John Wayne Gacy Research Paper

Individuals who have never committed a serious crime might frequently wonder what motivates or causes such criminal behavior. When crimes involving murder hit the media, you can't help but wonder if murderers are born or whether their surrounding environment fosters their development. During 1967–1978, John Wayne Gacy became a very recognized name. Gacy, also known as the “Killer Clown,” was a notorious American serial killer. He was given this nickname because in the public eye, he was a clown that entertained at parties but behind closed doors, he was a criminal. He sexually assaulted, tortured, and killed his young victims. Before diving deeper into why this killer clown committed such horrific crimes, it's important to discuss his upbringing.

His father would beat them if they were thought to have misbehaved or didn't live up to his standards. His father also violently abused Gacy's mother in front of the children. Gacy could not play with other kids when he was younger because of a congenital heart disease, which his father saw as yet another failure. During this time, Gacy discovered that he was attracted to guys, and this caused a lot of sexual confusion and frustration. As an adult, Gacy seemed to have lived a normal life but eventually, authorities detained Gacy following some later significant allegations. Investigators located a crawl space while searching his house, where they recovered human bones. Gacy was accused of killing seven young men, engaging in deviant sexual behavior with a child, aggravated kidnapping, and other crimes. Gacy verbally confessed to killing multiple young men while being held by the police. He was charged with an additional 26 killings, and a motion to have him prosecuted for all 33 murders at once was subsequently approved by the court. The death penalty was sanctioned upon John Wayne Gacy (Biography.com,

At a young age, John Wayne Gacy was abused and seemed to grow numb to the things happening around him. These strains cut so deep that his anger and resentment stayed with him for the rest of his life. “I thought I could never please him, but I still love him (Wilkinson 1994),” says Gacy in a conversation. At the end of the day, he still loved his father since they were family, but what his father had done to him caused lingering negative emotions. It also could have unknowingly made him despise males, which could explain why his victims were all men. Another strain in Gacy's life was his sexuality. Despite being married to several women, Gacy was unsure of his sexual orientation. He might have experienced some sort of internalized homophobia and took it out on his victims, as they were young males. Concerning the removal of a positive stimulus, Gacy never had the most fulfilling parts of childhood. He lacked care, love, and nurturing from his parents. He didn't get to experience making friends because of health-related problems, he had to mature quickly to survive the abuse from his father, and he was expected to live up to seemingly impossible expectations his father placed on him. All these strains in Gacy's early childhood followed him into adulthood and presented themselves in his crimes. This can all be tied to general strain