Dorothy Otnow Lewis
Auteur van Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A Psychiatrist Explores the Minds of Killers
Werken van Dorothy Otnow Lewis
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Algemene kennis
- Geboortedatum
- 1938
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Opleiding
- Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Yale University School of Medicine - Beroepen
- psychiatrist
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- 162
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- #130,374
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- 3.9
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Lewis also unpleasantly reminds me of a former friend who had ideas similar to Lewis' - she felt that obviously criminals had been failed by society, and therefore were morally innocent and shouldn't be punished. To her sorrow, I replied that, be that as it may, they still can't be allowed to kill people. The other little nugget that horrified me was that everyone deserves another chance - no matter what they've done - no matter how many times they've done it - no matter how many chances they've already had. If they continue to kill, that's just the price we pay. NB: if the victim is a member of her ethnic group, she's much less sympathetic.
The other thing that I found weird avout the above logic is that if Society is responsible for all bad behavior, and we are guilty as members of Society - we are also products of Society, which logically means that we are responsible for the behavior of everybody except ourselves.
Lewis in mentioned is John Douglas's Mindhunter He would agree that most serial killers were usually abused as children, but he would like to know what we are to do with them now. I share his doubts that they can be cured and safely released. He is also a touch skeptical of some of their claims. Oddly enough, he considers them capable of embroidering their stories if they think it will get them a light punishment. I would also recommend reading The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent : The Criminal Mind on Trial by forensic psychologist Barbara R. Kirwin
The chief issue that divides these books is the issue of the nature of insanity. Douglas says that it has no real definition of it. If being mentally ill is insanity, than I am insane, but I will still claim the ability to make decisions for which I am responsible. Douglas is working with the definition of legal insanity, that is, that the person either does not understand that their acts are wrong, or is unable to control their behavior. I don't remember if Lewis ever touched on the question of how many abused children grow up to be murderous, which is important in determining if violent behavior is compelled. There are those who claim that abused children grow up to abuse their own offspring, and other that claim that in most cases, that isn't true. I suspect that it may have to do with the availability in their life of mentors and alternate role models.
There are a lot of social improvements we need to make, better schools, better medical care, prison reform. But stopping childhood abuse is tricky. There are horror stories of children who were not rescued from their parents, and horror stories of those who were and ended up in foster homes that were worse. Some of the abuse that the four brothers mentioned above suffered was in a foster home were they were supposed to be safe from their parents.… (meer)