According Joseph Kleinman. When she became pregnant
According to an article on David Berkowitz, “Son of Sam Aka David Berkowitz wasborn David Falco, mother was Betty Broder. Betty had married Tony Falco, and hada daughter, Roslyn.
They ran a fish market together, until he left her foranother woman. Betty later had an affair with a married real estate agent,Joseph Kleinman. When she became pregnant he threatened to abandon her if shekept the baby, so when David Falco was born, she gave him up for adoption” (David Berkowitz: Bibliography. 2016). A roughstart to Berkowitz life, once adopted David lived in the Bronx. David was knownto be a bully back in his childhood years and super hyperactive.
Started to set fires again. He wasresponsible for starting over 1,411 fires, which he kept detailed notes in hisjournal. (Carpozi, George 1977). Peral, his adoptive mother was the one person he held dearto until David was 14. When he was 14, Peral, suffering from breast cancerdied. At that point, it changed David’s whole life. Soon after her death Davidwent into the army, stationed in Korea and was known to be an excellentmarksman. After he was honorably discharged from the army, David tried toreconnect with his biological mother.
According to the article, David Berkowitz | Son of Sam Killer His mother,” Betty told David about hisillegitimate birth and the death of his birth father, which greatly upsetBerkowitz. He eventually lost contact with his birth mother and began working anumber of blue-collar jobs” (DavidBerkowitz | Son of Sam Killer 2017). David was not enthralled by his encounter ofhis birth mother Betty since it was not the hallmark card of reuniting with hisbirthmother.
Afterwards David worked in the post office and was security for awhile. According to (The Devil in David Berkowitz.2017). David began attending meetings inthe woods. “Before long he was cutting prints in his finger and pledging toLucifer, says Terry”.
Or to Samhain, the Druid devil, and a source of the nameSon of Sam. David fell in to a devil worshiping group before he began hismurders and was thought that David was possessed by demons instead of I asickness called paranoid schizophrenia. Soon after David began to hear barkingfrom His neighbor’s dog, a Labrador Retriever named Harvey, barked a lot, andit was driving Berkowitz crazy.
The neighbor, Sam Carr, received an anonymousletter, asking him to stop the dog’s barking. When the barking continued, thekillings began. According to Berkowitz, Harvey was a “demon dog”, andwhen that dog barked it had meaning. Harvey, Berkowitz said, was barking outorders, telling him to murder young women. When police announced that severalrecent killings appeared to be the work of one crazed lunatic, the media wentinto a frenzy.
( David Berkowitz: Bibliography 2016). People would dye theirhair blonde and not leave their homes in fear Son of Sam would get them. Daviddid not originally start out with a gun, according to (David Berkowitz | Son of Sam Killer2017,)he started out his serial killing Career with a knife. According to David’s accounts, hiskilling career began on December 24, 1975, when he stabbed two women using ahunting knife. One of the women was Michelle Forman, and the other has neverbeen identified.
not longafter Berkowitz spoke to a friend and asked him for a gun. Back in the 1970’sNew York City was a dangerous place with murders, fires, looting, and more; sonaturally asking for a gun at that time was not unusual. Unfortunately, Daviddid not use it for his own protection, but to murder 6 people with the famous.44 gun. David not only killed 6 people, but taunted the police. Son of Sambegan to write to the police and the press. At first people ignored it until thedeath tolls grew.
The police thought that Son of Sam could never be stopped;until August 10, 1977. At the scene of the Moskowitz-Violante shootings,a witness saw a man getting away in a car that had a parking ticket on it. Onlya handful of tickets were given out that day, and one of them was forBerkowitz. Next, he is put on trial and sentenced for multiple life sentences. Thereare reasons to Son of Sam, David Berkowitz has paranoid schizophrenia. This isnot an excuse for his actions rather an illness that was not taken care of andturned in a terrible way. Paranoid schizophreniais characterized especially by delusions of persecution, grandiosity, orjealousy and by hallucinations (such as hearing voices) chiefly of an auditorynature.
Paranoid schizophrenia is characterized by predominantly positivesymptoms of schizophrenia, including delusions and hallucinations. Thesedebilitating symptoms blur the line between what is real and what isn’t, makingit difficult for the person to lead a typical life. Schizophrenia occurs inabout 1.
