Inside the Criminal Mind

Rating:
Summary: Myths are complex, truths are simple
Review: As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with over 10 years experience, the last four in corrections I found Samenow's text to be mostly accurate and reinforced my own observations. What I find amazing reading other reviews is how much "Reagan" or the "evil" right is blamed for our criminal justice system. In fact as Samenow explores, everyone and everything is held responsible for crime. The economy, environment, parenting, abuse history, poverty, ethnic background, opportunity, or lack there of! Everything and everyone but the Criminal!
There are several things I have learned about criminals, one is that regardless what most person's would like to believe the average criminal weighs his options. Risk verses Gain. If the potential gain out weighs the risk, they'll do it. This is where rehabilitation plays havoc! Criminals do not SEE REHABILITATION as something that can help them. They SEE it as a reduction in risk. "If I'm caught, I'll beg for drug treatment, or mental health court, or probation, or early release. The criminal see's the concept of rehabilitation as an "out". I have personally spoke with hundreds of I/M's who tell me (often with sincerety) they "need" help with their "drug addiction", or if they just had the right opportunity.
Two TRUTHS: Not all Drug users are criminals, but almost ALL Criminals are drug users! A big misconception is if we treat the drug user, we'll "cure" the criminal, and nothing could be farther from the truth. Criminals seek out drugs for an altered experience, profitability, and a general apathy regarding life.
Samenow is correct, "a criminal will NOT change, until there is NO OTHER OPTION left him/her. "Programs, and rehabilitation simply delay this! If you want to reduce crime, and change criminal behavior, you must make the alternative so overwhelming painful and unacceptable they have no choice. Such as manditory sentences, elimination of plea bargining, and parole boards. Simplfy our laws. Create a criminal code that a 5th grader can comprehend and live by and you will reduce crime.
Samenows views are often not popular because they essentially says, "These people can't really be helped!" An he's correct, at least for a long time in many instances. Because until the criminal has reached the point in his/her life where it's either change or die (die from lack of love, peace, fulfillment, etc) they will not change.

Rating:
Summary: The Calculus of Crime
Review: Criminals have to hit bottom before they change. Criminals strive to maximize benefit to cost. This simple truth - that criminals, psychopaths, and narcissists cannot be healed, treated, cured, or rehabilitated - is at the heart of Samenow's controversial and thought-provoking tome.

Criminals regard others as objects, or instruments of gratification and utility. They manipulate them with indifference and ease because they have no conscience, empathy or the ability to perceive other people's nonverbal cues, needs, emotions, and preferences.

Many criminals are psychopaths. They recognize no one's rights and their own commensurate obligations. They are impulsive, reckless, irresponsible and unable to postpone gratification. They often rationalize their antisocial behaviors.

Criminals cannot be relied on to honor their commitments and obligations, contracts, and responsibilities, to hold a job for long or to repay their debts. Thus, rehabilitation is meaningless - a ploy to secure a reduced sentence and an aid to recidivism. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".

Rating:
Summary: A very accurate description of the criminal mind
Review: Dr. Samenow clearly describes HOW a criminal thinks and behaves. This uncompromising look at antisocial behavior is very valuable to the psychiatrist, social worker and anyone involved in the criminal justice system. Many of those involved in deciding the fate of offenders lack the ability to understand that criminals, especially psychopthic ones, are not even playing on the same gameboard as the rest of society. Samenow's experience clearly shows the care one must take in analyzing the ability of offenders to function noncriminally in the world outside of an institutional setting. Samenow's theory on how the offender develops his peculiar viewpoint of the world is, however, seriously deficient. He simply accuses the criminal of having developed his narcissistic personality from the moment of birth unaided in any manner by family or society. On the other hand, his treatment of the offender relies strictly on behavior modification and his prevention of the development of criminal minds also stresses good parenting skills and a more responsive society. He contradicts himself in his confusion of nuture versus nature versus individual responsibility. None of us has the exact answer in this matter and Samenow would be better off not trying to make any conclusions in an area in which he lacks a comfortable argument. Regardless of this downside to the book, the work is an extremely good resource for understanding the working of the psychopathic mind. Pat Brown, Director/Investigative Criminal Profiler, The Sexual Homicide Exchange of Washington DC and Vicinity

