What Exactly is the Reason Why Some Are Attracted to Violent Felons Like Ted Bundy? It's Called 'Hybristophilia,' and It's Real
May 9, 2019
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With the recent uptick in interest in murderers like Ted Bundy, the psychological condition called hybristophilia is being talked about by experts like Jeffrey Ian Ross, professor in the University of Baltimore's School of Criminal Justice. The condition has a logic to it, Ross tells Women's Health magazine, in that the parameters of a relationship between a free person and a prisoner may bypass the usual difficulties associated with sharing a life with someone.
Movies, documentaries and podcasts have been devoted to telling Bundy's story of a string of murders, followed by his capture, escape, trials and jailhouse interviews. Along the way, some have professed an attraction to Bundy and to other serial killers, cult leaders and violent fanatics like him. This phenomenon is called hybristophilia, and according to experts, it is much more common than you might think.
"Basically, it’s a sexual attraction to someone who's committed some sort of outrageous and extraordinary crime," Prof. Ross tells the magazine. He and other specialists on crime say there is a sensibility behind hybristophilia: The locked-up person is the "perfect boyfriend," interacted with only under specific conditions, in a clean and controlled environment. There, the offender almost certainly will be on his best behavior, Ross says.
Those who are in a relationship like this "don't have to deal with any of the disappointments that can come up in day-to-day in relationships," Ross explains, "like cleaning up after a boyfriend or getting annoyed by drug or alcohol use."
If the prisoner's crime is notorious enough, a kind of fame or recognition may become a part of this newly-sparked relationship.
"They might want to be in the limelight as well, regardless of the reasons associated with it," Prof. Ross says.
Read the article in Women's Health.
Learn more about Jeffrey Ian Ross and the University of Baltimore's School of Criminal Justice.