There are various theoretical schools of crime causation that attempt to explain a criminal’s behavior. This paper will look at Charles Manson and how those theoretical schools of crime causation might explain the behavior of Charles Manson. It will also explore background information on Charles Manson as well as his criminal activity.
Charles Milles Maddox was born on November 12, 1934. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother was 16 year old Kathleen Maddox. She was an alcoholic and a prostitute. At the age of five his mother was arrested and sent to prison. He was sent to live with relatives at this point in his life. When his mother was released from prison she reclaimed him.
Manson’s criminal activity began when he was quite young. He would spend much of his childhood either with relatives, in reformatories, or in group homes. By the time Manson was nine years old he had already acquired a criminal record which included stealing, burglary, and car theft. (Rosenberg, 2009)
Manson married Rosalie Willis during a short period he was out of prison. They had a son together. Manson was soon found himself back in prison for car theft. While he was in prison Rosalie sought and was granted a divorce. He was eventually released only to wind back up in prison again. (Castleden, 2006)
Manson would spend much of his adult life in and out of prison. Some of his other criminal activities included pimping, check theft, and defrauding women of money. Manson’s early criminal activity was habitual and was the main cause of Manson’s years of incarceration.
Despite his criminal activity Charles Manson had a personality that attracted a group of followers. His charisma made him an excellent leader and the group of individuals who followed him would “do anything he liked.” (Castleden, 2006) His band of followers was referred to as ‘The family.’ It was this group of followers that would soon change his life forever as well those in California.
It was in 1969 that Manson’s criminal activity would take a turn into acts so heinous that they are still talked about today. Manson’s ‘Family’ would slaughter Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, Jay Sebring, Stephen Earl Parent, Leno LaBianca, and Rosemary LaBianca. (Bardsley, 2008) Manson’s most notorious criminal activity is in relation to the Tate-LaBianca murders in which he was convicted of murder. Manson was convicted of murder but not because he was directly involved in the murders. There was never any evidence that could prove he was directly involved in the murders. Instead he was convicted as an accessory to the murders. He is said to have been the mastermind behind the killings ordering The Family to actually carry out the murders.
Charles Manson was sentence to death but due to a change in legislation regarding the death penalty, his sentence was commuted to a life sentence. As of 2007 he has been up for parole eleven times. Each time his parole was denied. He will be up for parole again in 2010. Manson is now in his mid seventies and will most likely serve his entire life sentence behind bars.
Since the time the murders hit the media the question of why has lingered. Theoretical schools of crime causation might help to explain some of the reasons. The nine categories of crime causation are classical, biological, psychobiological, psychological, sociological, social-psychological, conflict, phenomenological, and emergent. Each individual category will be looked at to see how it explains the criminal activity of Charles Manson.
The classical theory suggests that individuals commit crimes because they choose to do so under their own free will. If we look at Manson’s background we can see that he was never coerced into committing crimes. He chose to commit the acts he did because he wanted to. For example, after he married Rosalie he stole cars to supplement his legitimate income. He could have looked for a different job or worked two jobs. Instead he chose to steal cars.
The biological and psychobiological theories suggest that individuals commit crimes because it is in their genetic makeup or because of external factors that affect biological makeup. If we look at Manson’s family we see that his mother has a criminal history. We also know that Manson’s mother was an alcoholic. Given the young age of Manson’s mother and her consumption of alcohol it is likely that these factors could have altered the normal development of Manson in utero resulting in biological defects in the central nervous system. According to the article “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome”, use of alcohol while pregnant can result in “poor judgment, poor impulse control, criminal behavior, sexual promiscuity, restlessness, poor problem solving skills, resistance to change, difficulty forming relationships, naiveté, gullibility, difficulty concentrating on tasks, and poor understanding of social norms.” (“FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME,” 2009) Manson had many of these traits related to fetal alcohol syndrome.
Psychological, sociological and social-psychological theories indicate that individuals commit crimes as a result of inappropriate behavior, mental disease or defect, as a result of societal or group influences, or as a result of poor social role models. Linder informs us that psychiatrists saw a myriad of problems with Manson. He states that:
Psychiatrists saw Manson as “a very emotionally upset youth,” “slick” but “extremely sensitive” (1951), “dangerous” with “homosexual and assaultive tendencies” (1952), having “an unstable personality” but being potentially able “to straighten himself out” (1955), being “unable to control himself” with “a tendency to cut up” (1956), having “work habits that range from good to poor” (1957), being “erratic and moody” and “a classic text book case of a correctional institution inmate” (1958), as an “energetic person” who hides “his loneliness, resentment and hostility behind a facade of superficial ingratiation” (1961), being “emotionally insecure” and tending to “involve himself in various fanatical interests” (1963), and, finally, as “in need of a great deal of help in the transition from institution to the free world” (1966). (Linder, 2008)
From the psychiatrists’ accounts we can theoreticize that Manson’s life of criminal behavior may have been a result of his being institutionalized and not being able to adapt to life outside of prison.
Conflict and Phenomological theories indicate crime may be caused because of social conflict or for unknown reasons. Manson believed that an uprising was going to occur and he was being ‘spoken to’ by the lyrics of many Beatles songs. He felt his crimes were showing the way. At the murders the words “Death to Pigs”, “Rise”, and “Helter Skelter” were scrawled in blood. (Bugliosi and Gentry, 2001) It is believed these words were meant to indicate this ‘uprising.’ Robinson tells us that “Manson got a ‘kick’ out of death and control. During the trial, one witness commented that “he [Manson] doesn’t know about love… love is not his trip. Death is his trip.”” (Robinson, 2008)
These theories can give us an idea into why Charles Manson behaved as he did. While they may give us an idea as to why an individual commits a crime only the individual who committed the crime will ever know the real reason why. Manson’s life was filled with potential causes of criminal behavior. Any one of those factors or all of those factors could have made him who he was.
Charles Milles Manson is a complicated man. His behavior is odd and does not fit any one profile. Individuals view him as charismatic, demonic, evil, and as a psychopath. One may never know why Charles Manson committed these criminal acts. He may have been a man who never learned appropriate behavior or he may have been a man with severe emotional problems. What we do know is that Charles Manson became the leader of a group of individuals who willingly followed his lead before, during, and after the murders had been committed. He had a power over his followers that resulted in the deaths of many.
References
Bardsley, M. (2008). Charles Manson and the Manson Family – Crime Library on truTV.com. In TruTV.com: Not Reality. Actuality. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/manson/murder_1.html
Bugliosi, V., & Gentry, C. (2001). Helter Skelter The True Story of the Manson Murders. Boston: W. W. Norton & Company.
Castleden, R. (2006). Serial Killers They Live to Kill. Chicago, IL: Time Warner Books.
FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME. (2009). In WVU Health Sciences Center. Retrieved July 12, 2009, from http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/cmed/alcohol/fetal_alcl.htm
Linder, D. (2008). Trial of Charles Manson. In UMKC School of Law. Retrieved July 19, 2009,
from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/Ftrials/manson/manson.html
Robinson, B. A. (2008, April 7). THE FAMILY (CHARLES MANSON). In ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_charl.htm
Rosenberg, J. (2009). Charles Manson – Biography of Charles Manson. In 20th Century History. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/p/charlesmanson.htm
