Case Profile Report

Private and Confidential

Name of Accused: Aileen Wuornos (born Date of Interview: 28.02.2020
Aileen Carol Pittman)
D.O.B: February 29, 1956 Consulting Forensic Psychologist: Ivana Javis
Age: 46 Presiding Judge: Dr X
Nationality: American Date of Report: 09.03.2020
Address: Florida State Prison, Bradford
County, Florida, United States

Reason/s for Referral:

Aileen Wuornos is a danger to society and needs psychological help for the disorders which has
led to her actions.

Nature of the Crime

Wuornos, frequently called the first American predatory female serial killer, murdered seven
men within a period of twelve months by shooting them with a 0.22 caliber handgun at point-
blank range. She engaged in prostitution along the central Florida highways, itself a criminal
activity, and through this met the men who would become her victims. She has claimed that
these acts were done in self-defense against rape, but this claim was never substantiated.

Charges Brought Against the Accused

The charges brought against Wuornos are for the first-degree murder of six men.
Background Information:

At least 3 of the following:

 Family History
Wuornos was the product of a failed marriage between a teenage mother and a criminal father.
She was abandoned as a baby by her father earlier on and then her mother, left crying for hours
on end. Her mother, after having attempted reconnecting when Aileen was three years old,
abandoned her a second time and never returned.
Aileen had a misconception about the identity of her biological parents until the age of eleven,
believing that her maternal grandparents were indeed her parents. She experienced severe abuse
at the hands of her grandfather which included numerous physical beatings with a leather strap
on the buttocks whilst being made to lay face down naked and spread eagle on consecutive days;
verbal and emotional abuse by being told often that she “wasn’t worth the air she breathed, was
worthless and never should have been born” and; allegedly being raped by her grandfather. Her
grandmother, an alcoholic, was complacent and did little to nothing to stop the abuse. Due to
this, she had a distant, affectionless relationship with the only maternal figure in her life.
Her biological father was convicted of kidnapping and brutally raping a seven-year old girl. He
committed suicide while serving a life-sentence for the crime. The only person with whom
Aileen cared to maintain a relationship was her brother Keith who was a companion in the abuse
that they both suffered together at the hands of their grandfather. It is alleged by persons who
knew the family that Aileen’s relationship with her brother was incestuous, however, this is
subject to speculation based on denial by both Wuornos and her brother.

 Developmental History
In childhood,

 Social History

Theoretical Conceptualization of the Accused

Attachment Theory
This theory, attributable to the work of Bolby (1969) asserts that the affective bonds formed in
close interpersonal relationships between infants/adolescents and their primary caregivers are
pivotal to understanding personality development (Ainsworth, 1978). It is mindful of how poor
or severed relations with primary caregivers can adversely impact personality development
throughout the life course.
“As a result of early attachment experiences, a child accumulates knowledge and develops a set
of expectations known as “internal working models” about self, significant others and the larger
social world (Rothbard and Shaver, 1994). Bowlby’s research emphasized the attachment
patterns of infants, formed, attenuated or severed through interaction with the mother, arguing
that this relationship was pivotal to the social, emotional and personality development o an
individual (Levy and Blatt, 1999). As Bowlby observed, “the young child’s hunger for his
mother’s love is as great for his hunger for food and without her, the child succumbs to a
powerful sense of loss and anger” (Bowlby, 1969). Throughout Wuornos’ childhood, she
experienced inconsistent care as well as emotional, physical and possible sexual abuse at the
hands of one of her primary attachment figures (Arrigo, 2004). Bowlby (1969) asserts that the
inability to bond or form attachments and to develop empathy for others is often a result of
inconsistent or lack of caring. Aileen’s internal working models because of her upbringing
consisted of a view of self as unlovable and wicked and a view of others as hostile and rejecting.
Aileen felt lie an outsider in her own family. Her primary attachment figures did not want her. In
order to cope with this, she shut down emotionally and became detached from others. (Arrigo,
2004). This detachment from empathy led her to commit the crimes that she did, seeking to cope
with a new class of persons who no longer wanted her – men seeking her services as a sex
worker.

Psychopathy
Psychopathy includes such traits and behaviors as grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological
lying, conning/manipulative, lack of remorse or guilt, promiscuity, impulsivity and failure to
accept responsibility for one’s own actions. There is a strong correlation between violent crime
and psychopathy (Gacono, 2000). The psychopathy is directly connected to the attachment
theory in that her inability to reflect on her own emotional states led to violence and finally, to
murder. Her inability to experience attachment of bonding towards others enabled her to devalue
her victims, killing them in a cold and remorseless way (Shipley and Arrigo, 2004). The
biological component of psychopathy cannot be overlooked. Her fits of rage, along with her lack
of concern for others, reflect those of her biological father.

Recommendations to the Court

Likelihood of reoffending?

Conclusions?
Signature: ……………………………………..
Name XXXXX