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CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
The statements of Ted Bundy were analysed based on the types of language manipulation strategies as proposed by Simon 2000 and language manipulation
motives as suggested by Braiker 2004.
4.1. Language Manipulation Strategies
There are 14 types of language manipulation strategies found in Ted Bundy’s statements. Here below are the analysis of his statements and the language
manipulation strategies used in those statements.
4.1.1. Denial
Denial is the language manipulation strategy used by manipulators to refuse all bad behaviors that have been pinned on them, when in fact, they are indeed
responsible for all of those bad behaviors.
Data 1
Reporter : Did you ever physically harm anyone?Appendix i, no. 10
Ted Bundy : Ever physically harmed anyone? No, no. You know, again, not in the
context that you’re speaking of.Appendix i, no. 11 In the conversation above, the reporter was asking if Ted Bundy had ever
physically harmed anyone. Physically harmed anyone in this context refers to the act of raping, torturing and murdering women which were accused to Ted. He then
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denied the accusation by saying “No, no. You know, again, not in the context that you’re speaking of.”
Data 2
Reporter : Are you angry?Appendix i, no. 7
Ted Bundy : Sure, I get very, very angry and indignant. I don’t like being locked
up for something that I didn’t do. I don’t like my liberty taken away. I don’t like being treated like an animal. I don’t like people walking and
ogling at me like I’m some sort of weirdo, because I am not. Appendix i, no. 8
By stating “I don’t like being locked up for something that I didn’t do”, Ted had used the denial strategy in order to manipulate people. He tried to express how
he did not like being treated badly as consequences of something that he did not even do. He implied that none of the punishments that he got were fair for him, because he
simply did not commit any crimes as the law had convicted on him.
Data 3
Ted Bundy : I’m not guilty of the charges that have been filled against me.
Appendix i, no. 15, line 2 Reporter
: And the allegations?Appendix i, no. 16 Ted Bundy
: And the allegations.Appendix i, no. 17 By saying “I’m not guilty of the charges that have been filled against me and
the allegation”, Ted had once again used denial strategy in order to decline what the law had alleged to him.
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4.1.2. Selective Inattention
This strategy is used by manipulators to ignore or refuse to pay attention to what other people are saying towards them.
Data 4
Dr. Dobson : One of the final murders you committed was 12-year-old Kimberly
Leach. I think the public outcry is greater there because an innocent child was taken from a playground. What did you feel after that?
Were they normal emotions after that?Appendix ii, no. 45 Ted Bundy
: I can’t really talk about that right now. I would like to be able to convey to you what that experience is like, but I won’t be able to talk
about that.Appendix ii, no. 46 In the conversation above, Dr. Dobson as the interviewer asked Ted about
one of his murder cases. Dr. Dobson wanted to know how Ted’s feeling was after committing such a terrible crime; whether Ted regretted it or not. On the contrary,
Ted didn’t give any exact answers. He pretended not to be able to answer the question by saying “I can’t really talk about that right now.”
4.1.3. Rationalization
