Transcript Personality Analysis of Gary Ridgeway, The Green River Killer

Gary Ridgeway
BY BROOKE BARR
PSYC 212
RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
NOVEMBER/2013
Who is Gary Ridgeway?

Joined military right out of high

Born in Salt Lake City

February 18th, 1949

Mom- Mary Steinman

Very Low IQ

Contracted an STD

Classmates claim he was

Divorced 1st wife because she
school

stationed abroad
cheated on him
“forgettable”

Married High School Sweetheart
Slept with several prostitutes while

Married 2 more times

Had a son with second wife
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
The Green River Killer

Stabbed a 6 yr old boy at age 17

Killing Began in 1982

Killed an estimated 90+ woman


Convicted of 48 counts of 1st degree murder

Led police to 23 more bodies

Claims he lost count after 90
Arrested 2001

Passed a polygraph
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
Key events: Important Childhood
Memory

Bedwetting

Mother would wash him and humiliate him in front of his brothers and
father.

Cause a deep hatred for his mother

Also struggled with a very strong attraction to her which caused him to
hate her even more.
McAdams 1993 as cited
by Nelson
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
Key events: Important Adult
Memory

Contraction STD during war

Had an addiction to prostitutes

Due to constant sleeping around he contracted an STD

Caused very deep hatred for prostitutes

Like the hatred for his mother

Called them “scum’

Wanted to rid the world of them
McAdams 1993 as
cited by Nelson
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
Key events: Any Important Memory

Birth of his son

2nd wife- Marcia

After the birth of his son Ridgeway began strangling his wife


He began seeing her in the same way he saw his mother
Took his son on “hunts”

Claimed it made the girl more comfortable with him
McAdams 1993 as
cited by Nelson
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
Life Story: McAdams
Themes:

Communal: (Joy)

Agentic: (excitement)

Intimacy

Power

Affiliation

Achievement
McAdams 1993 as
cited by Nelson
Ridgeway’s Theme: Agentic
Power

Power over victims

Choked them

Achievement

Loved the media coverage

workers
Liked when they begged for their
lives
Was underestimated by family, co

Felt he finally had the recognition
he deserved
McAdams 1993 as
cited by Nelson
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
Ridgeway’s Archetype

The Escapist: avoids responsibility, Lives for pleasure/diversion

His main goal was to seek pleasure
McAdams 1993 as
cited by Nelson
The Big 5

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism
Gosling, 2009
Extraversion: Low

A person with high Extraversion:


A person with low Extraversion :


Talkative, Energetic, Enthusiastic, Assertive, Outgoing, and Sociable
Reserved, Quiet, and Shy
Gary’s class mates and coworkers claimed he was “forgettable”
Ann Rule “Green River
Running Red” 2004
Gosling, 2009
Conscientiousness: High

Thorough, Task focused, efficient, good planners

Hid from police for 19 yrs

Planned and completed almost 100 kills
Gosling, 2009
Personality Theory 1:
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
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Oral stage
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Anal stage
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Phallic stage
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Latency stage
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Genital stage
Anal Stage

Due to his bedwetting and embarrassment as a child he became
extremely anal-retentive

This made him stubborn and fall into the very high spectrum of
Conscientiousness
Friedman & Schustack, 2010
Phallic Stage

Never came to terms with the attraction to his strict mother

He has a serious obsession with sex

Ex wife claims he wanted sex at least 3x a day

Wanted to have sex in public places and at his crime scenes

As well as with his deceased victims

Claimed it was a “free date”
Friedman & Schustack,
2010
Personality Theory 2:
Erikson’s Stages of Development

Infancy: Trust vs Mistrust


Toddler: Autonomy vs Shame and
Doubt
Adolescence: Identity vs Role
confusion

Young Adult: Intimacy vs Isolation

Preschooler: Initiative vs Guilt


Elementary School: Industry vs
inferiority
Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs
Stagnation

Late Adulthood: Integrity vs
Despair
Friedman & Schustack,
2010
Infancy: Trust vs Mistrust

Grew up with an incredibly strict mother

He didn’t receive the care and affection he needed a majority of
the time

This led to a mistrust of females
Erikson Handout
Young Adult: Intimacy vs Isolation

Due to his already developed mistrust of woman he had difficulty
forming healthy romantic relationships

During his young adulthood in the military his mistrust turned into
hatred after contracting and STD from a prostitute
Erikson Handout
Personality Theory 3:
Operant Conditioning

Positive Reinforcement (+R)


Negative Reinforcement (-R)


Something was removed and the behavior increased
Positive Punishment (+P)


Something was given and the behavior increased
Something was given and the behavior decreased
Negative Punishment (-P)

Something was removed and the behavior decreased
Friedman & Schustack,
2010
How Conditioning made him a killer

Bedwetting: +P


Killing: -R


Gary had a problem wetting the bed. Every time he did his mother
would embarrassed him and led him to hate her for it. He Ultimately
stopped wetting the bed.
When killing a prostitute he was subconsciously killing his mother and
riding the world of “scum”.
Press: +R

All of the press surrounding the case fed his need for attention given the
fact he lacked it all his life.