Is Albert Desalvo An American Sex Offender - 906 Words

Albert DeSalvo was an American sex offender who displayed a history of mental issues that stemmed from being introduced to criminal and sexual acts as an adolescent. In February of 1965, DeSalvo was committed to Bridgewater State Hospital until further instruction by the court. Albert DeSalvo exhibited â€Å"one of the most shocking sexual drives that psychiatric science has ever encountered† (Anglin, 1967). Before each of the alleged murders of DeSalvo, a burning sensation, described as â€Å"little explosions†, would emerge within the individual motivating him to commit the heinous crimes. The conclusion of the research on this odious individual, the criminal patterns exhibited, and the contributing factors leading up to the criminal behavior are quite significant in the field of criminology and psychology. As a criminology and psychology major, I highlight the importance of the influence of each department on the other which is the reason why I chose to focus on this individual. In many instances, the application of psychological elements to criminological components are necessary to gain a meticulous understanding and build precise theories. The main instance is creating a connection with violence or criminal behavior and mental illness to validate previous theories pertaining to this topic. In the case of Albert DeSalvo, a great mixture of psychology and criminology were applied in order to determine the motivation behind the individual’s criminal behavior, display theShow MoreRelatedThe Criminal Justice System Biased? Law Enforcement2004 Words   |  9 Pageslocation, and demographic or biographic descriptors of an offender based on the characteristics of a particular crime† (para.1). Simply explained, specialists such as crime scene investigators look at the crime and try to fit a suspect to that crime based on a number of factors. Those factors could be what the crime scene looks like, the victim, and the area where the crim e was committed. Based on those factors a profiler could predict who the offender may be and additional information regarding personality