are normal and sane human beings, not suffering from mental health problems.

Luedke also noted that the relationship only works as long as the partner is in jail. --So the obvious choice is a death row inmate.

First of all, he killed his girlfriend of five years. How twisted is that? She dedicated her time and energy to coming and visiting him. She gave him a second chance and he turns on her. Then again he was in prison for rapping and killing a child. 

 This heartbreaking story is an appeal to pathos. I really liked that this story was out of a prison in Germany because it shows that this is a worldwide phenomenon. This broadcasting company seems credible. The DW website is well developed and doesn't have any advertising on the sides. If you look at the "About Us" section it is professional and you are even able to contact a Corporate Communications representative. 

To read the full article:  http://www.dw.com/en/control-and-power-why-some-women-fall-in-love-with-convicts/a-5466396

SAVE ME.

One of the most common theories behind women becoming involved with men in prison is that they feel that they can change them or that they can "save them." 

This idea of saving them could be called or considered a "Savior Complex." 

What is a Savior Complex? 

cantarsentimentos.blogspot.com

According to www.peopleskillsdecoded.com, "The savior complex is a psychological construct which makes a person feel the need to save other people. This person has a strong tendency to seek people who desperately need help and to assist them, often sacrificing their own needs for these people."

Whether the actual term of a savor complex is real or not, it does makes logical sense. The idea of being able to change someones life is appealing to most women. Maybe the woman is at the stage of her life where she wants someone to take care of. Or wants to feel needed. Becoming involved with a man behind bars satisfies these needs. The man looks forward to her letters and phone calls. He is depending on her for companionship.


"If you want to be the savior, you’re essentially saying to your partner that you see them as a project to be fixed." This quote comes from everydayfeminism.com. This is an additional point to be made. By needing to "fix" them, you are projecting the idea that they are not good enough the way that they are, dooming the relationship from the start.


When will they be good enough?


Are you attracted to them? Or the idea of being able to save them?

Both of the websites that I referenced do not specifically talk about savior complexes in women that become involved with incarcerated men. For this reason, the purpose of these websites were to give more information on the "Savior Complex." I thought that was interesting that it can be found in all types of relationships for many different reasons. So a woman doesn't have to look for a criminal to save, she has plenty of other options for people to help in this world. Another interesting finding was that the term "Savior Complex" has not come up yet in my research. The definition given perfectly describes why outsiders think the women do it. Neither of these sites have situated ethos, one is a online magazine and the other is an opinion website with other random articles. I do not think that the term "Savior Complex" is official terminology used by experts, at least I could not find any experts describing it, but when you search "savior complex" there are several results that come up, so people are talking about it.

To read the full articles:

http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/10/savior-complex-toxic-relationship/

http://www.peopleskillsdecoded.com/savior-complex/

"Crazy Ladies"

This article entitled, "Women Who Marry Prisoners Aren't Just "Crazy Ladies."" This article is on the shorter side and it describes Amy Friedman's story. One thing that I found interesting that Friedman stated is that she still believes in the power of love to stop prisoners "turn[ing] from people who have committed crimes into real, honest-to-god monsters."

rapgenius.com

- The reason that I found this to be so interesting is that what about in the cases of convicted killers where they are serving life without parole? They will never be allowed back into society again. So what if they turn into "monsters"?  Most of us have been in relationships were we thought we could changed the person for the better, we soon learned that some people just can't change. Becoming involved with a prisoner is an extreme example.

Another key asset to this blog article is the ability for people to respond with their replies to the article.

Here are some that stood out to me the most:

"Women who marry prisoners and prisoners who get married on the inside are latching themselves on to a Romantic (capital R) love. It's idealized. It's a love that they can dedicate all their time to, especially the prisoners..." - LaComtesse

"I think there would have to be a certain level of delusion or at least naivete to even consider marrying someone who has murdered another person, hell, who has murdered anything. If it wasn't explicitly self defense, that's a whole lot of baggage that person's carrying around. I imagine prisoners and the women who marry them are both incredibly lonely people." - LolaLane

"Their behaviour strikes me as being highly disrespectful to the victims and their friends and families." -Rare Affinity

All of these responses to the article and replies to others really got me thinking. This phenomenon of becoming involved with individuals behind bars really does have negative effects on the other family members involved. If you read through some of the other comments, you can see through their stories that it has caused a lot of chaos for the families of the non-incarcerated person in particular.  