Rating:
Summary: Extremely accessible, well-written, no-nonsense account
Review: Dr. Stanton Samenow doesn't discuss WHY criminals are what they are because, he admits, we don't know and because, more importantly, who cares? WHY isn't the issue, nor was it his objective in writing. What's important is that we recognize the criminal mind & what might be done to fix it, both of which he addresses excellently. (It similarly is of little importance WHY a person has cancer or why they are an addict--what's pressing to them is being cured or having their addiction arrested). ... I spent 17 months visiting and corresponding with a young convicted murderer for a non-fiction book. I hadn't read Samenow's book beforehand, so I had no preconceptions from his work. Reading it afterwards, I find his description of the criminal stunningly accurate, down to fine details. ... Samenow's book isn't bogged down with a lot of attribution & statistics because he's speaking with the authority of being partner with Dr. Samuel Yochelson, the three volumes they wrote together, the work at St. Elizabeths (for more in depth, read their work, "The Criminal Personality.") ... Meanwhile, this book is a very accessible, understandable, accurate, well-written description designed for a much wider audience that really cuts away all the myths & challenges the reader to be compassionate not by excusing the criminal but by asking him to accept responsibility, the first step to a cure. ... If Samenow's solution sounds a lot like a 12 Step program without overt spirituality, that's not a criticism--12 Step programs have proven to be the most effective way to approach alcoholism and other addictions. No approach to alcoholism has ever been more successful than Alcoholics Anonymous, which is now more than 60 years old. All approaches have very high failure rates, just as attempts to cure cancers have high failure rates (& crime and addiction are as serious to the individual & to society as cancer). Comparing Samenow's ideas to AA's 12 Steps is, thus, hardly a criticism. ... Samenow's basic message is 1. the criminal thinks differently from the responsible person, 2. the criminal chooses crime, 3. the criminal's only possible outcomes are to continue their behavior, to commit suicide or to change, 4. many of the excuses we make for criminals are wrong and also not truly empathetic or compassionate and even sometimes covertly racist, 5. what criminals say after the fact is unimportant, it's their antecedent patterns of thought and action that matter, 6. only a change in thought patterns can help a criminal. ... He makes the excellent point that rehabilitation is sort of an odd concept since the word implies a return to a previous state of being, yet most lifelong criminals have never known anything other than what they are so how could they be rehabilitated? This is similar to the idea of recovery for the addict--recovery to what? I was always an addict: I'm not REcovering (God forbid!), I'm changing my entire approach to life, which is also the only way out for the criminal. ... This is an outstanding book whose wide audience should include criminal justice professionals, true crime enthusiasts, members of the media, corrections officials, criminals & their loved ones & anyone concerned with crime.

Rating:
Summary: Jaclyn's review
Review: For the past few weeks i have spent most of my time reading this book and making entires on it. In this book the author presents many different ideas about what causes a criminal to live a life of crime. he explains thei childhood, teenage years, adulthood, how they react ebhind cars, and different rehibilitation methods that may "correct" their ways. In the eyes of the author, there are about six "basic myths about criminals and crime." These myths are that "criminals don't know rigth from wrong, criminals are the hapless victims of oppressive social conditions, crime is contagious, crimes of passion are cases of temporary insaity, people turn criminal becayse they were rejected by society, and watching violent television programs brings out violent behaviors in children." (back cover) With complete oppisitin to these ideas, it was a struggle for me to agree with the authors ideas and theories. However, if a reader beleives that criminsl were born a "bad seed", then they will most likely enjoy this informational book.
When first beginnig this book the author gives examples of different lifestyles that a criminal may have. He begins by speaking about the criminals childhood. In Samenow's opinion, the criminal begins his childhood in the same sequence as other criminals. They will be demanding and unpleasent. They child will lie and steal objects and gain habits that will carry with them thorughout life. This is when I knew I wasn't going to enjoy this book. However, I continued to read because of the fact that it got me so angry. I absolutly respect the authors opinions, however seeing as he does not respect others opinions, which is the vibe given off in the book, I feel as though I have the right to be annoyed by the book. The book then goes on to talk about how the criminal grows up and reacts with society. In the opinion of hte author, all criminals have a certan thinking process that is always alike. Its almost as if he thinks that they were born with "different brains." I absolutly disagree with this becuase I feel as though people who turn out as criminals have reasons. Experiences mold a persons personality and thinking habits. There is no way a person can learn anything without experiences. No body knows what the untouched mind thinks. Or if it thnks anyting at all. When a baby is born they know nothing and the mind crows. The baby is NOT born bad. I am absolutly not saying that I know all of what I say factual information, seeing as almost nothing is pure fact, however I have enough back up to support the idea that people grow from experience.
As the book progresses and gives of other ideas about the criminal and their thinking habits, the author explains different rehabilitaion methods. He explains that, if wanted, a criminal can try and recieve help. However, the author thinks that out accepted ideas of "help" in society today are misleading. According to Samenow, helping the criminal vent and learning about their life is uneffective. He feels as though a criminal must be taught a compeltly differet way of thinking. This way he makes a "180 degree turn around" in his life style. This was one aspect of the book that interested me because i enjoy hearing new ideas when it comes to helping soceity. Yet, I disagree with his way of thinking, where he and his "followers" are the only correct people in their methods and that society has been wrong for the past decades. New ideas a great to have and these new ideas are the things that will essentially help soceity. The book basically contiunes on in this sequence as the author makes his opinion of criminals and their thiking patterns known to teh reader.
Overall, I can state that this book gave me, personally, all the more reasoning to disagree with the fact that criminals were born criminals. The book seems to give no substantial evidence of statistics that support his ideas and theories. The main feeling I get for this book is that the author is a very one sided person with only opinions and theories. However, the book presents interesting arguable ideas which my be of interest to people who agree with the author. In conclusion, if the reader beleives criminals were always criminals and no experiences or environmental aspects affected their decisions, then that person will enjoy this book and the ideas presented. Otherwise, do not read this book.

