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Charles Manson and the Family
Department of Psychology, Liberty
University PSYC 475: Psychology of
Criminal Behavior Dr. Janet Brown
April 22, 2021
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Charles Manson and the Family
Understanding why someone acts a certain way is impossible. All that can be done is
theorize and guess why people do anything. However, observing people and their actions has
allowed people to have a better understanding of why people typically act a certain way. No
one situation will follow the cookie cutter psychological theories that have been developed over
the years, but they are a start. One example of this is Charles Manson. It is known that Manson
displayed violent tendencies from an early age, foreshadowing his even more violent adulthood.
The family is also important to remember when it comes to the development of Helter Skelter
and Manson’s crimes. Many influences played into the growth and development of the Manson
family cult. Drugs, music, and the extent to which Manson was able to manipulate the young
girls who went on to commit the heinous crimes attributed to the Manson family. People can
never fully know why a murder kills people, yes theories can be formed, and confessions can
give insight, but the only person that truly knows why a crime is committed is the criminal. By
looking at Charles Manson’s childhood and his journey to cult leadership researchers can better
understand why the Family committed the heinous act that they did.
Charles Manson
Born to 16-year-old, Kathleen Maddox on November 12, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Charles Manson had a rough childhood from the start. When Manson was only 4 years old his
mother went to prison for robbery and assault, during this time Manson reportedly lived with his
relatives in West Virginia (Petersen, 2005). Manson was sent to a reform school at age 9 and a
boy’s school at the age of 12, and after many rejected attempts to return home to his mother he
soon found himself living on the streets and participating in acts of petty crime (Petersen, 2005).
Over the span of the next 20 years Manson found himself going in and out of reform schools and
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prisons for various criminal acts. In March of 1967, after being released from prison, Manson
finally left and moved to San Francisco. It was from here that his infamous criminal acts began
(Petersen, 2005).
Background and Childhood
What makes a killer? Are there certain life experiences that determine if someone will
kill others? Or is it simply a choice made by the individual? Or is it a little of both? For Charles
Manson there were indicators from his childhood that researchers can now look at and determine
that his path was set towards destruction. This does not mean that Manson was definitely going
to become a killer because of his childhood, it simply means that his childhood showed telltale
signs that pointed towards a future of violence.
As early as first grade, Manson was known to recruit other classmates, normally girls, to
attack students he did not like. Afterwards he would tell the teachers that the students were
acting on their own and he had nothing to do with the attacks. Since Manson was only 6 years
old the teachers would believe him. Since no one believed that such a young boy was capable of
such skilled manipulation he would get off with no punishment while his classmates would get
punished. It was the group that gave Manson his power to act the way he did. Manson himself
did not do anything harmful, but he was able to convince the group to commit the harmful acts
themselves (NPR, 2013). Ellis and Zarbatany (2007) said “group influence on deviant behavior
and school misconduct was magnified in central peer groups (p. 1251). Meaning that the more
popular groups tend to have misconduct magnified within their groups, groups like the ones that
Manson was a part of and able to manipulate. Understanding Manson’s childhood and social life
is one key to understanding the monster of a man he became.
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Abuse, both physical and mental can have an influence on serial killers. According to
Marono et al., (2020), “Previous literature suggests that early…abuse leads to later aggression
and violence” (p. 134). The research done in this article partially supports this, meaning that
people who were abused are more likely to demonstrate overkill when it came to their victim.
The most violent methods were found to be committed by those who had been sexually for
psychologically abused in their early life (Marono et al., 2020). Manson had a rough childhood.
After his mother went to prison when he was only four, his uncle would force him to wear a
dress to school as a punishment for crying. This psychological abuse could have fueled the fire
of violence that was already burning within Manson. While there is no way to prove that these
instances and others like them were the cause of Manson’s killings and manipulations, it can be
theorized that they played a role in his development and, therefore, his decisions later in life.
Helter Skelter
The crimes that have been attributed to Charles Manson over the years are heinous and
brutal. However, it is debated whether or not Manson actually committed any of the crimes
himself, or if it played out the way it had for him in first grade. Being an expert manipulator,
Manson was able to convince others to do the killing for him. In the end, Charles Manson was
convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven
different people.
After years of interviewing Manson and trying to figure out the “why” behind these
murders they finally discovered that the central doctrine of Manson’s teaching was Helter
Skelter. Helter Skelter is also known as Armageddon and Manson taught it as the ultimate battle
between blacks and whites, the last war on earth, a war in which the entire white race would be
annihilated (Atchison & Heide, 2011). Manson believed that the band, the Beatles, were trying
to
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convince blacks to rise up and rebel violently against white people. All of this was based off of
the Beatles White Album, specifically the song Helter Skelter. Because of this Manson made it
his duty to bring this inevitable race war to fruition himself. After one of the murders Manson
attempted to make is seem as if an African American had committed the crime, his plan was to
commit more crimes, framing more African Americans until the race war began (Atchison &
Heide, 2011). Unfortunately for Manson, this plan failed. Even though he had tried to frame
African Americans for all eight murders, his ultimate goal of having a race war break out failed.