This reminded me of a quote I read earlier in the article. Friedman said, "Our stories are complicated — like every true love story is."   

neverxhide.deviantart.com

Does it have to be complicated? Are all love stories complicated? Whatever happened to "They met, they fell in love, The End." I feel like falling in love with someone should be just as easy as staying in love, and maintaining a healthy relationship, I realize I may sound naïve, but if your relationship is putting a constant strain between your family, wouldn't it make sense to end it because your family and friends are people who you get to see everyday and not just on scheduled visits?

I guess it is impossible to know what it is like to be a relationship with a person in prison and have to constantly explain yourself unless you have been in that position before. On the outside looking in it seems obvious. 

But as they say, you can't help who you fall in love with.

The purpose of this blog article was to show that that women who marry prisoners aren't "crazy ladies." Because this is a blog, with advertisements, I would not use it for a research paper, unless I needed real life accounts. Due to the personal accounts and interviews, this article has ethos. Adding to the ethos are the responses from other people who have been in and/or are going through a similar situation. Also, there are links to other credible websites, establishing ethos. There is also an appeal to pathos in that you hear these stories and feel sorry for some of them for having to go through this with their mother for example. It must be hard, I can't imagine what I would do or say if my mother told me she was in love with someone who was incarcerated.

To read the full article or more replies visit: 

http://jezebel.com/5755106/women-who-marry-prisoners-arent-just-crazy-ladie

Infamous Marriages

So who are some of the most memorable prisoners who have gotten married while behind bars?

ABCNews,go.com reported," Kenneth Bianchi and cousin Angelo Buono, dubbed the Hillside Stranglers for the murders of 10 girls in the Los Angeles area in the late 1970s, both married while in prison.

Serial killers John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy both had committed relationships with women before they were put to death. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, awaiting execution for a string of brutal murders in California in 1985, married a pen pal in 1996. "

Hillside Strangulars- pic2fly.com

More recently, noted ABCNews.go.com, "Scott Peterson, awaiting death in the execution chamber of San Quentin State Prison for the murders of his wife and unborn son, is reportedly flooded with letters from admirers. Even Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh received marriage proposals before he was executed."

This article looks at men and women who marry people behind bars. As well as addresses issues within the article with subheadings like, "Confusing Compassion with Love" and "Fewer Men are Drawn to Women Inmates".

I have been researching and reading stories like these for two weeks and it still amazes me that these women want to marry these men how are violent killers. Scott Peterson killed his wife, why would you then want to become his next wife?

I thought that it was imperative to include some notable example of notorious men who have gotten married while in prison. But it is also important to note that many men who are not as well known in the media spotlight still get married behind behind bars.

This source has situated ethos because it is a well established news organization. The author uses examples from WriteAPrisoner.com as well as real-life interviews that add to the credibility. The purpose of this article is to answer the question, as is stated in its title, "What Draws People to Marry Prison Inmates?"

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/US/story?id=889903&page=1

Zoom Out

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After talking with Dr. G today, we decided that it would be a good idea to take a step back from my research on why women marry murderers and just look at the broader idea of why women marry convicted criminals. We think that there will be an overlap in the rationale used to justify their attraction towards these dangerous men.  Additionally, looking into the psychology behind these women might give a better idea about the women who marry the convicted murderers. 

I am feeling a lot better about my research process now and that I know I will be able to find information and not run into a dead end.

Finally!

After searching and searching, I finally found some research content that is relevant to my topic. It is a dissertation by Amanda Vicary. It is entitled, "An investigation into the potential romantic appeal of convicted killers." She stated, "However, to date no scientific research has been conducted in an 

attempt to determine what characteristics of women may lead them to be attracted to a killer and 

what characteristics of the killers themselves make them so appealing." So this tells me that I'm not going to find much more on the topic, however she does use bits and pieces from different books such as, Women Who Love Men Who Kill.  Unfortunately, I do not have time to read this entire book, but I may be able to look it up and read different sections. This dissertation does give me different references that I may be able to look into further.

