Motive
- There are many different reasons as to why serial killers kill, and as of now there has still been great debate as to whether or not it’s a result of nature or nurture. In the case of Ted Bundy, there is believed to be two possibilities for his actions. One, that there may have been an abnormality with the paralimbic system of the brain. Two, it could have been his upbringing/environment. As a child, Bundy was known to be shy, insecure, and isolated. In addition, Bundy was also exposed to a massive amount of pornographic material as child that later on would become a blueprint for his future murders.
- An altered state of consciousness of his victims was vital for Ted Bundy to commit his crimes. As previously mentioned Bundy would induce this state naturally be hitting them in the head with a crowbar. After this, his victims would then be in a woozy hazy state. As for why Bundy liked his victims to be in this state is unclear, but it is believed to be due to his believed necrophiac tendencies.
- According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs I believe that Bundy’s motives correlate with Maslow’s level of “Love & Belonging”. As previously mentioned I defined Bundy as a “Lust Killer” which means his actions were sexually motivated which also ties in to the “Love & Belonging” level. Reason being, because in that level the goal for individuals is to from relationship with family, friends, and others. Bundy’s constant need for sexual intimacy caused him to be stuck in this level and continue murdering his victims to hopefully eventually move on to the next one.
- Based off of the research I have read there is one main reason as to why people become serial killers based off of their brain’s functions. That is that t has been proved that most serial killers/sociopaths have a record of low orbital cortex activity. The reason being, because this specific part of the brain controls “behaviors such as rage, violence, eating, sex and drinking”. So the low activity that occurs would explain why it is that serial killers seem to lack a moral compass.