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Gary Ridgeway. By Brooke Barr Psyc 212 Raritan Valley Community College November/2013. Who is Gary Ridgeway?. Born in Salt Lake City February 18 th , 1949 Mom- Mary Steinman Very Low IQ Classmates claim he was “forgettable” Married High School Sweetheart .
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Gary Ridgeway By Brooke Barr Psyc 212 Raritan Valley Community College November/2013
Who is Gary Ridgeway? • Born in Salt Lake City • February 18th, 1949 • Mom- Mary Steinman • Very Low IQ • Classmates claim he was “forgettable” • Married High School Sweetheart • Joined military right out of high school • Slept with several prostitutes while stationed abroad • Contracted an STD • Divorced 1st wife because she cheated on him • Married 2 more times • Had a son with second wife Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004
The Green River Killer • Stabbed a 6 yr old boy at age 17 • Killing Began in 1982 • Killed an estimated 90+ woman • Convicted of 48 counts of 1st degree murder • Led police to 23 more bodies • Claims he lost count after 90 • Arrested 2001 • Passed a polygraph Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004
Key events: Important Childhood Memory • Bedwetting • Mother would wash him and humiliate him in front of his brothers and father. • Cause a deep hatred for his mother • Also struggled with a very strong attraction to her which caused him to hate her even more. Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004 McAdams 1993 as cited by Nelson
Key events: Important Adult Memory • Contraction STD during war • Had an addiction to prostitutes • Due to constant sleeping around he contracted an STD • Caused very deep hatred for prostitutes • Like the hatred for his mother • Called them “scum’ • Wanted to rid the world of them Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004 McAdams 1993 as cited by Nelson
Key events: Any Important Memory • Birth of his son • 2nd wife- Marcia • After the birth of his son Ridgeway began strangling his wife • He began seeing her in the same way he saw his mother • Took his son on “hunts” • Claimed it made the girl more comfortable with him McAdams 1993 as cited by Nelson Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004
Life Story: McAdams Themes: • Communal: (Joy) • Intimacy • Affiliation • Agentic: (excitement) • Power • Achievement McAdams 1993 as cited by Nelson
Ridgeway’s Theme: Agentic Power • Power over victims • Choked them • Liked when they begged for their lives Achievement • Loved the media coverage • Was underestimated by family, co workers • Felt he finally had the recognition he deserved McAdams 1993 as cited by Nelson Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004
Ridgeway’s Archetype • The Escapist: avoids responsibility, Lives for pleasure/diversion • His main goal was to seek pleasure McAdams 1993 as cited by Nelson
The Big 5 • Openness • Conscientiousness • Extraversion • Agreeableness • Neuroticism Gosling, 2009
Extraversion: Low • A person with high Extraversion: • Talkative, Energetic, Enthusiastic, Assertive, Outgoing, and Sociable • A person with low Extraversion : • Reserved, Quiet, and Shy • Gary’s class mates and coworkers claimed he was “forgettable” Ann Rule “Green River Running Red” 2004 Gosling, 2009
Conscientiousness: High • Thorough, Task focused, efficient, good planners • Hid from police for 19 yrs • Planned and completed almost 100 kills Gosling, 2009
Personality Theory 1:Freud’s Psychosexual Stages • Oral stage • Anal stage • Phallic stage • Latency stage • Genital stage
Anal Stage • Due to his bedwetting and embarrassment as a child he became extremely anal-retentive • This made him stubborn and fall into the very high spectrum of Conscientiousness Friedman & Schustack, 2010
Phallic Stage • Never came to terms with the attraction to his strict mother • He has a serious obsession with sex • Ex wife claims he wanted sex at least 3x a day • Wanted to have sex in public places and at his crime scenes • As well as with his deceased victims • Claimed it was a “free date” Friedman & Schustack, 2010
Personality Theory 2:Erikson’s Stages of Development • Infancy: Trust vs Mistrust • Toddler: Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt • Preschooler: Initiative vs Guilt • Elementary School: Industry vs inferiority • Adolescence: Identity vs Role confusion • Young Adult: Intimacy vs Isolation • Middle Adulthood: Generativityvs Stagnation • Late Adulthood: Integrity vs Despair Friedman & Schustack, 2010
Infancy: Trust vs Mistrust • Grew up with an incredibly strict mother • He didn’t receive the care and affection he neededa majority of the time • This led to a mistrust of females Erikson Handout
Young Adult: Intimacy vs Isolation • Due to his already developed mistrust of woman he had difficulty forming healthy romantic relationships • During his young adulthood in the military his mistrust turned into hatred after contracting and STD from a prostitute Erikson Handout
Personality Theory 3:Operant Conditioning • Positive Reinforcement (+R) • Something was given and the behavior increased • Negative Reinforcement (-R) • Something was removed and the behavior increased • Positive Punishment (+P) • Something was given and the behavior decreased • Negative Punishment (-P) • Something was removed and the behavior decreased Friedman & Schustack, 2010
How Conditioning made him a killer • Bedwetting: +P • Gary had a problem wetting the bed. Every time he did his mother would embarrassed him and led him to hate her for it. He Ultimately stopped wetting the bed. • Killing: -R • When killing a prostitute he was subconsciously killing his mother and riding the world of “scum”. • Press: +R • All of the press surrounding the case fed his need for attention given the fact he lacked it all his life.
