Fritzl case (it still haunts me day and night)

[FlowerGirl]

Today in school, we were talking about criminology and we looked at the Fritzl case.

I know that looking at a case from 2008 is not recent or new. But the nightmare Elisabeth Fritzl went through was absolutely mortifying.
The question in our psychology class was: 'Are criminals born or made?' I can't help but think what a monster Josef Fritzl is and the fact that he imprisoned his daughter for over 2 decades disgusts me to the core.


The full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7371959.stm

The story of Josef Fritzl has been described as one of the worst cases in Austria's criminal history.

The 73-year-old fathered seven children with his daughter while he kept her locked in a cellar for 24 years, one of whom he admitted having murdered by neglect.

In March, an Austrian jury sentenced him to life in prison and ordered him to be detained interned at a secure psychiatric institution.

He was found guilty of all charges against him, including ****, incest, murder and enslavement.

His lawyer Rudolf Mayer said he was a man who had always to be "powerful", while he was described in court as emotionally deficient by psychiatrist Dr Adelheid Kastner.

In October, a court-ordered psychiatric assessment found he was aware of his actions during the 24-year period, despite suffering a "profound personality disorder".

According to reports, Fritzl had told Mr Mayer he must have been "crazy" to have done the things he did.

[JCC]

Originally Posted by FlowerGirl

But the nightmare Elisabeth Fritzl went through was absolutely mortifying.

Are you kidding? I'd kill to be Hide and Seek world champion.

[FlowerGirl]

Originally Posted by JCC

Are you kidding? I'd kill to be Hide and Seek world champion.

Really? We're talking about hide and seek for 24 years.

[Still Jack]

Originally Posted by JCC

Are you kidding? I'd kill to be Hide and Seek world champion.

That, was fucking golden!

[Delkaetre]

If you want another example of "are criminals made or born?"/ "can people be innately evil or is it learned?", then there's a more recent Edlington (UK) case where two kids- aged about 11 or so - violently assaulted, sexually abused, and generally tortured two other young boys.

Or there was the killing of Jamie Bulger a while back, with similarly remarkable malice and violence demonstrated by young children. Adults have tons of life experience to twist and deform them- when you want to go for nature v nuture, check out the violence of children. Their surroundings are more likely to have an immediate impact on their behaviour, but they're also young enough that they may not have a fully developed adult concept of morality.

[FlowerGirl]

Originally Posted by Delkaetre

Their surroundings are more likely to have an immediate impact on their behaviour, but they're also young enough that they may not have a fully developed adult concept of morality.

Children who have suffered a history of sexual abuse and violence are more prone to criminal behaviour.
Their hatred and anger are usually focused on the abuser, however, they are not able to retaliate; so one way to cope with the way they feel is to be violent towards others - particulary those who they superior to.

I've heard about the soaring number of knife attacks in England, but I think crime rates have dropped recently. Ahh yes - "the most unfortunate coming together of three children this century," - The murder of James Bulger indeed shocked the public. People are unable to comprehend how two 10 year olds are capable of murder. But little criminals are becoming more widespread...