Topic > Case Study - 1263

When horrible crimes occur in large cities, many of them can be attributed to gang violence or the larger population of that specific city. But when horrible crimes occur in small towns like Lincoln, Nebraska, people start to ask questions about who did this and why. In 1958, a nineteen-year-old named Charles Starkweather put the entire state of Nebraska and perhaps the entire nation into a state of terror. With his killing spree lasting only three days, Starkweather had amassed a body count of ten, including two teenagers and a child. Understanding Starkweather's past and state of mind begins to answer the second question of why. Charles Starkweather came from a respectable, hard-working family in Lincoln, Nebraska. Although they were by no means wealthy, the Starkweathers always provided for their large family. As a child, Starkweather suffered from several disorders that made him different and a target of bullies (Allen, 2004). In fact, he used his physical strength to get revenge on many of his childhood bullies. He was able to release much of the anger he held inside when he was able to physically abuse those who had abused him. Overall, Starkweather lived much of his life as a social outcast and attributed many of his problems to his inability to "blend in" with his peers. One of the first murders he committed was against his girlfriend's family. Whether Caril Ann Fugate was an active participant or not, Starkweather killed three members of her family in cold blood, ignoring Fugate's feelings. The murder of Fugate's two-and-a-half-year-old sister proves that Starkweather acted impulsively. Starkweather recalled that she wouldn't stop crying, so she "had to close him... halfway down the paper... inducing the ideas of pain, suffering, and sorrow, Starkweather would be asked to work on recognizing and respecting these concepts. Starkweather would also be asked to monitor his likelihood of remorse for his crimes. By tracking this feeling, the progress of therapy can also be monitored. Making a person with antisocial personality disorder recognize his or her actions and take responsibility for them they and for the their effect on others is necessary to achieve a therapeutic lifestyle at any point when Starkweather's progress begins to stall, sessions are conducted with him to resolve what part of the process he doesn't like, thinks it's useless, or just isn't succeeding. to identify himself. By working slowly, Starkweather could reach a point where he is no longer a danger to himself and could make him a candidate for more privileges during his incarceration, which will likely last for the rest of his life...