Background Information Edward Theodore Gein, otherwise known as “The Butcher of Plainfield”, was a murderer born in 1906 at La Crosse, Wisconsin (A&E Television Networks, 2017, October 11). Ed, along with an older brother were raised at Plainfield, Wisconsin, by his controlling, fanatically religious mother and alcoholic father. Ed was overly attached to his mother, even though she verbally abused him and often referred to women and sexual activity as evil (A&E Television Networks, 2017, October 11). He was also physically abused by his alcoholic father, whom died when Ed was 34 years old. Ed grew a cold relationship with his brother Henry, because, in summary, Henry did not share the same worship to their mother as Ed did. At age 38, Henry …show more content…
A year later, his mother passed away from a second stroke and Ed began to become even less careful with hygiene. After being detained at age 51, Ed confessed two murders of women and digging up women’s corpses after burial. After searching Ed’s property, the police found evidence that the murderer would use the dead women’s skin to make suits or accessories and would preserve their organs (Jenkins, Clark, Duncan, & Robinson, n.d.). Ed’s victims reflected his mother, and he would form the pieces of skin into body suits like a breast vest to mask the fact that his mother was really deceased, which categorized him as a sexual psychopath (Jenkins, Clark, Duncan, & Robinson, n.d.). Ed admitted to memory deficits and being able to experiencing unusual things. After 10 years of being institutionalized in a mental institution, Ed was finally mentally stable to fit trial, from which he was charged guilty with the murders of the women, but was declared insane in the time of the murder. This resulted in the reinstitution in a psychiatric ward for the rest of his life (Jenkins, Clark, …show more content…
Dissociative identity disorder is described as exhibiting two or more separate identities that are distinct from each other (Speilman, 2014, sect. 15.9). Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by major disturbances in though, emotion, behavior, and perception (Speilman, 2014, sect. 15.8). Symptoms Found The symptoms I found for dissociative identity disorder were dissociation with self and disturbances in memory. The symptoms I found for schizophrenia are hallucinations and poor hygiene. Treatment Plan The treatment plan would include psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, and biomedical therapy. Psychodynamic psychotherapy is talk therapy based on the unconscious and childhood conflicts that impact behavior (Speilman, 2014, sect. 16.2). Cognitive therapy is the awareness of your thinking process that helps eliminate thought patterns that may lead to distress (Speilman, 2014, sect. 16.2). Biomedical therapy involves medication or medical procedures to treat mental disorders (Speilman, 2014, sect. 16.2). Death Penalty? Ed Gein was rightfully tried, because he should have not received the death penalty due to mental