Psychology 3310 3.

0M: Psychology & Law

Assignment: Psychobiography
Assignment worth 50% of final grade
Task: On September 26th, 2011, you will hear about two female serial killers; Aileen Wuornos
and Karla Homolka. You will hear about some psychological rationale that may explain the
killers actions, as well as a brief biographical account of each one to support the proposed
psychological rationale. For this assignment, I would like you to research a male serial killer of
your choosing and do the following:
Write an eight page account of the serial killer's life that includes:
a. a psychological explanation that may account for the serial killer's
actions (e.g., psychopathy, malignant narcissism). This is the basis of your
argument and should receive the greatest attention overall.
b. relevant episodes from the serial killers life that justify your
psychological explanation (e.g., documented abuse, parental abuse,
antisocial behaviours)
c. a brief description of the serial killer's actions (e.g., how many victims,
sex of victim, crime typology (i.e., patterns, signature, modus operandi))
This paper will be divided into two parts:
Part 1: You must provide a handwritten rough outline of your paper. The outline will
be due in class on October 17th. It will be worth 10% of your overall mark for this assignment.
Part 2: Submit your eight page account, as described above, in class on November 14th,
2011. It will be worth 90% of your overall mark for this assignment.
Do's and Don'ts
1. This is NOT a biography - it is a psychobiography. That means, you should not
merely provide a chronological account of the subject's life or details of the
killings. You should choose relevant, important 'episodes' from the life of your
chosen subject that illustrate why he fits with the psychological explanation. The
focus of this paper should be on the psychological explanation for the serial
killing, not on irrelevant details of the killers life.
2. DO NOT submit the assignment in a folder. Simply staple your pages together.
3. DO provide a title page and a reference page
4. References (i.e., sources of information) should be from credible sources (e.g.,
books, journal articles, documentaries)
5. DO NOT exceed the stipulated maximum of eight pages (excluding title page and
reference page). Penalties will be awarded for exceeding eight pages.
6. DO USE size 12 font, Times New Roman
7. DO NOT use justified margins (i.e., sentences end precisely at right margin). You
must use a left-aligned paragraphing format.
8. DO USE only double-line spacing (i.e., do not insert large gaps between
paragraphs).

Psychology 3310 3.0M: Psychology & Law

Assignment: Psychobiography
Handwritten rough outline
Name: ________________________________________________________________________
Student #: _____________________________________________________________________
Name of subject: _______________________________________________________________
Proposed psychological rationale (choose one only): ___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Important components of psychological rationale:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Sources of information:
1. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________