Formerly recognized as a friendly landscaper, local mall Santa Claus, and father of two, 66-year-old Bruce McArthur is now identified as an alleged serial killer, facing eight counts of first degree murder with ties to Toronto’s Gay Village (Gillis, 2018). While making an effort to analyze and understand McArthur’s homicides, a criminological theory that occurs to me is Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory. This theory refers to a person’s psychological well-being, depending upon a functional relationship among the three fundamental components of the human psyche; the id, ego, and superego (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). McArthur's behaviour manifests a dysfunctional relationship between these components and exhibits signs of an unsolved psychological conflict, resulting in social deviance and criminal acts. The General Theory of Crime can also be applied to McArthur’s case, as it suggests that the individual’s lack of self-control is the main reason behind criminal behaviour and impulsive conduct (O’Grady, 2018, p.114). McArthur had no sense of self-control when it came violently preying on his sexual partners. He would push his victims to the limits and eventually murder them after getting the sexual satisfaction he wanted (Russell, 2018). In this essay, I will demonstrate how the Psychoanalytic Theory and General Theory of crime can be applied to Bruce McArthur’s case, and how his lack of fundamental components of the human psyche and self-control contributed to the homicides of the eight men he victimized.
Bruce McArthur & The Crime
For years, men had been disappearing from Toronto’s Gay Village without an explanation (Sherman & Hanuka, 2018). McArthur’s murder spree allegedly began in September of 2010, and it wasn’t until June of 2017 that authorities identified him as the suspect (Brockbank, 2018). McArthur had been married to his wife for three decades, and following their divorce around 1998, he came out to friends and family as gay and moved to the village (Brockbank, 2018). He began getting romantically involved with other men from online dating apps that he was actively on, specifically made for homosexual men (Gillies, 2018). McArthur described himself on his dating profiles as someone who likes to “give abuse to submissive men of all ages” and “push buttons until they can’t take anymore” (Russell, 2018). The men who went on dates with McArthur and survived described the sexual encounters as submissive role play, which quickly became very violent and uncomfortable (Russell, 2018). One man reported McArthur grabbing his head and twisting it without warning, while another reported being pinned down against their will and getting raped by him while unconscious (Ling and Thanh Ha, 2018). By summer 2017, investigators began to look more closely at McArthur, and didn’t have to dig too deep for signs that suggested a history of violence (Sherman & Hanuka, 2018). On October 31, 2001, McArthur assaulted a man with a metal pipe, with no explanation as to why he did it (Brockbank, 2018). After obtaining warrants to secretly enter McArthur’s apartment, Police say that they found evidence leading to homicide charges, and later recovered dismembered remains of several men in planters throughout properties where McArthur had worked (Sherman & Hanuka, 2018). It has been suggested that McArthur could be responsible for unsolved murders dating back to the 1970s, as it is rare for serial killers to begin their murder sprees late in life (Graham, 2018). Investigators have searched nearly 100 properties across the city that he had landscaped, and continue to uncover potential evidence against Bruce McArthur and his crimes (Sherman & Hanuka, 2018).
The Criminological Theories
The main purpose behind every Criminological Theory is to help one to better understand crime, while focusing on the patterns and explanations behind criminal behaviour. There are strong parallels between McArthur’s behaviour and the main ideas illustrated in Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of crime. This approach is an interesting and unique theory for understanding social deviance, particularly sexual deviance (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). As mentioned previously, this theory ultimately consists of three fundamental components of the human psyche; the id, ego, and superego (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). The id consisting of primal urges and drives for things such as food or sex, the ego being a mechanism to keep the urges in check, and the superego acting as a person’s social conscience or moral code. These components must have a functional relationship in order to positively impact to a person’s psychological well-being (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). These factors can be applied to McArthur’s case as he lacked the ability to use these components to control his behaviour. It is evident that McArthur’s id consisted of many impulses when it came to sex, such as violently abusing and dominating his partners during intercourse. Perhaps McArthur’s ego recognized that he needed to get his victims in a vulnerable state and behind closed doors in order to perform these acts, as it was not something commonly accepted by society. However, the component that McArthur fails to possess is the superego. The superego incorporates the values and morals of a person and controls the id's impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression (McLeod, 2016). McArthur evidently lacked the ability to decide between what is morally right and wrong, and his superego could not overcome his desires. Freud also states in his theory that deviant and criminal behaviour is a result of unsolved psychological conflicts in a person (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). McArthur’s unsolved psychological conflict may have been that he was unable to express sexual orientation, as he was married to his wife for over thirty years (Brockbank, 2018). During the time when Bruce was growing up, being a homosexual man or women was often frowned upon and not socially acceptable. Like many other gay men of his generation, McArthur likely waged an internal battle with his natural inclinations and sexual preference throughout his life. This would have brought about a great deal of sexual frustration and may be the underlying reason for McArthur’s aggression during intercourse with other men. Overall, the Psychoanalytic Theory of crime draws parallels to the lack of superego in Bruce McArthur’s personality, as well as his lifelong psychological conflict, and how they both contribute to the homicides of the eight men he victimized.