Manson had hoped that the African Americans would ultimately win the war, but then would
transfer their power to him because they would not be able to handle restarting civilization. In
Manson’s mind, when the black-white civil war ended, he would be the one who came out on
top (Atchison & Heide, 2011).
Cult Leadership
From a very early age Charles Manson was able to manipulate others to do what he
wanted them to do. He was able to convince fellow classmates to attack another student and was
able to convince young women to kill 8 people, one of whom was pregnant making the number
of victims 9. There are different theories as to how Manson was able to gain such a following
and convince people to commit such heinous acts. Some believe that Manson had an almost
hypnotic effect on the people around him, often attributed to his musical abilities and his
charisma. Another belief is that Manson offered the girls he manipulated a love they had not had
before. One of the girls even noted “He gave me nothing but love, complete love” (Geis &
Huston, 1971, p. 345). While it can never be fully known how Manson was able to convince
these girls to do as he said, there are theories that have been formed over the years because of the
testimony of the girls in the cult, and others who knew Manson. Many believe that fear was a
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major component to Manson’s control and influence. There have been many different testimonies
from those who were in the cult of instances where Manson would threaten them against leaving
or yelling at his followers and slapping women for falling asleep before him (Geis & Huston,
1971).
Manson promised his followers protection from the end of the world. After having
committed the crimes to cause the black-white civil war to break out Manson took his followers
to the desert to hide out, giving them a sense of protection from this terrifying event that they
believed to be inevitable. However, Manson was able to prove he could protect his people by
asserting his dominance. By retaining leadership, he was able to show his followers that he could
protect them from the coming war. By asserting its dominance, a group can continue to protect
its members, and the leader can keep hold of their own dominance within the group
(Papachristos, 2009). In Manson’s eyes his group was not only safe, but they were dominant and
would rise to authority after the black-white civil war ended.
The Family (3 pages)
The cult that Charles Manson formed was very large, however the family that is always
referred to when discussing the murders consisted of five young women and four young men;
Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, Linda Kasabian, Lynette 'Squeaky'
Fromme, Charles Watson, Bobby Beausoleil, Steve “Clem” Grogan, and Bruce Davis. Each of
these members were convicted of committing murder in 1969. Overall the family claims that
they killed 35 people and buried their bodies in the desert, yet there has not been any evidence
found to confirm this to be true (Pak, 2019).
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Crimes
Susan Atkins, like most of the key family members, had a rough childhood. She was born
to alcoholic parents and eventually was abandoned by her family. When Manson asked her to
join his commune she agreed, believing him to be Jesus (Pak, 2019). Manson was able to
convince his followers he could perform extraordinary acts, causing his followers, like Atkins, to
believe that he was Jesus (Nielsen, 1984). Atkins was responsible for the death of Sharon Tate.
When asked why she killed Tate she said she is unsure of why she did. She was charged with
murder and was denied parole (Pak, 2019). Leslie Van Houton, the young girl charged with
murdering Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, was another story similar to Atkins. She ran away
from home when she was 15, only to return to finish high school. Her mother forced her to have
an abortion at 17, causing her to run away again and join a hippie commune, this is what led her
to Manson. She was charged with murder at the age of 19 for having killed the LaBianca’s.
Another member, Patricia Krenwinkle, one of the girls who had sexual relations with Manson,
did not directly kill Atkins and the LaBiancas, but she participated in both murders by stabbing
each victim (Pak, 2019). Manson was also very sexually proficient, many of his teachings
centered around overcoming sexual inhibitions and any shame felt related to this. Much of his
power came from his status as one of the few “real men” at the ranch where the commune was
located (Nielsen, 1984). Charles Watson, much like Krenwinkle was not the one to actually kill
Tate and the LaBiancas, but he did lead the others to kill them. He was sentenced to life in
prison and since then has found religion and become a minister (Pak, 2019).
Bobby Beausoleil was a delinquent in his youth and eventually found himself involved
with music. It was through this he met Hinman, a follower of Manson. By the time the Tate
murder occurred Beausoleil was already in jail for the murder of Gary Hinman, the follower of
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Manson he had befriended. He was charged with murder and is now serving a life sentence for
the crime. Steve Grogan, the killer of Donald Shea, had a history of petty crime prior to his
joining Manson’s cult. He was sentenced to death for his crimes, but since then the judge has
reduced his sentence due to the influence of drugs in his crime. After revealing the location of
Shea’s body to the police he received parole (Pak, 2019). Finally, there is Bruce Davis,
Manson’s right-hand man. Davis was present for the murder of Hinman and participated in the
killing of Shea. He is currently serving out a life sentence in prison for his crimes, and like
Watson has become a preacher while in prison (Pak, 2019). The murder of Donald Shea was
occurred because Manson believed Shea had snitched on him to the police. Research Gary Fine
(1982) wrote “Some groups, including the Manson Family and fraternal lodges, have severe
penalties for disclosing seemingly trivial information” (p. 49). Shea was tortured and killed for
what Manson believed he had done, showing how deep and serious cult loyalty is and was to
Manson.
