Inside the Criminal Mind

Understanding the Dark Side of Human Conduct

by Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D.

Do Not Use the Criminal's Language in a Professional Setting

In some quarters, the conventional wisdom is that we should use the language of our clients in order to establish rapport, demonstrate to them our understanding, and so on. I have found that doing this provides an unnecessary obstacle to effective interactions rather than facilitating them. Read More

"I Think, Therefore I Feel": The Primacy of Thinking

Many mental health professionals emphasize having their clients/patients "get in touch with their feelings" and "express their feelings." With certain types of problems, this may work well. However, in working with offenders, it is counterproductive. Read More

Where Is the Excitement in Responsible Living?

Many times I have been asked how responsible living can possibly replace the excitement that is the oxygen of the criminal's life. First, there is nothing wrong with "excitement." Most people want to do more than work, pay bills, and have their car repaired. Read More

Do Criminals "Burn Out" as They Age?

I have often been asked whether criminals "burn out" with age. I wish that society could count on the passing of years to effect such a significant change. Unfortunately, the criminal personality remains intact, despite aging. It is true that, at age 40, one cannot run as fast as he can at 25. What changes is the form of criminality, not the basic character structure. Read More

Social Unrest: An Opportunity for Criminals

Typing Offenders by Crime—Concealing More than Revealing?

When a man is arrested and convicted of rape, he is known as a rapist and a sex offender. When an individual is convicted of distributing narcotics, he is known as a drug dealer. However, what a person is arrested for constitutes, in most instances, the tip of the iceberg. Read More

Is It Possible that Ruth Madoff Did Not Know?

In the wake of the publication of “Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family”, there has been much speculation as to whether Ruth Madoff knew about her husband’s Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors, including friends of the Madoffs, of millions of dollars. Married to her husband Bernie for more than a half century, Ms. Read More

More Evidence That the Environment Does Not Cause Crime

I spent two days with former gang members from East Los Angeles. The occasion was taping for my DVD series titled "Accepting Responsibility in a Finger-pointing World" (released by FMS Productions). In the group was a man missing an arm due to a shooting. Another was blind, also from a shooting. A third experienced his brother being shot through the heart at a party. Read More

I Think, Therefore I Feel: The Primacy of Thinking

Mind-Altering Substances Facilitate Whatever the Offender Seeks

Many offenders claim their "problem" is drug use. They contend, if it weren't for drugs, they wouldn't be in the trouble they are in. They offer innumerable reasons for excessive drinking or illegal drug use. They primarily emphasize the theme of escaping something undesirable. Read More

The Criminal's Misuse of Self-Help Groups

At the outset, let me say that I long have been a supporter of A.A. and N.A. and other self-help groups. They provide a path to giving up self-indulgent and destructive behavior by offering specific steps to take and 24 hour support. Read More

Anna Karenina: A Study in Character

While on a trip to the Ukraine, I read "Anna Karenina." I leave it to the reader both of the book and of this brief blog to determine the type of personality that Leo Tolstoy, the author, portrays. The following quotes from Joel Carmichael's translation offer some clues: Read More

An Alternative View of "Compulsive" Gambling

Consider the following situation. A man goes to Atlantic City and loses money at various games -- slots, black jack, etc. He enjoys it and becomes determined to improve his performance. Living a distance from Atlantic City, he finds other outlets for gambling. He bets with colleagues at work on football games and other sports events. He goes to the race track. Read More

Bullying: A Sign of a Developing Criminal Personality

Contributing heavily to a criminal's self-esteem is his endlessly building himself up at the expense of others. He cases people out for any sign of vulnerability and then preys upon them. The criminal sniffs out weakness anywhere and ruthlessly takes full advantage. He may approach his "target" through deception, intimidation ("bullying"), or by brute force. Read More

The Futility of Focusing on "Causes" when Evaluating and Treating Offenders

The human mind tries to make sense of experience. Thus the "why" question is often at the forefront. Why did the person do what he did? Why is he the way he is? Read More

