Nannie Doss Research Paper

Nannie Doss A criminal psychologist studies the thoughts, behaviors, and intentions of criminals on a day-to-day basis, trying to crack the code of what causes these criminal behaviors. Serial killers present a specific challenge because they often kill large amounts of people one at a time. Many of these killers have distinct characteristics, circumstances, and conditions that increase the likelihood of this behavior. Nannie Doss, also known as “Giggling Grandma”3 killed a dozen family members within her lifetime. She would often be described by others as giggly and friendly, but then she would kill those closest to herself. Due to negative childhood events such as rape, unreal expectations in husbands, and an unstable home life, Nannie Doss had an increased chance of becoming a serial killer and displaying deviant behavior. Born Nancy Hazel on November 4, 1905 to a family of poor farming parents4, Nannie grew up facing many challenges. The first factor that could have led to her killing habits is a …show more content…
Growing up, Nannie wanted to be important to her parents, and she tried to seek attention. When that failed, she started to look other places in order to find this attention.4 Therefore, Nannie began to visit taverns and bars where drunken men hung out and called her attractive. Relatives noted that she would often sneak out to have sex with these men, searching for attention that she didn’t receive elsewhere. Due to Nannie’s mistrust and her search for appreciation during her teenage years, this behavior can be described by Erickson’s fifth stage, identity vs. role confusion. In this stage, Nannie experienced conflicted emotions about men and whether she would commit to them or not. All of the tension experienced by Nannie could have led her to formulate the identity of a murderer since she believed that men who weren’t perfect must be disposed