As far as using the dissertation as a source, that I am not so sure about. Yes, she has done extensive research and cites many credible sources, however, she herself is not an expert in the field. But she is writing it in order to fulfill the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, so she is of an advanced level.  I just question whether or not it can be considered a "scholarly source." And if it can be, how much do I use to support my research? But what if its all I can find on the topic? It was a long process that led me to find this article, I am afraid that their won't be much more find. At the same time, this paper covers all the sub-topics that pertain to my focused topic, so it will be very useful, but I'm pretty sure I need more than one semi-scholarly source in order to have rounded research.

I am going to start my analyzing different sections of this dissertation, and then ask Dr. G. on Monday what is the best way to use this source.

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26208/Vicary_Amanda.pdf?sequence=1

I have been at a road block lately with finding research for my blog. Luckily, today during class at the library, I was able to get some help to propel me forward in my focused research.

Some of the keywords I plan on using in my future searches for scholarly articles are words like infatuation,women, marriage,attraction and incarceration. Hopefully, by using these words I will be more successful at generating articles that are about my focused topic.

Hot Mugshot Guy

www.techtimes.com

Internet’s hottest felon, Jeremey Meeks is planning to be a model as soon as he is released from jail.


This mugshot became an internet sensation after it was released on the Stockton Police Department’s Facebook page in 2014.

Meeks was sentenced to 27 months in prison following a weapons charge in February. The aspiring model says he concentrates on working out and replying to fan mail.


There was a time, not too long ago, when police called Meeks “one of the most violent criminals in the Stockton area.” He was arrested in 2014 during a gang sweep in Stockton and faced multiple felony weapons charges at one time. The state eventually agreed to turn the case over to federal prosecutors, who reduced those charges to a single charge: "Felon in possession of a firearm" according to The Washington Post.

storify.com

This picture (left) is he same mugshot photo pictured above, only in this one for Calvin Klein his many tattoos have been edited out. They wouldn't want a model with a tear drop tattoo (indicating gang affiliation and that he killed someone) to represent the Calvin Klein brand now would they?

"Hot Mugshot Guy" went viral and the fan mail poured in.  This man is obviously attractive, but just because I think he is good looking does not mean that I want a relationship with him.

So why did so many other women confess their love for him?
They didn't even know him. Was it because he was 'famous'?
Or where they simply basing it on his good looks?

He is a felon, did they forget about that? Or was it that he was only charged with possession of a firearm, and not convicted of killing anyone that appealed to them?



This story of "Hot Mugshot Guy" may prove the theory that women are enticed by the fame to become involved with these dangerous men. Once he is out he is going to become a model, that may show that he is leaving his past behind him. Improvement like that may make it easier for the women to justify wanting to be with him. It also further proves that they are willing to look past the record that these men have.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/13/the-hot-mugshot-guy-is-free-its-almost-as-if-being-in-jail-for-so-long-made-him-hotter/

Is it right to give them Rights?

Should murderers be allowed the right to marry?

This was the question that Time asked Debra Tate, the sister of Sharon Tate, who was brutally murdered by Charles Manson and some of his followers in 1969.  "Charles Manson took away my sister's right to happiness, and to life itself—he shouldn't be allowed his own."

kennethinthe212.com

Debra also went on to say, "The state of California has long been viewed as a liberal state, but at what point is liberal too liberal? Those who commit such extraordinarily heinous crimes against humanity should be asked to forfeit their own rights to the pleasures of life—which include marriage, the birth of children, and family relations of any kind—as they denied their victims all of these most precious gifts. Why should we as a society allow those who take away life the privilege to enjoy all that life has to offer? I really struggle with this."

-This is a stimulating idea. They took away someone life, why should they be allowed to live life with all the perks?  I had never thought about this concept. It does seem unfair that Sharon's family didn't get to attend her wedding, yet her killer gets to have one.

Debra also stated that, "At the same time it proves a point I have been trying to make to the general public for the last ten years. That being, the very fact Charles Manson can convince a 26-year-old woman to be his wife shows the power he still possesses over the young and impressionable individuals who are looking for some bizarre form of leadership."

-The idea of leadership is new to my research. But it does serve as another reason for falling for, or rather following, these serial killers.