How "Errors in Thinking" Apply to Pedophiles

I have been asked whether the "errors in thinking" that give rise to numerous forms of criminal conduct apply also to sex offenders, especially pedophiles. The answer is that they do. Read More

Being "Abused" Does Not Cause Criminality

Constantly, I encounter the view that people become abusers because they were victims of abuse. This is part of a long standing conventional wisdom about the etiology of criminal behavior. But how true is it? Read More

Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the Antisocial Personality Disorder -- A Lot in Common

Criteria in the DSMIV for Antisocial Personality Disorder, include "failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest." Arrestability is not a criterion for diagnosing a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Read More

Sex Crimes Are Not About Sex

In popular depiction, criminals are often portrayed as hypersexual. They are seen as having extremely strong sex drives and therefore as relentlessly pursuing anyone whom they regard as a prospective partner. Said one offender, "I don't care if she's deaf, dumb, and blind. All I want is her body." He explained that It was not the sex that was so important; it was the conquest. Read More

Suggestibility and the Juvenile Offender

One often hears others say about a juvenile offender that he was led astray by others. A frequently applied term is that he is a "follower" and not an instigator or a leader. At the heart of such characterizations is the view that a youth should not be held accountable for wrong doing when his behavior resulted from his going along with a person who was persuasive. Read More

The Male Criminal's Choice of Women

The ultimate male chauvinist is the person with a criminal personality. Inasmuch as the world revolves around him, or so he believes, a woman is to do his bidding. Read More

"Bipolar" Illness or the Ups and Downs of the Antisocial Person's Unrealistic Expectations?

Over the years, I have witnessed a significant increase in the diagnosis of "Bipolar Disorder" (formerly called "manic-depressive" illness) in people who have an antisocial personality disorder. What I believe has happened is that well-intentioned professionals who do not regularly evaluate or treat antisocial individuals are deceived. Read More

The Criminal Views Himself as a Good Person

"If I thought of myself as evil, I couldn't live,' said one murderer. "Just because I killed someone doesn't mean I'm a bad person," asserted another. Read More

Lies: A Taint of Death

"There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies -- which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world -- what I want to forget. It makes me miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do."

These are words written by Joseph Conrad in 1902.

The Myth of the Street Gang as a "Family Substitute"

Consumers of popular lore and many adherents to contemporary sociological thinking believe that affiliation with a street gang is psychologically motivated, at least in part, by a desire to belong to the family the individual never had while growing up. Ostensibly, the gang offers support, sustenance, acceptance, and a structure that the youngster lacked at home. Read More

Do Prisons Really Make Offenders Worse?

Prison have long been described as "schools for crime" or "breeding grounds for crime." The central idea is that incarcerating offenders makes them worse because they learn new "tricks of the trade." There is an inevitability to the perception that if you land in prison, you will turn into an even more corrupt or violent person when you leave. Read More

The Flawed Concept of Anger Management: Part 2

In response to my last blog concerning the flawed concept of “anger management,” I received a number of comments. Two points that were raised are that anger is “instinctive” and that it can be useful. Read More

"Anger Management:" A Flawed Concept

Judges order perpetrators of domestic violence into "anger management" classes. Probation and parole officers do the same with many of their clients. The same is true of many therapists, social service professionals, and drug and alcohol counselors who come into contact with angry men and women. Read More

Kleptomania: A Reality or Psychiatric Invention?

From time to time, items appear in the news citing celebrities who are apprehended shoplifting even though they have more than ample funds with them to pay for the items. Individuals who suffer from what is termed an “impulse-control disorder” often steal items for which they have no use. Consequently, they give away or throw away the proceeds of their crimes. Read More

A Note on the Criminal and "Low Self-Esteem"

Observers, including mental health professionals, have asserted that the criminal’s psychological problems are rooted in his suffering from low self-esteem. They point out that the offender has failed repeatedly in life - in school, at work, and in his family. Even in crime, he has failed in that he has been apprehended. Read More