Week 2 Biological Criminal Behavior PDF

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Biological Criminal Behavior

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Biological Criminal Behavior Anait Asatryan Criminology April 2, 2019

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The Andrea Yates Case On the day of June 20, 2001 Andrea Yates (aka Andrea Kennedy), decided to take the lives of her five children in her hands by drowning all of them in the bathtub of her house. It was known that for years she had suffered from severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. The case was tried under the M’Naghten Rules, (when the defense is insanity) (Roche, 2002). In 2002 Andrea Yates was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to was life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 40 years in prison, but in July of 2006 her judgment was overturned because of an appeal. The jury came to the conclusion that Yates wasn’t guilty, due to reason of insanity. Immediately following the verdict Yates was committed to the North Texas State Hospital. Where it is a high-security mental health facility that is located in Vernon, Texas. In early 2007 Yates was transferred to a low security mental hospital located in Kerrville Texas . Behavior Before and After the Crime Yates birth name is Andrea Pia Kennedy, she is the youngest of five kids, raised in a Catholic home and community, Andrea was an honors society officer and was a well-behaved child growing up. Andrea married Rusty Yates in 1993 and soon after she was expecting their first child. the couple’s second child was born after they had moved to Florida and they all lived in a 39-foot travel trailer (A&E, 2012). But it wasn’t till after their third child was born that Rusty and Andrea moved back to Texas and bought a 350 square foot bus from Michael Woroniecki. Woroniecki who was also a fanatic preacher, told the Yetes that if they did not change their sinful ways that their kids will go to hell. After the birth of their fourth son, Andrea

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started a downward spiral. In June of 1999 Andrea tried to take her own life for the first time. (A&E, 2012). The first suicide attempt left Andrea hospitalized for one week. During her hospital stay Andrea didn’t want to discuss her problems and was tring to hide her illnesses, she was treated with an antidepressant for postpartum depression and released after a week. Not too long after her release she stopped taking her medication and started to self-mutilate, Andrea stared refused to feed her children, hallucinated, and thought people on the TV were talking to her. Her second attempt to commit suicide was in July 1999 when she put a knife to her neck and told her husband to let her kill herself. Her husband Rusty once again had her admitted to the hospital, this time she was there for10 days. When Andrea arrived to the hospital she was in an catatonic state and prescribed Haldol,(an antipsychotic drug). Andrea began to improve quickly after she started taking the medicine (A&E, 2012). When Andrea was released from the hospital, the psychiatrist recommendation that she not have more children due to her multiple suicide attempts and also dur to her diagnosis of postpartum depression. Her doctor told that the stress of another child could and will make her relapse. Right after the psychiatrist told Andrea that she was not to have more kids, she became pregnant and gave birth to a girl in November 2000. Andrea was trying very hard to deal with everything that was happening in her life. But after the passing of her father in March 2001 Andrea started to spiral out of control again. Andrea spoke with her psychiatrist in March of 2001, and he decided to take her off the of Haldol. He stated that Andrea was no longer in a psychotic state of mind and that’s is why he took her off the medicine, he believes that she was under too much stress and wants her to be positive. In May of 2001 Andrea returned to the hospital but was released 10 days later after telling the hospital that nothing was wrong and all

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she needs to do is handle her stress a little better. After Andrea came home, she stopped talking, started self-mutilating herself again, stopped feeding her kids. Then she started reading the Bible constantly, during that time on June 20, 2001 she decided to drown her five children in the bathtub and take their lives. (Crime & Punishment, 2012). After the drowning Andrea stayed in a catatonic state. she showed no emotions of the crime that she had just committed. Andrea believed that because she wasn’t a good mother her children didn’t act right and her children were not developing as they should be (Crime & Punishment, 2012). Till today even in prison she has to be seen by multiple doctors for her habits and not taking care of herself (A&E, 2012). Evidence of Biological Effects Her mental illness led her to drown five children. Andrea who looked to be a happy mother, when she was holding her newborn in her arm, said that is what brings her a joy and happiness. As years went on, Andrea began to endur mental issues, that includes post-partum depression before she made the horrible dictions to drown her five kids. That feelings of joy and happiness she was talking about begin to plummet, and was replaced with anger, hate, guilt, and loneliness. Elissa Seto said,” Andrea’s feelings took over her and that is the reasoning for doing what she did. But, as disturbing and shocking as the drowning, there are other mothers that can sympathize for what Andrea Yates did”. Andrea’s illness started after her fourth child was born, that is when she tried to commit suicide. This only shows us the seriousness of postpartum psychosis. Some signs of postpartum depression were recognized in Yates by the doctors, but she never went through with any treatment of this disease because of her insurance limitations. The Yates doctors never knew how bad she really was, that is why they did not believe that she needed to be in the hospital. This is another proof that Andrea was suffering from postpartum psychosis and voices in her head told her to hurt people, this would be including her kids too. Unfortunately, Yates illness that was not recognized led her to take the lives of her five children, this