I know that this topic swayed from my more focused topic of the reasoning behind marrying serial killers, but this is an interesting viewpoint. Without marriage currently being allowed, I wouldn't have a topic to further research. One day it may not be allowed for murderers to marry, and then people will look back on all those who did and ask the same question I did- WHY?

http://proxy.uwec.edu/login?url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=5ae8d7ac-f2e8-406f-bd7f 1fa3e8174451%40sessionmgr4003&vid=9&hid=4201&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVpZCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=101214584&db=a9h

Going Deeper...

Now that I have completed my broad research and narrowed down my topic, I can begin my focused research.  Why do women get involved with and then proceed to marry murderers?

Katherine Ramsland Ph.D. wrote an article on Psychology Today entitled, "Women Who Love Serial Killers." In this article she uses the example of Ted Bundy and wife Carol Ann Boone to demonstrate her first reason that women marry serial killers, that they believe them to be innocent. 

They next reason is that they believe that they can change a man as cruel and powerful as a serial killer. Others "see" the little boy that the killer once was and seek to nurture him. A few even do it in hopes of getting media attention.

http://allwomenstalk.com/when-obsessive-love-turns-to-freaky-fatal-attraction

Ramsland also went on to say that these women have notions of the "perfect boyfriend." Meaning that, "She knows where he is at all times and she knows he’s thinking about her. While she can claim that someone loves her, she does not have to endure the day-to-day issues involved in most relationships. There’s no laundry to do, no cooking for him, and no accountability to him. She can keep the fantasy charged up for a long time." - This is an intriguing concept . Every woman has her idea of the "perfect boyfriend," mine personally doesn't involve liking the fact that he is always in the same place, but to each his own. 

Next she stated that mental health experts compare the women's infatuation with killers to extreme forms of fanaticism. Typically, insecure females who cannot find love in normal ways - This actually makes a little sense, its like a game or a comic. They live in the fantasy world, holding these killers on a pedestal. Aiming to "win" them or find acceptance with them. Additionally, it was also noted that this is not true in all cases. Some of the women that have chosen to be with a serial killer have been beautiful, educated, and even married. Some even were lawyers, psychologists, and judges.

http://askmamu.com

A new statistic that Ramsland presented was that women attracted to killers (especially serial killers) are usually in their thirties or forties. - This also makes a lot of sense. This is the age where women become divorced, or maybe they still haven't found that special someone. This is the age where you can be come lonely and seek companionship.

Next, I will include my findings from an article that uses Ramsland's article as a jumping off point.

Leon F, Seltzer Ph.D has a doctorate in psychology.In this article on Psychology Today, he is analyzing and adding his input to PT blogger, Katerine Ramsland in her post entitled, "Women Who Love Serial Killers." He expands further on the biological, sexual, and psychological dynamics that Ramsland only touches upon. His reference is a book called  A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World’s Largest Experiment Reveals About Human Desire, by computational neuroscientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam (Dutton, 2011). A point that Seltzer makes is that this book has substantial evidence from Web searches, posts, and many 1,000s of romance novels that women demonstrate a strong erotic preference for dominant men.



The Fantasy

Some women read countless amounts of  erotic/romance novels. Most comely the man starts out as "rough around the edges" and transforms into this loving and affectionate man by the end of the book.  So the women feel that she can transform a man as cruel and evil as a murderer,  they view it as a  challenge. It was also stated that books like these outsell pornography, for example,  Fifty Shades of Grey. Seltzer also noted that, " ...many women experience as enticing the idea of surrendering to a powerful male figure because of its very riskiness. Curiously, such an acutely felt threat can actually be eroticized by women’s minds into exceptional sexual excitement so compelling that (at least on a fantasy level) it’s almost irresistible." - This can be seen in a variety of ways, when someone tells you not to do something, it makes you want to do it more. Their is also a risk factor in that her husband or family members could find out. This may be as good a reason as any for getting involved with someone as high-risk as a serial killer.




Want to read it for yourself? 

Katherine Ramsland article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shadow-boxing/201204/women-who-love-serial-killers

Leon F Seltzers article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201204/why-do-women-fall-serial-killers

Narrowing it Down

Today in my CJ 105 class, we watched a documentary on men and violence. They stated a startling statistic;  90% of murders are committed by men. This got me thinking about my research process; I have now decided to narrow my research down even further and look at just the thought process and psychology that WOMEN have when they decide to get involved with and eventually marry a murderer.