1 percent of the population, while paranoid schizophrenia is consideredthe most common subtype of this chronic disorder. The average age of onset islate adolescence to early adulthood, usually between the ages of 18 to 30. Itis highly unusual for schizophrenia to be diagnosed after age 45 or before age16. Onset in males typically occurs earlier in life than females. According tothe website (Paranoid Schizophrenia,1992). Thegeneral criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia ((DSM code 295.
3/ICD codeF20.0) must be satisfied. In addition, hallucinations and/or delusions must beprominent, and disturbances of affect, volition and speech, and catatonicsymptoms must be relatively inconspicuous. The hallucinations will usually beof the kind described in (b) hallucinatory voices that threaten the patient orgive commands, or auditory hallucinations without verbal form, such aswhistling, humming, or laughing; and (c) hallucinations of smell or taste, orof sexual or other bodily sensations; visual hallucinations may occur but arerarely predominant. Delusions can be of almost any kind of delusions ofcontrol, influence, or passivity, and persecutory beliefs of various kinds arethe most characteristic. The exact cause of paranoid schizophrenia isn’tknown.
Schizophrenia itself can run in the family, so there’s a possibilitythat this mental disorder is genetic. However, not everyone with a family memberwho has schizophrenia will develop the disorder. And not everyone who developsschizophrenia will have symptoms of paranoia.
However according to an articlecalled (Schizophrenia Information – Thought Disorders) Risk factorsthat increase chances of a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis include, familyhistory of psychotic disorders, exposure to a viral infection in the womb,fetal malnutrition, stress in early childhood, sexual or physical abuse, olderparental age, use of psychoactive drugs during adolescence. When looking a DavidBerkowitz’s life there is abuse, psychoactive drugs and major delusionsespecially when liking at a detailed time line of his life by Serialkiller researched by Radford University students Thankfullythere is help for people who suffer from Paranoid schizophrenia treatments andtherapies are available. Cognitive-behavioraltherapy (CBT) in schizophrenia was originally developed to provide additionaltreatment for residual symptoms, drawing on the principles and interventionstrategies previously developed for anxiety and depression. “In the 1950s,Aaron Beck had already treated a psychotic patient with a cognitive approach,but thereafter the research in this specific area lay dormant for decades. Onlyafter cognitive therapy had been firmly established for depression and anxiety,in the 1990s, did the research into psychological treatments for psychoticconditions gather force—again, with Beck in the forefront.
Pharmacologictherapy can leave as many as 60% of psychotic patients with persistent positiveand negative symptoms, even when the patients are compliant with theirmedication instructions. Furthermore, medication compliance remains a majorproblem despite the introduction of modern atypical antipsychotics. Studieshave shown treatment discontinuation in an estimated 74% of patients in bothoutpatient and inpatient settings the therapeutic techniques used for patientswith schizophrenia are based on the general principles of Cognitive-behavioraltherapy. Links are established between thoughts, feelings, and actions in acollaborative and accepting atmosphere. Agendas are set and used but aregenerally more flexibly developed than in traditional Cognitive-behavioraltherapy. The duration of therapy varies according to the individual’s need,generally between 12 and 20 sessions, but often with an option of ongoingbooster sessions. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis usually proceedsthrough the following phases” (The ABCs ofCognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Schizophrenia.
). The phases are assessment, engagement,goal setting, and normalization. Assessment is assessing where the person is mentallyand a what are their current struggles.
Engagement is getting into the therapyits self. Goal setting is therealistic goals for therapy shouldbe discussed early in the therapy with the patient. And normalization, by integratingthe psychosis with normal experiences, the patient will often feel less isolatedand stigmatized. As a consequence, the possibility of recovery seems lessdistant. Son of Sam or now Son of Hope is still in prison, going throughtherapies and serving his time. While in prison Son of Sam has been changing hislife; this serial killer is a man that follows the lord. According to hiswebsite made by his followers (My Testimony.
n.d.). his delusions took a holdof his life he believed his hallucinations and acted on them. Not seeing whatwas reality made him kill 6 people. As technology gets better and better,people with paranoid schizophrenia have a chance of getting proper care and joinnormal life.