Rating:
Summary: More dogma
Review: I work as a correctional educator. I agree that some hard-core types fit Samenow's descriptors, but for every one of the hard cases there are 10 inmates that can be rehabilitated by education, counseling and good community support. I know. I have seen it happen. Samenow's assertion that all that is accomplished by educating an inmate is to make a smarter criminal goes against volumes of research that conclude the opposite. The little research that Samenow does choose to mentioned seems carefully picked to agree with his dogma. His insulting diatribe against the work of those hard-working souls who labor in prisons to help rehabilitate inmates is both incorrect and unfair.

Rating:
Summary: Inside the Criminal Mind
Review: Stanton Samenow's look at how criminals think is a fascinating, although at times, upsetting view into the criminal mind. Samenow describes how criminals view the world as a place that exists to serve them, and them alone. They don't dismiss rules or morality outright, only when it interferes with what they want. If a criminal wants something, he takes it, without regard for its rightful owner. In his mind, it is his anyway, no matter the consequences for others. The same goes for criminals who want money, sex, drugs, or anything else: It is theirs, by divine right. Samenow's view of criminals as selfish, impulsive, and undisciplined accurately describes just how these people think, and how it differs from responsible citizens. Also Samenow offers a treatment program for criminals, which has been implemented in many places. The plan is not easy or quick, but changing a criminal is no easy task. And ultimately, rehabilitation has to come from the criminals desire to change. No program can change a criminal who has no will to change his take what he wants attitude. There are some problems with Samenow's book however. He claims that intelligence has no relation to Crime, but studies repeatedly show that criminals have significantly lower IQ's than the general public. And as Samenow admits, he has no idea what causes the criminal mind, he just deals with it as is. But perhaps if we knew why we could more effectively treat the criminal element. But Samenow's view inside the criminal mind stand the test of time, and perhaps most importantly, he debunks many myths about why criminals act as they do. Ultimately we must remember that criminals are dangerous, selfish people who act out of their own selfish interest with no regard to the responsible members of society who seek to make the world a safe place to live in. With all of the items before mentioned I would have to say that I recommend this book to anybody who has questions on why it is that we are not all normal and that some of us have taken up a life of crime. I think the most amazing part of this book is to see what we can do to help change a criminal's ways. If a criminal truly wants to change his ways he has to seek help but in this he has to reveal to the person who is helping him every detail that is involved in his life. Every little fact can make a difference on the way that criminal is helped out. A criminal has to realize that "lasting change in the behavior of criminals can only occur with a 180-degree alteration in their thinking."

