The social control theory holds that certain factors within one's surroundings regulate normal behaviour and one’s perception of the society. In the case of Ed Gein, his mother was responsible for controlling his environment, and the unhealthy relationship between these two individuals is arguably the cause of the former’s criminal behaviour. Right from his childhood, Ed was isolated from his peers and the general public, spending most of his time with his older brother, Henry, and his obsessive, authoritarian mother (Vertlieb 13). Their mother, Augusta, was a religious fanatic, who took pleasure in instilling into her boys the ideas that women are ‘vessels of sin and death’.
The nature of the relationship between a child and his or her parents is a predictor of the likelihood of the child being delinquent in future. Such a phenomenon is caused by the fact that the relationship between a parent and the child is greatly valued by the latter, who would do almost everything to maintain it. For instance, in his confessions after being arrested, Ed conceded that his mother had a considerable impact on his childhood and influenced his behaviour during adulthood (13). Further, he recalled peeking through the slaughterhouse door and watching his father butcher a hog. His mother cut open the animal with such skill that fascinated Ed.
Augusta taught her children that the only acceptable moment a human being was supposed to indulge in sexual activity was when he or she wanted to conceive. The parts of scripture she read to the boys were usually relating to death and divine punishment. Thus, Ed did not hate his mother whenever she beat him for doing indecent acts in the house; rather he thought that was the correct channel to follow when offering discipline (Vertlieb 14). He was unusually intimate with his mother, who he always considered being a saint. On the other hand, there was barely any love exchanged between him and his father. He often referred to him as verbally abusive and uncaring.
Psychology holds that children who are brought up in such environments tend to consume themselves in hobbies or jobs. In Ed’s case, the hobby was reading, particularly human anatomy (Vertlieb 14). He liked reading about the Nazis in World War II and how they treated the Jews who they had captured during the war. For human anatomy, he was obsessed with the female body, which his mother had forbidden him from touching. He drew most of his references from pornographic magazines and the medical compilations he could get easily.
With time, the violence and isolation of his past caught up with him, especially when his mother died. He got lonely and had no friends to talk to or to just spend time with; therefore, he chose the company of the person he had always adored – his mother. He became obsessed with the graveyards in Wisconsin and visited them nocturnally almost on a daily basis (14). He began unearthing corpses belonging to women and cut out their skins, wearing them sometimes as a mask. He even made vests out of some of the bodies. At that point, disturbing as his behaviour was, Ed did not pose any direct threat to society. However, in 1954, he started targeting living women. For instance, Ed murdered a lady who bore a striking resemblance to Augusta. Thus, it may be inferred that his actions were mainly as a result of the relationship he had with his mother.
Work Cited
Vertlieb, Steve. "Robert Bloch: The Psychology of Horror." The Man Who Collected Psychos: Critical Essays on Robert Bloch (2009): 13-22.
