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John Wayne Gacy Research Paper

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On March 17, 1942 John Wayne Gacy was born into a dysfunctional middle class family, this led to his alcoholic father berating and beating him. In 1968, he sodomized two boys illustrating his mental instability. Gacy received a ten year prison sentence for his first offense; however, he was released on parole in the summer of 1970. However in 1975, two more young men accused him of rape and the police again questioned him but no charges were filed. After this Gacy continued on his killing spree in the end killing a total of 33 victims over the course of 11 years. John Wayne Gacy, also known as, “The Killer Clown”, had a problematic childhood which affected his mental stability and may have caused him to become a serial killer; consequently, …show more content…

When Gacy was young, he lived in a working class neighborhood in Chicago; his father was a physically violent parent that hit every member of the family. This caused an emotional break in the family that led to dysfunction and lack of trust; furthermore, his father forced his masculinity onto Gacy instead of understanding his son's ideas on his sexuality. An example of this is that “Gacy often enjoyed “feminine things'' such as cooking and or gardening rather than fishing or sports, which are often seen as masculine.” (“John Wayne Gacy Biography '') Later in life Gacy was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder which is a mental disorder making the person give no regard for societal rule. One of the possible reasons he may have developed this disorder is because one of his fathers friends molested him, this changed his ideas on morality because he trusted him; furthermore, this situation caused intense emotional damage. This trauma affected Gacy’s perception of his identity, “Despite his efforts to conceal it Gacy ultimately succumbed to his homosexual desires when he sodomized a young boy” (“John Wayne Gacy Confesses to Dozens of Murders'') Gacy started his killings because of this, he enjoyed the thrill of molesting and torturing his first victim. His mind was completely broken by this point, enhancing his sociopathic tendencies. This demonstrates the catalyst influencing Gacy’s killing

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