The Strain Theory: The Serial Killer Of John Wayne Gacy

To become a serial killer by definition you would have had to kill two or more people over a period of time from hours to years. There are even different kinds, there are the ones that do it for profit, for political reasons, and even the occasional professionals that do it for a “family”. Most serial killers have a compulsion or sexual need that drives them to kill, and John Wayne Gacy was no exception. His killing spree lasted for years and his addiction to torturing, raping, and eventually killing them lead him to hiding their bodies beneath the floorboards of his home. Although the end result was his death by lethal injection in 1994, what can be noted before in his life that could have been seen as early warning signs? In the study of
By societal standards, homosexuality at the time was seen a perverted and something to be closeted. This could be used to explain some of his deviance. There is the Strain Theory that says his sexual need was something that he felt had to be done in private and this led to the thrill of the capture and then the pleasure of doing whatever he wanted because he was clever enough to not get caught for some time. This theory says that offenders are under a “strain” to get what they need and this causes them to commit crimes. His inability to have a normal relationship and the later thrill of the torture caused the behavior to escalate and continued because of his ability to hide the bodies. This could also be explained by the Anomie Theory, who is to say that because society was the way it was, that it caused him to commit murders to satisfy the homosexual need to be with men. By todays standard homosexuality is as common, if not more common, than heterosexuality. This theory states that because he had choices on whether he would live by the rules of society and rejected them, but by also living a model life as a citizen and sometimes dressed as a clown for children. He thumbed his nose at society by having both and shocking those that lived and was a part of his community. Then
The bus stops that Gacy frequented in the years he was active were teaming with the type of people that were not living lifestyles within the norms of society. His first killing was of a 16-year-old boy taking a bus trip to Chicago by himself. It is the Lifestyle theory that says the victim lives a life or does things in their life that places them in a place of danger or in the path of crime. The offender must feel comfortable enough to approach the victim and the victim must be vulnerable enough to be one. It is their intersection that completes the crime; offender, victim, and opportunity. It is also the living outside of societal norms that uses Differential Association to explain that bring the victim and the offender together through an “association” outside the protective circle of society. Routine theory also explains that our lifestyle through our choices of simple things such a time to walk home, the telling of a loved one we will be somewhere and we don’t stay there, or that we are going on an interview with someone and do not give details. In the case of Gacy, several men said they were going for an interview and never returned. What if one of the first had said, “Hey, Mom, I am going to go to an interview with Gacy’s Company.” How many lives could have been saved by that one statement? It is the simple choices that make a world of difference between