Psychology In The Iceman

The film “The Iceman” is based on a true story about a hitman named Richard Kuklinski beginning in the 1960’s. He was married with two daughters. To his family, he was a loving father and husband. His family thought he dubbed Disney movies, but he dubbed porn movies for a mob. He did not have a great childhood. He told his wife he was not close with his family. His Polish immigrant father would beat him really bad. His younger brother was serving a life sentence for raping and murdering a young girl. Kuklinski was a very violent man with serve psychological issues. At the beginning of the film it shows him slitting a man’s throat after the man insults him in a game of pool. He showed no remorse when doing it.

The mob boss Roy DeMeo shut down

When looking at the nature aspect of Kuklinski’s lifestyle, it can be argued that his biological or genetic make-up is the reason for his criminal behaviors. When Kuklinski first met his wife, she asked him about his family. He said “Yeah, my sister and brother are around somewhere…They are lousy conversationalist.” Later in the movie it showed a flashback to Kuklinki’s childhood. In the flashback his parent was beating him over the back with a belt. His parents especially his father were very abusive to him and his brother. In the textbook it states that males have high testosterone and it can be linked to them having more aggression especially during adolescence. Testosterone and nature play factor in Kuklinski character, when visiting his brother in prison he tells his brother that he has a wife and two daughters. His brother states “you and me, we’re too fucked in the head for family.” The statement is a clear indication he and Kuklinski had not so good biological or genetic factors. His brother also talks about Kuklinski killing dogs and beating a boy with a shower

Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception, experience, and learning on an individual. Also it is believed that all behaviors are learned from the environment through conditioning. One can also argue that Kuklinski’s criminal behaviors stem from the environmental factors. He had many influences from his father and society. His father was very abusive to he and his siblings. His father would beat them, in turn while growing up Kuklinski beat a boy with a shower pole. His environmental factors also played a role in how he eventually treated his wife. In the film once he was suspended from the mob he became very aggressive and in one scene he began yelling at his wife and destroying their kitchen in outrage. This is a learned behavior from his father. He also many influences from the mob when DeMeo had him kill the homeless guy to see if he was capable of killing. Once he killed the homeless man, he began many hired killings. He is known to have killed 100 plus individuals. His motive for during the killings seemed to be geared toward making a better life for his family. With the money he was able to buy them a nice home in an upscale neighborhood. He was able to send his daughters to private