Gary Ridgway, a serial killer, was born on February 18, 1949. Several factors are attributed to his killing behavior. His father, who once worked as a bus driver, always complained about prostitutes found along his route in the presence of Gary. His mother was in charge of the house, and she frequently physically and mentally abused Gary, his siblings, and their father (CBS, 2005). Also, his father once worked in a mortuary, and he always narrated stories of how individuals engaged in sexual activities with the dead, and this introduced Gary to necrophilia. He developed hatred towards his mother and prostitutes. Gary frequently wet his bed and tortured different animals to the point of killing them. At the age of 14 years, he attempted killing a six-year-old boy, and since then, Gary was involved in multiple killings. Gray appeared a normal family man, and he lured his victims, who were prostitutes, using his son’s photos. He escaped arrest several because of lack of adequate evidence until in 2001 when DNA evidence linked him to three killings, one linked to circumstantial proof, and three more because of the paint found on their bodies (CBS, 2005). The paint was linked to where Gary used to work. Gary was convicted of killing 49 individuals, although he confessed to a total of seventy-one murders. Also, it is estimated that he may have killed more than ninety women. After killing his victims, Gary would engage in sex with them on several occasions, even when the bodies had begun to decompose.
Gary Ridgway had an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). He suffered abuse during his childhood from his mother, and this may have been the reason why he developed ASPD. The disorder is deeply rooted as well as firm dysfunctional thought activity whose focus is on social responsibility characteristics of exploitation, delinquency, and criminal conduct that lacks remorse (North & Yutzy, 2018). Individuals with this disorder have no regard for others, and violating the rights of other people is among the most common characteristics of the disorder. Other symptoms include breaking the law, inconsistency in employment, manipulating others for individual gain, deception, and inability to develop and maintain stable relationships. The disorder is classified among the cluster B mental disorders. Antisocial personality disorder cannot be diagnosed during childhood. For an individual to be diagnosed with the disorder, he/ she must have been found to have conduct disorder by the time he/she attained the age of fifteen years.
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Despite the fact that the etiology of antisocial personality disorder is not clear, the genetic and environmental aspects of an individual are associated with its development (North & Yutzy, 2018). Findings from numerous studies indicate that heritability ranges between 38-69 percent. The environmental factors linked to the disorder include adverse experiences such as physical and psychological abuse during childhood. Also, being neglected and psychopathology in childhood is linked to the etiology of the disorder. Gary Ridgway portrays signs of antisocial personality disorder because he repeatedly murdered people, the majority being women, and was not remorseful about his actions. He killed prostitutes to satisfy his necrophilia needs by raping the dead bodies. Gary did not put into consideration the pain, agony, and suffering that his victims, as well as their families, experienced. His moral conscience was damaged to the extent that he contemplated killing his mother and was sexually attracted to her too. Such individuals make their decisions based on their personal desires only, and they do not consider the negative impact of their decisions and actions on other people.
Gary Ridgway was also a very compulsive liar. He always made an effort to ensure that everything turned out the way he wanted. He would show his victims the photos of his son or even take them home and showed them his son’s room and the scattered toys. By doing so, he was able to manipulate them into trusting him, after which he would attack and kill them. His lying was so advanced that he managed to pass polygraph tests hence avoided investigation for a long time. There is no evidence indicating that he was involved in substance abuse. Despite having a mental health disorder, Gary did not receive any diagnosis; hence he was no treated. Failure to diagnose and treat mental health disorders might have been the major reason for his serial killing behavior.
Existing evidence indicates that early intervention among children diagnosed with conduct disorder is the most effective treatment of ASPD (Bamelis et al., 2014). Various pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological interventions have been studied, but because of the severity of likely danger in adults, intricate considerations are essential. There is no pharmacological treatment identified for ASPD treatment. However, medication is offered to treat comorbid issues such as aggression. First-line therapy for such issues includes antipsychotics. From a cognitive-behavioral approach, possible interventions that may have been helpful for Gary and prevent progression to serial killing could have been schema therapy and risk-need-responsivity (RNR). To effectively treat the patient, a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s disorder would be required, and RNR would be helpful in facilitating treatment as it has been found to be effective in patients with APSD.
Risk-need-responsivity (RNR) is a new treatment model for ASPD that is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Findings from the numerous studies conducted to determine the effectiveness of RNR offers hope for treating the disorder. According to Newsome & Cullen (2017), the approach involves the assessment of a person’s antisocial behavior based on the risk of committing a crime in the future. Also, an individual’s needs and different environmental aspects associated with recidivism are assessed. The purpose of this approach is to minimize the risk factors related to lasting criminal conduct. The risk aspect of this approach involves determining the intensity of intervention because as the risk of committing a crime in the future increases, so does the intensity of treatment. The need aspect of the approach is about the goals of treatment. The goals are based on future attempts to committing crimes. The responsivity aspect of the approach involves assessment and enduring of consistency between learning methods, capacity, motivation, and interventions offered. Individuals with APSD have less motivation to change their coping strategies hence the need to have an individual and personalized intervention plan. Through this treatment plan, techniques related to behavioral and cognitive as well as social learning models, are applied in constructing a person’s learning profile (Newsome & Cullen, 2017).
After identification of risk, needs, and responsivity, a cognitive intervention is executed. In schema therapy, both the patient and the therapist challenge the existing maladaptive modes and deactivates them. Once deactivated, a mode that is adaptive, as well as functional, is initiated using cognitive strategies. The changing process also involves a change in maladaptive coping strategies that are replaced with more appropriate ones. In their study, Bamelis et al. (2014) conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy on 323 patients with different personality disorders in mental health facilities. The results of the study showed that schema therapy is effective, and the rate of dropout among patients was low when compared to other interventions. To determine the effectiveness of the intervention on the patient, Young Schema Questionnaire – L2 (YSQ-L2) would be appropriate. The tool is effective in assessing maladaptive schemas in patients. By using the tool, a therapist is able to assess changes related to healing, coping styles, feelings and conduct patterns, and methods of meeting essential emotional needs to determine if schema therapy is effective.
References
Bamelis, L. L., Evers, S. M., Spinhoven, P., & Arntz, A. (2014). Results of a multicenter randomized controlled trial of the clinical effectiveness of schema therapy for personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry , 171 (3), 305-322. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12040518
CBS. (2005). Criminal minds (Official site) watch on CBS all access . https://www.cbs.com/shows/criminal_minds/
Newsome, J., & Cullen, F. T. (2017). The risk-need-Responsivity model revisited: Using biosocial criminology to enhance offender rehabilitation. Criminal Justice and Behavior , 44 (8), 1030-1049. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854817715289
North, C. S., & Yutzy, S. H. (2018). Antisocial personality disorder. Goodwin and Guze’s Psychiatric Diagnosis 7th Edition , 227-244. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780190215460.003.0009
