Labeled as one of the best true crime novels, Helter Skelter touched one of the biggest mysterious crimes to occur in the United States. With the author being the prosecuting attorney, the readers are exposed to an unbiased view of the crimes and how a connection between crimes and the suspects are developed. The paper will carry out the book summary and identify how the various details of the book can be applied for forensic psychology.
Following a number of brutal numbers in 1969 creating a lot of media attention, investigations were launched into murders to find a connection that would eventually lead to the capture of the culprits. Charles Mason was eventually connected to the murders with his followers, whom he regarded to as a family was prosecuted by the assistant district attorney known as Vincent Bugliosi (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001). The prosecutor through his book titled Helter Skelter gives an account of the background of Mason, his followers, the victims and their murder and the investigations and court case that led to the offender being prosecuted.
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Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the 82 years old serial murderer found himself on the wrong side of the law since a young age. After his release from McNeil Island Prison, Mason started recruiting followers that would later be used to execute his murder crimes (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001). By using music and some quotes from the bible, he believed that he knew the future of the earth and was in control of the future events. He used lyrics from the White Album that was released by the Beatles as well as quotes from Revelation 9 to trap his followers to achieve his evil goals (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001).
With the large group of followers, who he regarded as his family, they relocated to San Francisco. Following several evictions and the need for a safe haven when the unavoidable war between the blacks and the whites erupt, they later moved to an uninhabited farm known as Spahn located in San Fernando Valley (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001).
Due to the delayed war, Mason identified interracial relationships and free love to be the impediment to the inescapable war. He, therefore, selected some of his trusted followers to execute several murders. Some of the close family followers included Susan Atkins, Charles Watson and Linda Kasabian (Atkins-Whitehouse, 2012). Some of the victims include pregnant actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Steven Parent, and Leno LaBianca and Rosemary, his wife (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001).
The connection between the murderers and the crimes was made through a confession by Susan Atkins when the group was arrested due to the destruction of the Death Valley National Park. Further confession by family members, Van Houten and Linda Kasabian set light to the occurrence of the crimes (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001). The motive of the crimes was to start a racial war through committing high-profile murders. The various murder events are covered with the one committed by Susan Atskin and the other followers showing their blood lust. Following their trial in 1970, Mason and Susan were sentenced to death that was later commuted to life sentence following the banning of death sentences by California Supreme Court (Atkins-Whitehouse, 2012).
The book can be used for various forensic psychological uses to solve crimes thus administering justice. Mason is suffering from delusional disorder, a psychological problem that leads to a person not being able to differentiate between the reality and their beliefs and imaginations. He believed that the inescapable racial war was going to happen. He strongly believed in the war to an extent that even when the revolution was happening and there was free love that would permit interracial relations, he believed that such signs of peace and tolerance were just stumbling blocks (Atkins-Whitehouse, 2012). He, therefore, took it upon himself to remove the stumbling blocks and ignite the unavoidable war.
He can also be viewed as a psychopath from a psychological point of view since he viewed that the world was wrong but only his world is right. According to him, only interracial war, which would result in the blacks' victory, would correct the problem with him and his followers as the leaders would now be in a position to guide the world towards the right direction (Atkins-Whitehouse, 2012).
His lack of empathy and remorse for the various victims, who were murdered on his instructions, can be interpreted as psychopathy from a psychological perspective (Bartol & Bartol, 2014). The murders were committed through painful deaths to exact pain on the victims.
Charles Mason can also be said to be suffering from Schizophrenia, relating to early drug use and family rejection. The health condition is known to affect the thinking and feelings of an individual dictating their behavior. He was rejected by his mother while at a young age, leading to his earlier involvement in street activities and drug use (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001).
The chemical imbalance would also be another psychological view explaining his approach to various activities ranging from his sodomizing behavior as a child to instructing for murder (Bartol & Bartol, 2014).
Mason can be profiled as an egoistic and narcissism individual who used to manipulate and control another individual to engage in activities that would benefit him (Bartol & Bartol, 2014). He knew how to carefully select his followers and manipulate them to commit the murders on his orders.
Although Mason never committed crimes himself but rather convinced his followers to kill for his sake, he was found guilty of cold-blooded murder leading to his death conviction. The ruling shows the integration of forensic psychology with the justice system to deliver justice according to the Joint Responsibility clause of the California Penal Code (Bugliosi & Gentry, 2001). Also, Charles Mason has been denied parole on various occasions due to not only nature of their crimes but also psychological conditions citing his manipulative and controlling nature proving to be a major threat to the society.
References
Atkins-Whitehouse, S. (2012). The myth of Helter skelter. San Juan Capistrano: Menelorelin Dorenay's Publishing.
Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2014). Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Research and Application.
Bugliosi, V., & Gentry, C. (2001). Helter skelter The true story of the Manson murders. New York: Barnes & Noble Digital.
