John Wayne Gacy is one of the most notorious serial killers of the modern age. Throughout his life, he killed over thirty young men, remaining undetected in his community until the very end. As he was apprehended relatively soon after his crimes, the study of his psychological state was able to occur somewhat unimpeded. As a child, Gacy’s father was an alcoholic. He strongly valued stereotypically “masculine” qualities. A young Gacy enjoyed things like cooking, and had a heart condition that prevented him from playing sports. Also, his father’s ideologies forced him to repress his homosexuality. Thus, his father both mentally and physically abused him. In some cases, it was so harmful that Gacy ended up in the hospital with seizures. When Gacy grew up, he married and had children. However, he soon succumbed to his homosexual desires. He molested the son of one of his coworkers. After his arrest, he paid another young man to threaten the …show more content…
During his incarceration, he petitioned for his freedom. He also participated in many interviews, in which he contradicted himself often about his actions and thoughts. However, he never exhibited any remorse for his actions. In fact, he often spoke of the murders in a bland, matter-of-fact manner. On May 10, 1994, Gacy was killed by lethal injection. There are a few explanations as to why Gacy committed these crimes. One of these is the frustration-aggression principle. This states that the suppression of urges or the blocking of goals often results in aggressive actions. Gacy was unable to engage with the men he desired, and thus became violent towards them. An example of why he committed these crimes at the time he did is social-control theory. This states that when people break laws, it is because of a breakdown in their relationships. This would explain why a majority of his murders were committed after his second wife left