Charles Manson Research Paper

1571 Words7 Pages

What drives a serial killer to do what they do? According to ‘Psychology Today’ majority of heralds wrote about cases that fixate on the motives and characteristics of their killings, explaining they were more than likely mentally unstable, darkly disturbed, or had a deplorable temper. According to chinese reporters, they inculpate it on the offenders strained relationships, and how they don’t get along with their victims on account of their isolation in society. But what drove Charles Manson to, not only commit, but talk 4 more people into collaborating in perpetrating multiple murders? And how did he so easily manipulate countless men and women to believe his prophecies and that he was Jesus reincarnated. August 9th, 1969 was the day Winifred …show more content…

What I find fascinating, and why this case entices me so much is because of how Manson gathered and led his cult. According to workingphychology.com, behaviours stem from a person's personality and his/her situation, as the formula B=f[P,E] indicates. Usually recruited cult members are very vulnerable people who are experiencing a lot of loneliness and depression in the way they are presently living, thus giving cult leaders an easy target to persuade victims into believing that following them is somehow going to make their life worth living. Or in more rare cases children are born into a cult and were raised to be brainwashed at an early age. For example a girl from Brazil named Dawn Watson shared her story with the “Daily mail”, in the article she talks about how she was born into a cult where she would learn how to engage in sexual acts at the same time she learned to brush her own teeth. This was how she was raised and was made to believe that God wanted her to do these things and that it was just a part of living. What is different and more unique about the Manson Family cult is that he did not seek out these women like you would see regular cult leaders do. But instead, these girls and boys sought him out and asked to be part of his family. Like Patricia Krenwinkel. At the age of 20 when vacationing in Manhattan beach 1967, she met Manson and two other girls who were part of his family, they were called “Charlies girls”. Krenwinkel describes her attraction to him being memorizing and charismatic, immediately feeling entranced by his brainwashing abilities and free spirited attitude, left her home, her car and her last paycheck to start a new life with Mason in San Francisco. This is the exact odd behaviour that makes me completely intrigued by this cult’s