Charles Manson | Was Manson Really Special? | Charismatic Leader?

This video answers the questions: Can I analyze the Charles Manson case? What are the mental health and personality factors at work in this case? Was he a charismatic leader? Was he actually special?
Charles Manson was a convicted murderer who directed members of his cult to commit murders in 1969.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.

[mishtaromaniello]

“His father was named Colonel Scott— not a real colonel, that was just his name. He was actually a con artist.”

Still trying to get up off the floor after that one.

[veronicaverratti]

She sold him for a pitcher of beer when he was a year old. I don’t know why she doesn’t get brought up more. She was the primary reason for his terrible life

[kathybarth]

I meant Charles Manson twice. Once in Jamul CA a suburb of San Diego. A relative by marriage had just meant him and joined his group. I listened to him talk about the “Ranch” and horses - depicting-in my mind an idyllic setting. He was a very small slight man. He did not impress me at all. I left to go home. I called my brother ( it was his house) the next day. In the conversation I asked what they talked about- he told me Manson spoke for two hours but he couldn’t really say/remember exactly what he said. The Manson group stayed the night -their new member picked up her things from my brother’s house - and they left the next morning. Sometime later due to a newspaper article about the group, we decided to go get the family member feeling they were in harms way. We drove up to Spaun Ranch. It was an old movie set of a dilapidated Western town. Charlie came out of one of the buildings. He had a huge Buck knife( Crocodile Dundee large) in his back pocket.We introduced ourselves and told him we wanted to see our family member. Back and forth conversation went on but it was clear the person wouldn’t be coming back with us. Charlie was the king of the lost and confused. Those searching for something to be a part of. He knew what they wanted and how to bring them in. The family member escaped when they moved to the desert after the murders. This is when they over heard a conversation about the murders. As there were different parts of the group they were not in on this part.

[naturegirl]

Co dependent people were drawn to him with a mixture of already mini Manson’s in the making. It’s a deadly combination no matter what. Great topic!

[jltrem]

I spent 32 years working on the wards of state psychiatric hospitals. Whenever I watched television interviews of Manson, I always had the same thought, "This is really impressive, ...just like being at work."

[Psychoanalytical]

YES!!! DR GRANDE TIME! Came here as fast as I could!!!

[avradizir]

In the interviews I have watched, Manson seems to be playing up for the camera. It was almost as if he was overacting the role of Manson or what he thought we imagined him to be because the real Manson was no one special. But the Manson that everyone was talking about, the one who could get on TV and have books written about him, did matter. So long as we were paying him attention, he was somebody.

[VAVORiAL]

Soon we'll have an analysis of every killer featured in Mindhunter, nice.

[HagakureJunkie]

I always thought Manson was an idiot, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard a professional think that. Amazing analysis!

[Lindys]

Going to get a coffee and listen to this. Stay safe. ( from a very wet UK) 💕

[Julie-]

"Like father, like son." Mason was a con man that found himself in an extraordinairey time and place.

[janmclain]

Thank you Dr. Grande! I was a junior in HS when this all took place, and remember it vividly. I grew up in an extremely violent home, and the thing that really got to me was the look in Manson's eyes whenever he was interview. It was the same exact way that my mother looked at me when she was gearing up for another beating. I mean exactly the same look - no remorse, no pity, just dead eyed fury. It was terrifying to make that connection. So again, thank you for your thorough research into such a horrifying piece of history. There was so much hype surrounding it at the time.

[erust]