I think that by refining my topic even further will allow me to research the topic more thoroughly and not get sidetracked looking for the material on both men and women.

Direction

https://crisisboom.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/brain-waves.jpg

Now that I have done basic research on my topic, I have decided that I want to strictly focus on the cases that involve people getting married after one of them was convicted of murder. I hope that going this direction allows me to look more into the psychology of it all. I am so curious about the different thoughts that go into allowing ones self to justify how marrying someone who killed someone is okay; this is the contingent issue that surrounds this controversy. There is situated kairos in that whenever one of the notorious criminals get married or has a love interest, the media gets people talking.

I have chosen to look further in depth at the psychology of the situation because it answers or attempts to answer the question that everyone is thinking- WHY?

Although it is a simple question, there will not be a simple answer.


I think that this question is important because there is a stigma, I guess you could call it, that surrounds this controversy of women marrying murderers. My goal is to try to understand what these women are thinking to better understand why they would marry a dangerous man. Audiences that would be interested in my research could be  Women's Studies professors and students analyzing different relationships among different kinds of women. As well as family members of women who have married one of these men and are looking for an answer to why their loved one would do this.

Keywords

http://dontstepinthepoop.com/

During my broad research process I came across several words that were used to describe the women that are attracted to murderers. Terms like love-sick groupies, hybristophillia and killer groupies were associated with the women that gravitated towards the murderous men.

Hybristophilla is defined as: a paraphilia in which a person is sexuoerotically attracted to a person who has committed an outrage or a gruesome crime.

I will continue to look for and use these words and terms as part of my research process on gaining insight on to what goes on in the minds of then women.

www.ideachampions.com

Love Behind Bars

-THS Investigates

So here is my take away from watching the documentary, Love Behind Bars.  This hour and 26 min documentary covered the stories of several woman who had became involved with a men behind bars. One a confessed murderer, another a rapist, and one on death row.

The documentary jumped around a lot, telling pieces of each story. So I am going to tell each story in sections and what I learned toward my research of Marrying a Murderer.

The first woman covered was Veronica Compton. She said that her goal was to help people who are thinking about getting involved with someone who is incarcerated. Veronica was held captive and raped repeatedly at a young age. After her father had arranged her marriage, after two years it fell through.  As this was happening, there were several killings of young women taking place in the hillside of California. The killer was deemed  The Hillside Strangular.  This man was found out to be Kenneth Bianchi. He confessed and was sentenced to life without parole. 

Here is were Veronica comes into play. Veronica wrote to Bianchi to get information and insight for her book. Eventually, she began visiting him and talking on the phone daily.

Bianchi had convinced Veronica to commit the same crime that he had and inject the girl with someone else's semen to clear his name. Veronica stated that she felt that he had complete control over her.

She went ahead with their plan, she was unsuccessful; with guilt and remorse she was put in jail. 

While in jail she fell for a lawyer and they ended up getting married. Her husband James said, " you hear what she did and think that she is deranged. But she is not deranged."

My response:  It is crazy to think that this woman could have been convinced to carry out a crime to attempted to clear the name of the man who already confessed to the murders. It was so interesting when she said that she felt like he had complete control over her. He is behind a glass window, and she is talking to him through a telephone. All she had to do was stop coming to visit him and he couldn't do anything about it. But something inside her made her keep going. It is so ironic that she is now behind bars too, and what makes it even better was that she found love and got married while incarcerated. The film also stated that Bianchi had used other women for similar reasons.  Convicts really are con-artists. I guess women will really do crazy things for the men that they love. But Veronica stated several times that she was not in love nor attracted to Bianchi, so why did she do it? It is a state of being that she can not explain, she is just glad that she snapped out of it.

Additional Info

In between the stories of the women was information on the websites that exist.  The creators of WriteAPrisoner.com  stated that the inmates are denied direct access to the internet, but have full access to mail. They said that inmates send the $40.00, a photo, and a short bio about themselves and then they, the creators of the website, upload their profile.

They also talked about a different website called, WomenBehindBars.com. The women are more 

sexualized, under the impression that more hits will get them more letters.

The websites are censored, the creators monitor and correct any false information that may get posted, things like age and race are most common.

It was also noted that the most fit, prettiest, and most famous get the most attention. The infamous Susan Smith, who drove her car into a river with her kids in it, received piles of fan/love mail.

