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The Torment of Thirteen Turpins; Abuse & Abnormal Behaviour through a Biopsychosocial Lens


Paarthvi Raj Singh

 Trigger Warning: Mentions of Abuse and Assault

In the whispers of the early morning on January 14, 2018 the emaciated figure of 17-year-old Jordan Turpin daringly escapes from her parent’s house and novicely contacts the police (ABC News, 2021a). What followed from this singular act of bravery is an unraveling of the intricate web of abuse, torture, and maltreatment, spun by David and Louise Turpin, around their thirteen childen. This multifaceted systematic abuse ranged from the parents imprisoning, beating, and strangling their children to starving them and allowing them to bathe only once a year (ABC News, 2021c) The children were not allowed to step outside their house nor open windows and were prohibited from attending school alongside their peers. Rather, they were supposed to be homeschooled with their father being registered as the principal of this homeschool (ABC News, 2021d). 

A few hours after Jordan Turpin reached out to the police and reported these conditions, officers arrived at their home to arrest her parents. Currently, David and Louise Turpin are serving a sentence of lifetime imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years on 14 felony counts including child cruelty and torture (Hartocollis, 2019). However, the true tragedy of this case is reflected by its 13 victims. Upon being found by authorities within their deplorably filthy home in 2018, the children were discovered to be suffering from caloric malnutrition and muscle wastage, cognitive impairment, and neuropathy (Almasy et al., 2018). Several of the children lacked basic knowledge and were also noticeably below normal expectations of mental and verbal ability for their age (ABC News, 2021b). Of the 13 children, the minors were placed within the foster care system, while the adult children had to be placed under a court mandated conservatorship due to their self-admitted lack of life skills (Bruggeman et. al, 2021). The Turpin children are still getting their bearings at adjusting to a life within society, vastly different from anything they have known previously, which their upbringing never prepared them for. The psychological assistance they have been receiving will play a significant role in their recovery from cognitive issues and nerve damage, among other conditions (Carroll, 2018). The Turpin children have expressed cognitive deficiencies, developmental lags, and difficulty adapting to the outside world upto four years after they were found. The different ways in which the children were impacted by their upbringing could inform certain cognitive deficiencies and maladaptive behaviours that they showcase. Therefore, this article will be employing the biopsychosocial perspective to gain a holistic insight into how certain elements from the Turpin children’s early life may have put them at risk of showcasing abnormal/maladaptive behaviour and mental disorders.

During the trial of David and Louise Turpin, the latter had been diagnosed with  histrionic personality disorder (Dillon, 2018). Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) is a Cluster B  personality disorder, generally characterised by distorted self-images and unstable emotions (French & Shreshtha, 2021). Cluster B personality disorders have been studied to be on the upper range of heritability (Torgersen et al., 2012), thereby the Turpin Children may possess a genetic predisposition towards the disorder. Additionally, starvation and severe malnutrition, as was experienced by the Turpin children, has been found to negatively affect adult mental health and cognition (Susser, 2012). Having lived through an extremely stressful environment for several years would have shaped and altered the architecture of their brain and neural circuitry (McEwen, 2011). In fact, several Turpin children suffered from neuropathy and had to be treated for the same (Almasy et al., 2018). Therefore, there are several potential biological risk factors predisposing the Turpin Children towards abnormal behaviour. 

From a psychological perspective, Bowlby’s attachment theory from the Psychodynamic line of thought and Skinner’s operant conditioning and Albert Bandura’s observational theory from the Behavioural school of thought become crucial to expand upon the propensity of the Turpin children towards mental disorders. Bowlby’s attachment theory places emphasis on positive early experience with attachment relationships and quality of parental care in order to form secure attachments which lay the foundation for adolescent and adult functioning (Hooley et al., 2021, p 96). However, maltreated and abused toddlers, such as the Turpin children, have been studied to form atypical patterns of attachment which will impact the quality of the relationships they form later in life (Hooley et al., 2021, p 107). Skinner’s operant conditioning introduced reinforcement as being crucial to learning certain behaviours (Hooley et al., 2021, p 99). In the home in which the Turpin children grew up, many quotidian acts such as bathing,  studying, and learning were negatively reinforced, often using physical punishment, trying to condition the children to become averse to them. Lastly, Bandura’s theory of observational learning poses problematic implications for the Turpin children as they had observed violent, and abusive behaviour all throughout their childhood which may lead them to emulate this behaviour themselves (Hooley et al., 2021, p. 100). Thus, there are various psychological explanations of abnormality that emerge from examining the Turpin children’s upbringing. 