The General Theory of Crime is a criminological theory that explains crime and other forms of unethical behaviour as the result of low self control (O’Grady, 2018, pg.115). This theory focuses on temptations such as smoking, drinking, gambling, or in McArthur’s case irresponsible sex, all of which can be described as impulsive behaviour that provides short-term gratification (O’Grady, 2018, pg.115). These temptations may be difficult to abstain from for an individual with low self control. This theory states that individuals who exhibit low self-control are believed to be self-centered, impulsive and participate in risk-taking behaviour including criminal activity (O’Grady, 2018, pg.115). The founders of this theory, Gottfredson and Hirschi, claim that self-control is internalized early in life and greatly impacted by parenting. Parents or guardians who refuse or who are unable to monitor a child’s behavior may leave the child with a feeling of neglect, and the inability to form a sense of self-control. This theory corresponds with the observable lack of self-control exhibited by McArthur throughout his crimes. Throughout McArthur’s childhood, his parents ran a foster centre out of their home, where children would come and go to escape from their troubled lives in the city (Warnica & Edmiston, 2018) . It is likely that McArthur failed to embody a sense of self-control early in life due to the lack of attention or discipline he received from his parents amongst the foster children. This can be distinguished throughout McArthur's case as he never hesitated to fulfill his impulses of aggression towards his partners, and would essentially disregard any limits or boundaries they may have had. McArthur’s submissive role play would consist of grabbing and twisting his partner’s head during intercourse, drugging them, and even taking photos while raping their unconscious body (Ling and Thanh Ha, 2018). McArthur would lose all sense of control over his emotions and actions, and would not stop until his partner was dead. The General Theory can be used to explain the crimes of Bruce McArthur as a result of his low self-control, while demonstrating that his decisions were made on impulse rather than reason.
The Psychoanalytic Theory and the General Theory of Crime are two very comparable, yet contrasting theories that can both be applied to Bruce McArthur’s case. The Psychoanalytic Theory is psychological, meaning it focuses on the individual and their interactions, rather than the environment around them (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). The General Theory of Crime focuses not only on the individual, but also on the environment, such as how they were raised and the influence their surroundings have made upon them. This theory is more situational rather than personal, as it observes an individual's ability to exercise self-control and to abstain from the temptations around them (O’Grady, 2018, pg.115). However, these theories both correspond with the modern explanations about crime which contend that criminals are made, not born (O’Grady, 2018, pg.78). These theories suggest that although a criminal may be born with biological or genetic imbalances, they are ultimately influenced by factors throughout their life such as their environment, upbringing, an unsolved psychological conflict, along with many other potential factors. Overall, the Psychoanalytic Theory and General Theory of crime both allow one to gain understanding into criminal behaviour and its societal patterns.
Conclusion
The former happy and cheerful image of Bruce McArthur now fades away as the world recognizes him as Toronto’s well known serial killer. His deviant behaviour and criminal offences are better understood through the suggestions of the Criminological Theories of Crime.
His unsolved psychological conflict and his lack of the superego component of the human psyche can be identified through the approach of the Psychoanalytic Theory. By contrast, The General Theory allows us to understand McArthur from a different approach, and looks at his lack of self-control as the explanation for his homicides. Although these two theories take a different approach to understanding a criminal, both have the potential to further one’s understanding of deviant behaviour and criminal offences, just as they have for Bruce McArthur and his eight homicides.