Profile: Aileen Wuornos
Nature vs. Nurture:
Aileen was born in 1956 to her 16 year old mother. She was not born with any physical or mental disabilities. At the time of her birth her father was incarcerated for child molestation and he was also believed to be a schizophrenic, he hung himself in jail and Aileen never met him. When Aileen was 3 years old her mother abandoned her and her 4 year old brother and left them with her own parents who legally adopted them. The family struggled economically and by age 11 Aileen would engage in sexual activities for food, drugs and alcohol. Home life was not easy for Aileen as she claims to be sexually abused by her alcoholic grandfather and beaten by her grandmother. She would also engage in …show more content…

Aileen clearly came to believe that she was inferior to others because she lowered herself to a standard of prostitution.
Stage 5: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Ages 11-18 years
During this stage the individual either acquires a sense of own identity or is confused about role in life. When Aileen was in this age bracket she was being sexually abused by her grandfather and began to experiment sexually with her brother. She was confused with sexual boundaries and the role sex plays in people’s life which may have led to her prostitution in her job because sex had no meaning to it anymore and it was something she believed everybody did casually. Also during this stage Aileen got pregnant and had to give her baby up for adoption. For anybody, that is a difficult thing to do and she was probably very confused with what her purpose was because she could not even look after her own child.

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Ages 18-40
In this stage the individual develops couple relationship and joint identity with partner; or becomes isolated from meaningful relationships with others. During this stage Aileen met 69 year old Lewis Gratz and they fell in love. They married and nine weeks later they annulled the marriage. Due to the abuse men had put her through Aileen began to be interested in women and that is when she met Tyria Moore, a maid at a gay bar. They fell in love and moved in together. Tyria was not a part of the murders Aileen