While most of the family was changed for murder when the trials came around, two of
the women were not. Linda Kasabin and Lynette Fromme. Both of whom did not kill any of the
victims but did play a role in the crimes of the family anyway. Linda Kasabin was one of the
accomplices in the murder of Tate, she drove to the house but never went inside, because of this
she became a lead witness in the trial and received immunity for the crime. Lynette Fromme also
did not have a true hand in the murders. However, she was incredibly loyal to Manson,
following him from his trial to every prison he was transferred to. Eventually she was charged
with attempted assignation and sentence to life in prison, but even though she was behind bars
she continuously tried to escape to meet up with Manson (Pak, 2019).
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Cult Mindset
The murders committed by the Manson family were horrific and heartbreaking. It is hard
to imagine why anyone would kill another human being, much less why they would kill them
because they were told to. In the case of the family it can been understood that it was the loyalty
to Manson that led them to killing the people he ordered them to. From the outside it is difficult
to understand how anyone could be so influenced by someone. It is not common that people will
leave a cult once they have joined. It is important to remember that not all cults are like the
Manson family, not all people within them are killers, but there is a mindset that is similar
between the Manson family cult and cults today. A mindset that causes people to remain in
cults. The only way this mindset can be understood is through asking people who have left cults.
Researcher Dominiek Coates (2012) asked former cult members why they remained in the cult as
long as they did, and he got a variety of answers. The main reasons, however, were the direct
rewards received for membership, induced dependency of the group, emotional and
psychological control, behavior control, and thought and relationship control. All these reasons
contributed do different degrees to people remaining within a cult. All of these reasons can be
seen exhibited in the Manson family and how they operated together.
It is also important to remember that people join cults for a number of reasons. Spiritual
growth, personal development, or like in the case of many members of the Manson family, life
dissatisfaction (Rousselet, et al., 2017). Joining a cult does not make someone a bad person, not
everyone who joins a cult will become like the members of the Manson family. There is a certain
kind of acceptance that can be found within cults, a kind of acceptance that draws in hurting and
lost people.
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Future Research
In the future, more research should be done on the early life of Charles Manson in
connection to his crimes later on. Discovering why Manson did what he did and what in his
childhood could have attributed to his crimes is an area that has not been researched enough and
should be explored more. There is so much in Manson’s past that could have attributed to his
becoming a serial killer and cult leader, there is also so much about his personality that could
have led to his becoming the man he was. Manson was an expert manipulator. Was that learned?
Or was that something he was good at all his life? There is not much scholarly research out there
on Charles Manson before he became a killer, and it is who he was before that matters when it
comes to understanding who he became.
Conclusion
The Manson family murders are one of the most fascinating subjects to learn. One can
never truly understand why Charles Manson became the man he did and why his followers were
so loyal, to the point of murder. Researchers can look at the facts of the case and at the
development of each member from childhood on, but there is not one researcher that can give a
definite answer as to what caused these people to become so evil. Psychology is an interesting
topic, it is a way to look into people’s minds and try and find out why they act a certain way, and
yet humans are all so unique it is impossible to ever find one solid answer. Understanding the
Manson family murders will never be possible, but theories can be made and developed and
grown, and with these theories’ psychologists can take one more step closer to trying to
understand why the Manson family did what they did. There are many reasons people do bad
things, and the facts of the cases can normally be laid out, but understanding the “why,” that is
the truly impossible puzzle.
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References
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sociological theories to multiple murder. International Journal of Offender Therapy and
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Charles Manson: Master manipulator, even as a child. (audio file) (2013). National Public
Radio, Inc. (NPR).
Coates, D. D. (2012). "Cult commitment" from the perspective of former members: Direct
rewards of membership versus dependency inducing practices. Deviant Behavior, 33(3),
168-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2010.548302
Ellis, W. E., & Zarbatany, L. (2007). Peer group status as a moderator of group influence on
children’s deviant, aggressive, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 78(4), 1240-
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Fine, G. (1982). The Manson Family: The Folklore Traditions of a Small Group. Journal of the
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1971.tb00775.x
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Pak, E. (2019, June 14). Who Are the Members of the Manson Family?
Biography. https://www.biography.com/news/manson-family-members
Papachristos, A. V. (2009). Murder by structure: Dominance relations and the social
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