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shows us how serious postpartum depression really is. Elissa Seto says that, “Postpartum illnesses can affect any mother, whether it’s her first baby or her fourth baby, and it can recur, as can be seen with the case of Andrea Yates. These events, though rare, can all be preventable. Psychosis is not something that people can just snap out it must be treated with great care because it is a disease that obviously has severe consequences. Although, in the trial for Andrea Yates, the jury did not believe that she was insane at the time of the killing, it is obvious that she has suffered from postpartum depression and psychosis. Her illnesses do not excuse the fact that she committed these atrocities but learning more about the illnesses will help people understand why she did it, and how to prevent other situations like this”.

Behaviors that constitute being Psychopath

With the case made against Yates, you may want to wonder why anyone would want to kill their children. There is only one thing that could lead to that and it is mental illness. Dr. Gerald Harris a clinical psychologist who interviewed Yates at least four times when she was in prison, said “Yates had signs of psychosis and hallucinations.” According to Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc (2012), “Yates said she had seen Satan in her cell, and he started talking to her” (Legal Decisions). During another interview Yates said that “She needed to be punished because she was not a good mother” (Legal Decisions). The need for punishment can also be the motivating factor in criminal behavior (Schmalleger, 2012). There is research that have shown some not all criminals may have inherited certain genes, which may play a role in their mental illness. Postpartum depression: an illness in women that can develop after the birth of a child. Doctors have been trying to understand how a hormonal change would cause violent hallucinations, behavior and thoughts. Women who suffer from postpartum depression may show symptoms of it, that include being incoherent, paranoid,

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irrational, and delusional. Women would never realize they are going through postpartum depression. If these symptoms start to occur women experience hallucinations and will become suicidal or even harm their children. Women in that state may think if they harm their child it is for the good of the child. (Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc., 2012). Yates started showing signs of postpartum psychosis after the birth of the couple’s first child. She started hallucinaing, which included stabbings. But it wasn’t until the birth of their fourth child that Yates attempted suicide (McLellan, 2006). Yates said Satan spoke to her. The Yates had Bible-inspired notions of parenting & family; this is why she didn’t tell anybody about how she was feeling. She didn’t realize as to how much mental illness there was in her family, which had a span from depression to bipolar disorder, both of these can and may contribute to postpartum psychosis (Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc., 2012). By Andrea keeping to herself and not telling anyone how she was feeling or the thoughts she was having in her head her condition got out of control, and she couldn’t keep it inside.

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References  A&E. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/andrea-yates-235801  Crime and Punishment. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www.about.com/people/andrea_yates  Denno DW. Who is Andrea Yates? A short story about insanity. Duke Journal of Gender

Law and Policy 2003; 10: 1—139. Available at: http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/djglp/articles/gen10p1.html  McLellan, F. (2006). Mental health and justice: the case of Andrea Yates. Lancet, 368(9551), 1951-1954. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69789-4\  Meyer CL, Oberman M. Mothers who kill their children: understanding the acts of Moms from Susan Smith to the “Prom Mom”. New York: New York University Press, 2001  Roche, T. (2002). THE YATES ODYSSEY. Time International (South Pacific Edition), (3), 40.  (Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology today: An integrative introduction. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.)  Spinelli MG (ed). Infanticide: psychosocial and legal perspectives on mothers who kill. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2003  Spinelli MG. Maternal infanticide associated with mental illness: prevention and the promise of saved lives. Am J Psych 2004; 161: 1548—57  Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. (2012). Andrea Yates: Ill or Evil?. Retrieved from http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/women/andrea_yates/2.html...