Edward Bunker was born in 1933 in Hollywood to an alcoholic stagehand father and chorus girl mother. He had a difficult childhood with his parents' divorce when he was young and memories of their frequent arguments. He had a criminal career from a young age and was in and out of foster homes, juvenile hall, reform schools, and prisons throughout his life. Despite his troubled upbringing and criminal past, by age 65 he had turned his life around, having a wife, son, and career as an acclaimed writer and actor.

2. About Edward Bunker
• 1933 – 2005
• Born in Hollywood on
New Years Eve
• IQ of 152 at age 9 put
his mental age at 18
• American author
of crime fiction
• screenwriter
• actor

3. Hard Times at Home
• Parents divorced at 4
years old
• Alcoholic stagehand
father
• Chorus girl mother
• Parents lived in a constant
state of alcohol-
fueled argument.
First clear memories were of
his parents screaming at
each other and the police
arriving to "keep the peace."

4. In and out
• Early criminal career
• Convicted of:
bank robbery, drug
dealing, extortion, armed
robbery, and forgery
• Crime “career” ended in
1975
• Foster Home at age 5
• Juvenile hall at age 10
• Reform school at 13
• San Quentin at 17
• Folsom Prison at 43

5. • People released from jail
tend to have low
employment rates, low
income, and high rearrest
rates
• Policies on employment,
drug treatment, housing, &
healthcare block successful
reentry into society
• Mrs.Wallas gave him a
pre-furnished
apartment, a good job,
and clothes to put on
his back

6. • Some children will have
less contact with
parents who remarry or
repartner
• Some ex spouses are
envious of their former
spouses remarrying
• Fear of additional
parent figure
• Parents never had a co-
parenting relationship
• Mom remarried

7. • Low self-esteem and
insecurity, anger and
resentment, romantic
relationship problems,
& problems
communicating
• grow up striving to
adapt, survive, and
succeed under stressful
conditions.
• Roughly 26.8 million
children of alcoholics
in the United States
• Higher risk for
substance abuse,
post-traumatic stress
disorder, and
multiple emotion
problems

8. Child physical abuse, emotional abuse,
and neglect
• 10% of children are
neglected or
emotionally abused
• Parents: Poverty, low
educational
achievement, alcohol
and substance misuse,
having been maltreated
as a child
• Child: Increased risk of
depression, substance
abuse, aggression, &
violent crime

9. • Anger leads to aggression
and so many other
negative consequences
such as homicide and
violence.
• Edward knew he had a
horrible temper &
attempted to calm &
restrain himself to avoid
trouble.

10. Anger Expression &
Management
• Responses of anger:
hit other people,
hitting objects,
becoming aggressive
verbally or cussing,
and calming
themselves down
when they felt angry.
• Over time he became
somewhat less
aggressive with age and
experience.

11. • A warm & loving
maternal figure allows
children to feel safe in
their environment.
• Edward Bunker never
had solid parent-child
relationship
• He never felt safe in any
of the homes he was
put in

12. Parental divorce & youth substance
abuse
• Youth are more likely to
use alcohol 2-4 years
before their parents
divorce
• Edward used nicotine,
heroin, cocaine,
marijuana, and I am
sure others
• More than 45% of
married couples end up
divorcing
• About 40% of all
children experience
parental divorce

13. • At age 65, had a five-
year-old son
• At age 65, had been
married almost 2
decades to Jennifer
• She was his counselor
at a halfway house
• Published/acclaimed
writer
• Actor
• Screenwriter

14. Resources
• Arkes, J. (2013). The temporal effects of parental divorce on youth substance
abuse. Substance Use & Misuse, 48(3), 290-297.
• Berk, L. (2014). Family influences. Exploring Lifespan Development (3rd ed.) Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
• Bunker, Edward. (2000). Education of a felon. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
• Freudenberg, N., Daniels, J., Crum, M., Perkins, T., Richie, B.E. (2008). Coming home
from jail: The social and health consequences of community reentry for
women, male adolescents, and their families and communities. American Journal
of Public Health, 98, 191-202.
• Halla, M. (2013). The effect of joint custody on family outcomes. Journal of the
European Economic Association, 11(2), 278-315.
• Haverfield, M.C., Thesis, J.A. (2014). A theme analysis of experiences reported by
adult children of alcoholics in online support forums. Journal of Family Studies,
20(2), 166-184.

15. Resources
• Nasir, R., & Ghani, N.A. (2013). Behavioral and emotional effects of anger
expression and anger management among adolescents. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 140, 565-569.
• Norman, R.E., Byambaa, M., De, R., Butchart, A., Scott, J., Vos, T. (2012). The long-
term health consequences of child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect:
A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 9(11), 1-31.
• Ratner, K. (2013). The role of parenting and attachment in identity style
development. University of Central Florida Undergraduate Research Journal, 7(1),
15-26.
• Vandenberg, B., Marsh, U. (2009). Aggression in youths: Child abuse, gender, and
SES. North American Journal of Psychology, 11(3), 437-441.
• Williams, A.G., Lee, H. (2013). Effects of parental alcoholism, sense of belonging,
and resilience on depressive symptoms: A path model. Substance use & Misuse,
48(3), 265-273.