Experts Debate What Forces Create A Cannibal

Term Paper Title	Experts Debate What Forces Create A Cannibal
# of Words	545
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.18

Experts debate what forces create a cannibal

CANNIBALS

That Nathaniel Bar-Jonah may have fed human flesh to unsuspecting friends and neighbors could make this the most ghastly crime in Great Falls' history.

What drives a person to cannibalism? Experts contacted by the Tribune gave theories ranging from early childhood trauma to simple evilness.

Dr. Clancy McKenzie, professor of psychology at Capital University in Washington, D.C., worked with cannibal Gary Heidnik, a Pennsylvania man who kidnapped women, kept them locked up as sexual slaves and fed them dog food mixed with the ground-up remains of other victims.

McKenzie believes such psychotic behavior nearly always is related to previous trauma, particularly in infancy.

During the second half-year of life, when children are weaned from the breast, they fantasize about devouring the entire mother, McKenzie said. Regression to this stage of development may be triggered by later trauma, especially if the baby suffered some trauma at that critical young age.

The trauma of separation from the mother gives the baby -- or the adult flashing back -- a feeling of utter helplessness and panic, he said.

McKenzie said he thinks Bar-Jonah suffered a traumatic separation from his mother when he was 12 to 17 months old.

Ironically, Bar-Jonah's return from a mental hospital to life with his mother and brother may have added to his likelihood of committing new crimes, McKenzie said.

Returning to the original family, with all its "emotional expression," makes a predator more likely to repeat the problem behavior, he said. "I shudder when they let...

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