Another Story  

A coworker invited Janet to meet her fiancé, the catch was that he was in prison. Janet, scared to even set foot inside the walls of the prison, ended up falling for a man she saw in the visitor room that day. After several visits, Janet gave him her home phone number. They would talk on the phone all night. This was before they gave phone calls a 20 minute limit.

The man told Janet right away of the crimes he had committed, he was a convicted rapist. But that didn't matter to her. Janet said she was attracted to his honesty, among other things.

My response:   The man is a convicted rapist! If and when he gets out, what makes you think he won't do the same to you? What if he is just playing head games so he has an easy target?

You appreciate his honesty? Of course he is going to tell you what he did, he has nothing to lose! He is already facing his consequences, what is he going to say? That he got sentenced to prison for stealing a kitten? No.  

But this does answer another communication aspect of my research. They give them their phone numbers so the inmate can call at his designated times. Talk about waiting by the phone!

Kinds of Women

The documentary also provided information on the kinds of women that write and visit the prisoners. Women that have no high school diploma, women with a high school diploma, college degrees, masters degrees and even PhD.'s

There is no one category of a woman in terms of socioeconomic or educational background.

So this partly answers my question about the types of women that fall for these men, but I am also curious if  age or race have any significant patterns.

On Death Row and in Love

The woman in this story found her inmate while on WriteAPrisoner.com, she was spreading her faith to those who needed it.  She lived in Wisconsin and he was at prison in northern Florida. The woman broke off her engagement to the man she was currently seeing and moved to Florida to be closer to this inmate- where he awaited execution. Because he was on death row they were not allow conjugal visits, but she said that it did not matter.

My response:  This woman packed up her kids and moved to a trailer park 20 minutes away from the prison.  What compels a person to re-arrange her entire life and her kid's lives, so a inmate on death row!? He has no possibility of parole, he is going to be executed. What do you have to look forward too?

Ted Bundy

This documentary mentions Ted Bundy several times and in reference. They said how Bundy received bags of fan mail during his trial and several marriage proposals. The lovesick groupies  showed up to the court room with their hair parted in the middle and dyed the proper shade of brown for Bundy's liking. The conviction raised the public interest.

I think it is so interesting that Ted Bundy was included in this documentary, after all he was the inspiration for this continued research. But how dumb were these girls to make their appearance look similar to all of his victims? Did they want to be next?

Reasoning

The reasoning that experts give for these women falling for these criminals are as follows:

• They have a "bad boy" image.
• They are rescuing and restoring them.
• They have exclusive access to them.
• They have redeeming features.

These "appealing" qualities are thought-provoking. Is it due to a woman kind and loving nature that she feels compelled to "fix" this "broken" human being? Are the reasons different for men? What are those reasons? This documentary  partially answered my question for the reasoning that women give for marrying these criminals.

This documentary was very valuable in my research; it allowed me to look at several different cases at once and see the real-life people that's story was being told. They looked like normal, sane human beings. No one would every guess that when they call their husbands that he is calling from behind bars.

www.pinterest.com

I found this and it kind of pulled at the heartstrings a little. I have been so focused on the "crazy" part of these women/men falling in love when these inmates, that I forgot about the falling in love part.  That these women actually can/do develop real feelings for the inmate. Having a relationship with someone in prison is like the ultimate long-distance relationship.

I am in a long distance relationship right now due to going to different colleges, but I can still call,text, and Skype him whenever I want. But the reality is that if I wanted to see him right now I could, I have that option, but these women don't. They have to wait for scheduled visits and designated calling times. That has to be very hard, marrying a murderer aside, the constant separation would be difficult for anyone, I have to respect their commitment to them.

I thought that this picture was interesting because is shows that there is a huge community of women that are married to someone behind bars. 

What else is there?

What else is there?  -This is the question I asked myself as I continued my research on Marrying a Murderer.  I already discovered that there was a TV Movie called Love Behind Bars, so I searched for other videos and documentaries on the topic.  

From this search a lot of videos surfaced. Most of them were related to being married to murderer, meaning that they were married and then their partner killed someone. My topic is more geared towards marrying someone after they are convicted of murder. Mass murderer Charles Manson getting a marriage was one of the videos available.

So what else?