Lastly, the social perspective contributes another dimension of understanding to the potential causes of abnormal behaviours among the Turpin children. Growing up, these children were deprived of a multitude of resources and facilities, including food, toys, and education. This kind of deprivation has been shown to make people more vulnerable to mental disorders (Hooley et al., 2021, p 105-106). They underwent extreme abuse and neglect in their home environment, which has also been linked to negative impacts on development and functioning (Hooley et al., 2021, p 107). The Turpin’s followed an authoritarian parenting style, high on control, low on warmth, and often resorting to physical means of punishment in order to discipline (Hooley et al., 2021, p 109). This style of parenting has been linked to children, boys especially, becoming prone to delinquent activity and substance abuse (Hooley et al., 2021, p 109-110). The Turpin’s also filed for bankruptcy which indicates financial troubles and reflects their low socioeconomic status (SES), which has also been demonstrated to increase the likelihood of children in the household having psychological problems (Hooley et al., 2021, p 111). The Turpin children were not permitted to step outside the house which meant they had a complete lack of peer interactions beyond their siblings, implying that they might lack social competence necessary to interact with people at all (Hooley et al., 2021, p 112-113). All of these environmental factors experienced by the Turpin children  have been linked to incidence of abnormality. 

This holistic overview of the Turpin children’s predisposition towards abnormal behaviour and cognitive function has highlighted how fraught their road to recovery may be. Many of the children are still undergoing psychological treatment, though under no publicly-disclosed diagnosis (Stump, 2020). They continue to face systemic issues while trying to access the generously-donated financial resources to set up their lives and some of the minors have been exposed to abuse even in their foster homes (Mitropoulos, 2021).  

One moment of courage on Jordan Turpin’s part, catalysed the change that altered the course of her siblings’ lives. The past may still loom over them, but moments of courage strung together may alter that too. 


References

ABC News. (2021, November 20). Escape from a House of Horror l 20/20 l PART 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wngB9_6Vqbc&t=292s

ABC News. (2021, November 20). Escape from a House of Horror l 20/20 l PART 2 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEKWXFESU68

ABC News. (2021, November 20). Escape from a House of Horror l 20/20 l PART 3 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWxwNQpRlp4

ABC News. (2021, November 20). Escape from a House of Horror l 20/20 l PART 4 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QjF90Db4qQ&t=442s

Almasy, S., Hanna, J., Vercammen, P., & Park, M. (2018, January 19). California couple charged in torture of their 13 children. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/18/us/turpin-family-investigation/index.html

Bruggeman, L., Rubin, O., Mitropolous, A., Weiner, A. H., & Margolin, J. (2021, November 19). 4 years after rescue, some Turpin children still 'living in squalor' despite donations, pledges of support. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/years-rescue-turpin-children-living-squalor-donations-pledges/story?id=81254457

Carroll, R. (2018, January 20). After the rescue: what does the future hold for California's Turpin children? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/19/california-turpin-13-children-rescued-future

Dillon, N. (2018, October 5). Accused torture mom Louise Turpin diagnosed with 'histrionic personality disorder,' lawyer says, as judge denies diversion program. nydailynews.com. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-news-louise-turpin-mental-illness-claim-20181005-story.html

French, J. H., & Shreshta, S. (2020, November 17). Histrionic personality disorder - StatPearls - NCBI bookshelf. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542325/

Hartocollis, A. (2019, April 19). Couple who tortured 12 children in their California home are sentenced to life (Published 2019). The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/us/turpin-family.html

Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2021). Abnormal psychology (18th ed.). Pearson.

McEwen, B. S. (2011). Effects of Stress on the Developing Brain. Cerbrum, 14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574783/

Mitropolos, A. (2021, November 19). Turpin children, other young survivors of abuse: How to help. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/turpin-children-young-survivors-abuse/story?id=81262178

Stump, S. (2020, April 10). ‘House of horrors’ kids are ‘happy’ and rebuilding lives 2 years after rescue. TODAY. https://www.today.com/news/house-horrors-turpin-children-rebuilding-lives-2-years-later-t178327

Susser, E. (2012). Relation of childhood malnutrition to adult mental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(8), 777-779. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12050638

Torgersen, S., Myers, J., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Røysamb, E., Kubarych, T. S., & Kendler, K. S. (2012). The heritability of cluster B personality disorders assessed both by personal interview and questionnaire. Journal of Personality Disorders, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2012_26_060








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