Hi Dr Grande,
I always found that a guy like Manson, couldn’t have become infamous had this not been in the time those crimes happened. The shock for people was who was murdered, celebrities! And a beautiful, ready to give birth actress most shocking of all. There’s been many horrifying murders of pregnant women, as well as murders motivated by the theft of the unborn baby. But NOT a celebrity. This cemented Manson into history.
I was born in 62, and now looking back the 60-70s were SO different from today, those not around at the time can’t understand the appeal of a person like Manson. He was very small, uneducated and unskilled, a career criminal certainly not good looking in a traditional sense, so who in their right mind was impressed with him, on any level let alone enough to go on a two night grizzly murder spree?
Manson, because of being a product of the juvenile and adult penal system, HAD to survive. He sure as hell wasn’t going to do it by brute strength. He learned the art of survival through being manipulative. I’m sure he was even likable, and had a sense of humor. He was intelligent, and honed it all into base survival behind bars.
When he did get out, he found himself in an era of free love, self discovery, women’s rights, minority rights, not to mention anti war demonstrations, an entire generation wanting a complete break from the social constraints that permeated the 50s. Everything looked and felt different when he got out. He could blend into the artistic hippy community easily. And there was always someone looking to “believe” in a better way if life. So long as it was radically different than what they grew up with, anything was open.
The mainly teenage girls he met along the way were at a distinct disadvantage to a career criminal. I’m sure he WAS manipulative. Honestly how hard would it have been to manipulate a bunch of teens who knew nothing but a cushy middle class upbringing? Not hard at all. He was a musician as well, a BIG appeal in those days!
Notice the absence of an equal amount of guys? He needed a few guys, but they weren’t so easily impressed. He used all the girls to get the couple of guys he needed around, mainly for muscle.
I think he was leader naturally because he was so much older, more life experience and really spoke against the conservative 50s style life that sent him to prison. These girls weren’t lured from their homes, they were all ready run aways, looking to replace their families so to speak. I think before all the “us against the world talk” and the military style training they engaged in, they were no different than any group of friends that chose to live together and pool their resources. There’s always those that tend to be in charge or the leaders.
Throw in hallucinogenic drugs and lots of weed, not hard at all to weave an image, that these teens wanted to believe.
He did want to be a signed, known musician, even though he denied that. As much as I believe he did talk of the eventual race war coming (which was why the military style training started), and he made a big story if it, that all came out of being incarcerated most of his life. It’s common knowledge prisons are separated racially, by the prisoners choice. Seems to me he just needed reasons to isolate them all from society, and this unoriginal prison style race separation made sense to him. To these non prison experienced teens, it was an original idea.
I think he had these teens convinced they had to go far from the city, because of this eventual race war. In reality he had to get out of the city because he’d been involved in crimes. namely the murder of Gary Hinman, over drugs, and his fear of getting caught by the biker gang he owed money to.

[maxpanicked]

Society has made him out to be an exceptional monster, when in reality, he was just a regular monster. A monster with a set of negative traits that any person would be statistically unlikely to overcome. Some people have all the cards stacked against them in this world. It was the inclusion of hallucinogens (mystical, man), the idea of the "happy, loving commune" completely inverted, and the requirement for a catalyst to bookmark the flower-power disillusionment that many people were experiencing, among other things, that allowed this story to become so sensational. A perfect storm of events that allowed a typical anti-social, psychotic man to become a legend.


Thank you very much for this one, Dr. Grande. You really nailed it!

[HaroldHivart]

Manson was a failed artist as well.. he worked with one of the beach boys. He released a record too. Beware of the failed artists !! Their vengeance can be terrible..

[bubblesbabe]

I would be interested in your thoughts about The Columbine Killers, Dylan and Eric.

[ihopetowin]

Nixon spouted to the press at the time of the ongoing trial, he thought Manson was guilty. This remark poisoned the existing jury and the jury pool for any future trial. This "verdict" by Nixon was unconstitutional and as a lawyer, should have known better.

[marytheresel]

Very interesting analysis. I’ve always thought of Manson as a narcissist. He knew how to tell his young female followers what they needed to hear. I see him as the ultimate con artist. That’s just based on accounts of his followers. He was a product of his environment.

[lefse]

“Colonel scott not a real colonel that was just his name” 😂 ha this hit me laughing with your straight face

[e_b_]

I tend to agree with what you're saying. I'm not an expert, but I have read a lot about Manson and seen many interviews with him and the women. I've also seen some court footage. It always seemed to me that the mythology surrounding Manson happened because of the context. The time period, the place, the culture, the political climate, even the music. All of these things created an environment where Manson and then girls he met were able to build momentum so to speak. Certain things in history just happened to have the right "ingredients" and probably would never or could never happen the same way again. Had Manson been slithering around Haight Ashbury today, he may have just been seen as a mumbling vagabond with no group of followers. I think he was just a catalyst and then a symbol of the entire climate during that time. The people he met who ended up following him and committing the murders were probably already looking for something and he became the symbol.