Just from reading the quick bio about Love Behind Bars it mentioned that it take an in depth look at the website WriteAPrisoner.com. So I decided to take a look at it myself before I watch the film.

Here are my findings: 

• The site offers profiles of both male and female prisoners.
• The site is for prisoners throughout the U.S.
• You can look at the number of prisoners by state,  Illinois has 2382 prisoners registered!
• You can "List an Inmate." - meaning a friend or family member creates a profile for them.
• The site cost money to be member. A year profile costs $40, and there are several additional fees for changes made to the profile.
• Prisoners can blog, write poems and publish artwork.
• You also can gain access to an inmates education and legal profiles.
• You must be 18 years or older in order to register for the site.

Why Write A Prisoner?

The site has this link to click on to discover the benefits to writing a prisoner. 

Here are some of them:

• Social Adjustment and Emotional Well-being
• Deterring Recidivism
• Finding Employment

All of the "evidence" is based on quoted from inmates and those who write them. 

So this answers one of my questions as to how outside people meet the inmates. But, I am still curious as to how they get past that the person receiving the letter is a criminal.

So these are my findings from a quick look through the site. My next blog will be about the TV Movie, Love Behind Bars.  I plan on watching Love Behind Bars just to get a better idea of what it is like to have a relationship with someone who is incarcerated. Hopefully I will be able to discover different ways that they met, how they keep in contact, and their justifications.

So, would you ever write to a prisoner?

Just keep opening tabs...

A wise woman once told me that the best way to research something is to just keep opening tabs on different articles and information, so that is exactly what I did. I viewed several different websites and sources on my topic of Marrying a Murderer. One of the first things that I clicked on was a link that took me to a US Magazine web article about 80 year old, mass murder, Charles Manson. The article stated that Manson is engaged to 26 year old Afton Elaine Burton who spent the past nine years devoted to Manson; including running a fan site in his honor. She insists that she loves the convicted felon and cannot wait to be married to him. A new term arose in this article that I had not come across yet, that is the term conjugal visits. Manson is not entitled to conjugal visits because he is  a life prisoner with no parole date. The couple is allowed to invite ten non-inmate guest to attend their ceremony.

First of all, why would you want to marry an 80 year old when you are 26 and have your entire life ahead of you? Second, he is a convicted mass murderer! He is not ever going to be released, and he sure as heck isn't getting any younger! I don't know about you, but when I think about my wedding I really hope that there is more than ten people that come to help me celebrate. This article really got me thinking about the reasoning and the mindset that this girl must have in order to find peace with her chosen situation. That is another thing, they chose an inmate. It isn't like they were dating and then he decided to murder a bunch of people and they continued dating, no she knew exactly what he had done and she still chose to pursue him.

Read the article for yourself ; http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/charles-manson-mass-murderer-to-marry-26-year-old-prison-visitor-20141811

I Married a Convicted Murderer

http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/relationships/advice/a1940/married-convicted-murderer/

The next tab that I opened was a narrative of a how a woman met her inmate husband. The story of how they met is unconventional, just like the rest of their relationship. They talk on the phone, write letters and have dates. She stated that Oklahoma state law does not grant prisoners conjugal visits. But on the bright side they do get to hold hands and kiss hello and good-bye. The picture to the left is of their engagement on one of their dates.

This is interesting in that allowance of  conjugal visits varies state to state. This term came up again, this seems like an important related topic in the research of Marrying a Murderer.

Marriage in Prison- Protocol

This tab consisted of the Michigan Department of Corrections' protocol for prisoners getting married while serving their sentence. It involves writing a letter to the Chaplain and obtaining a marriage license. The weddings are scheduled based on the availability of time, space and staff work schedules.  The couple getting married are responsible for providing an officiant and two witnesses, who must complete LEIN clearances. Additionally, The prisoner's ring cannot be more than $75 and must be a plain band.

This information is on the state website, so obviously it get referenced quite a bit. First of all, it seems like a hassle having to write all the letters and getting permission, then having to have your guests get cleared and then having to have your inmates ring fit certain parameters. I would not like having restrictions on what I could or couldn't have for or at my wedding. 

 You can read about the rest of the steps to getting married in prison at:

http://www.michigan.gov/corrections/0,4551,7-119-9741_12798-228401--,00.html