Essay On David Berkowitz

David Berkowitz, or the Son of Sam, created mayhem in New York when he killed multiple woman with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver. He did so in the time period of a little over a year and was caught and confessed in 1977. Ever since he has been serving his time in a penitentiary and has devoted himself to God. Yet, what drove him to this? Why did a young man with no major childhood problems become a vicious killer? Here we will use Giannangelo’s Diathesis/Stress Model of Serial Killing to try to explain David’s behaviour and his crimes. David Berkowitz was born in New York as Richard David Falco, but was renamed and raised by a middle class couple, Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz, who adopted him when he was very young. They had no prior children, and so, David grew up as an only child. His birth mother, Betty Falco, was persuaded to give David up when her husband left her, and her lover threatened to leave …show more content…
Here, however, his murders are going to be explained using Giannangelo’s Diathesis/Stress Model of Serial Killing. This theory attempts to explain serial murderers with a mix of both nature and nurture. It uses biological factors (congenital propensity) and environmental stressors (life experiences) as the main focus. It centralizes on the idea that serial killers already have the thought process and behaviour of someone who may be a killer, but what triggers it is the environment they are in along with the stress and trauma they go through (Wong, Week 10). The environmental stressors must be substantial, especially when they are related to a persons upbringing and can be physical and/or emotional (Giannangelo, 2012). Giannangelo believes that this combination of biological factors and environmental stressors can lead to the development of self-esteem, self-control, and sexual dysfunction problems (Wong, Week