Ed Gein As A Serial Killer In The 20th Century

I know that Ed Gein was a serial killer in the 20th century. Gein was declared insane for his crimes and part of his story was covered in the psychopath section of our political history class. Aside from the murders, Gein was also charged for robbing many local gravesites. Gein was as the inspiration for many popular novels and movies in the later part of the 20th century. Some of these works included Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
I Know The story of Ed Gein starts at the very beginning of his life. Gein was born on August 27, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Nov. 2006) Although it is not an excuse for his actions, Gein did not have an ideal childhood. His mother, Augusta Gein, was …show more content…
Ever since the beginning of his life he had been handed challenges. His parents were not only abusive, but they hindered him from having a normal life and did not give Ed the help he needed when they noticed his odd behavior. While this cannot be an excuse for his actions, there were steps that could have been taken that might have prevented his violent actions. Home life during childhood has a great effect on the social control of an individual. If a child’s home life is bad, that child has a greater chance to fall into a life of crime. I wonder though, even if Gein would have had a loving family and good home life, would he still have committed these crimes? He was declared legally insane so it was possible that these crimes still might have occurred even under better circumstances. His story also goes to show that someone cannot be judged only by their outside actions. Gein was thought of as a nice, respecting member of the town. While he was considered a little strange, not even his friends believed he was capable of the kinds of horrors that occurred in his mind. It is terrifying to think that people trusted this man to babysit their kids and he later turned out to be a serial