To
Richard Kuklinski
[pic]
Submitted to Professor Verwys
On April 22, 2005
By
Judy Adami
Jenny Chang
Colleen Cherepko
Group leader ( Daniela Hock
David McCloskey
Stage 1 - Ineffective Social Environment
Support Distortions and Non-protective Richard Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935, in Jersey City, New Jersey, just outside of New York City. He spent his childhood in a low income housing project, the son of a brakeman and a meat packer. A scrawny child, he was often teased by the boys in the neighborhood. His nicknames were "Richie the rag boy", "Hobo Richie", and "The Skinny Polack." He was also beaten up by these bullies. In a normal social environment, Kuklinski would have been able to return home to the protection of his parents. This was not the case. His mom worked long hours, and his dad was often absent—months and years at a time. In fact there was an instance in Kuklinski’s adolescence when his father was gone for three years. Moreover, he received no protection from the abuse his own parents gave him themselves. His father indiscriminately beat him for no reason, whether intoxicated or not; his mother did not protect him from this. His mother was very verbally abusive, as well as physically; she would often hit Kuklinski with a broom handle. Kuklinski said that more than once the broom handle broke when she was hitting him; his father did not protect him from this. In this way, his parents supported the distortion of violence as normal. Kuklinski’s mother believed a harsh discipline at home went hand in hand with a religious upbringing. He went to a catholic school and was even an altar boy. She felt that corporal punishment and a strict religious upbringing was all that was needed to raise a child. She did not give him any emotional