John Wayne Gacy Research Paper

Words: 1976
Pages: 8

Life of John Wayne Gacy Childhood John Wayne Gacy was born to Marion and John Gacy in Chicago, Illinois on March 17, 1942. He grew up as a middle child, having a sister two years older than him, and a sister two years younger. Gacy led a fairly normal childhood, as it included things such as attending church, school, and even boy scouts. Something that stuck out to him and his family, however, was an unknown heart ailment that was discovered when he was 11 years old. This prevented Gacy from being able to participate in sports as a child, so he was always a relatively overweight child. This is something notable that followed him into adulthood. Another prominent aspect of Gacy’s childhood was the fact that his father was an abusive alcoholic. …show more content…
These three aspects of personality are easily applicable to John Wayne Gacy, as these were put on display in his everyday life. The id of Gacy was filled with a need for sexual gratification and an inborn nature toward violent tendencies. The ego’s purpose being to satisfy any of the id’s needs, was overwhelmed, and the reason behind Gacy’s multiple murders and sexual offenses. The superego’s part in all of this would have been to prevent the id from being too powerful for the ego, but when looking at Gacy’s life, it can be seen that it was ultimately impaired. So, it can be concluded that the three parts of personality were forced into submission to the id. The ego did its job as it should, satisfying Gacy’s innate needs, but the superego lacked the vital moral reasoning and social cues that would have balanced out the id’s urges. Psychosexual Stages Analyzing almost every aspect of Gacy’s life allows for the application of his life to Freud’s psychosexual stages of development. Since Gacy led such an overall ordinary childhood, there isn’t really a “turning point” in any of these, but the resulting adult he became can give clues into these