Rating:
Summary: Inside the Criminal Mind
Review: The praise for this book is telling: rather than confirming myths, it reinforces new ones that are dear to those who believe that we act without any reference to our surroundings. There is better work in this field on the subject of how criminals make decisions that don't lean on simplications like "being born bad" or "society corrupted them". This one merely replaces them as evidenced by chapter titles like "Parents don't turn children into criminals" and "conventional wisdom: how wise?" One wonders if Samenow has spent any real time talking and listening to violent criminals (which is true about Lonnie Athens who has also addressed many of these same issues in his groundbreaking work.) Like the liberal knee jerks he criticizes, he simplifies the criminal mind too much. He fails to recognize that "no man is an island". The fact is that criminals make decisions, that parents can contribute mightilly to the development of the criminal mind by the attitudes they teach them and the way they treat others around them. Samenow's program of suggested program of "habilitation" comes out as a self-refuting denial of the main premises of the book: if criminals can be programmed not to be violent, how did they get programmed in the first place? One gets the feeling that he fell into the trap with the parents that many of his opposites have fallen into with the criminals: he failed to regard their statements critically. What he suggests, therefore, is a program that continually cleans up the mess without fixing the leak. He lacks the moral courage to look at the whole picture, including the role that self-appointed criminal experts such as himself play in perpetuatng institutions and parenting practices that help mold the future lawbreaker. Attitudes do not come out of nowhere as Samenow and his supporters believe: we live in society and we teach one another. Rather than let anyone completely off the hook, we need to have the courage to understand what Lonnie Athens calls the process of "violentization", the way in which a child, born innocent, becomes a mugger, a brawler, a rapist, or a killer. Samenow's analysis is shallow and statistical. For those sincerely interested in understanding the problem of violence in American society, I recommend any book by Lonnie Athens (who grew up among violent people and wondered why, after witnessing all that horror and being beaten himself, he didn't end up in prison) or Why They Kill by Richard Reeves, a biography of Athens which rejects the simplications of "society corrupts" school of criminologists and lays out an intelligent, factual, and well researched description of the many ways that a person can come to choose violence as a way of life. If you don't want it insinuated in the slightest that your choice of politicians, support for laws, etc. do nothing to ease the violent crime rate in this country, you will not want to leave the unaccountability that Samenow prescribes. If you want change, read these other books and see how there's a way to change society without letting criminals deny their part in making the choice to harm others.

Rating:
Summary: Simple, yet eye opening
Review: This book should be required reading for people dealing with the criminal element. The author tends to get rather simplistic in his conclusions and I tend to think that there might be a better explination than the ones he gives.

But he makes his case in very easy to understand terms. He writes about how some of the myths about criminals and their motivations started and why they continue to this day. Then he details the way that he and his teacher reached the conclusions they did about the motivation of criminals and what is needed to modify their behavior.

Several cherished myths are destroyed in this book. The logic the author uses is hard to dispute. I suspect it would be easier for some folks to just reject things on some flimsy grounds rather than try to look at the case as he sets it out and make their case based on actual facts.

Many people are related or interact with criminals in today's world. Many of those relatives and friends may hold themselves partially to blame for the decisions the criminal has made. I think that anyone in that position needs to read this book to understand just how little they had in shaping the criminal, and how to understand how they are frequently manipulated and used by criminals they know. If you know a person with criminal tendancies, you need to get this book to protect yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Polemic masquerading as science
Review: This is a book of appalling, egregious broadsides, crass generalisations and posturing masquerading as insight. Though a qualified clinical psychologist, has has developed ( in part as the result of his research at St. Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital in Washington) an uttern contempt for his profession and for anything and everything it has thought, proposed, suggested, investigated and attempted. He also dismisses the bulk of work in the prison services, correction and rehabilitation.

For Samenow, all criminals are alike: all are lucid, cunning, intelligent, self-seeking, aware of their misdeeds and eager to 'play the system'. I doubt any psycologist, criminal, forensic or otherwise, would deny that some criminals fit this profile, but they might suggest that there are others who are confused, gullible, incapable of empathy; and still other crimes which result from opportunity, greed, stupidity and mischance. He excludes parenting, upbringing, culture and mental illness as factors in violent crime because none can be demonstrated to have a causative link, (not all poor/abused/neglected/mentally ill people are criminals) This is the grotesque simplification. It reminds me of tobacco companies insisting that 'not all smokers develop cancer' and that 'no causative link has been extablished between smoking and cancer'.

Outside the realm of theory, cause and effect are not always easy to determine: nonetheless, the fact that a preponderence of criminals (including violent criminals) come from poor/abused/neglected backgrouds and sometimes demonstrate mental illness might merit investigation. It's even possible (shock!) that a NUMBER of factors contribute to criminality and to violence, and (horror!) we may never be able to completely pinpoint what those might be

Samenow seeks to desregard ALL psychological and criminological theories of criminal behavior, yet the "criminal personality" he "discovers" is similar to Cleckley psychopath, the Kernberg psychopath, or the DSM-III-R quadruple diagnosis of antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, and histrionic personality disorder. In discounting ANY negative social/financial/parental influence on criminality, Samenow simply confirms the biases of the superordinate institutions.

Samenow can, he claims, pinpoint the seeds of criminality in a child, identifying their "errors" in thinking (from a list of 52 he devised. He also proposes a solution, though in his own tests, of the 255, most dropped out of the study, only 30 completed the program, and only 9 genuinely changed by the established standards

It would be interesting, perhaps even informative, to read some of Samenow (and his mentor Yochelson's) actual research in the raw, but there is little science in this book - Samenow does not give his readers information about individual cases, nor about statistics, trends, and other psycholocial studies (or indeed the details of his own). There is no information, only opinion and invective.

I'd give it no stars but Amazon won't let me