Inside the Criminal Mind: Revised and Updated Edition
by Stanton Samenow
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stanton SamenowEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03-30
ISBN: 140004619X
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Crown
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781400046195
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of Inside the Criminal Mind: Revised and Updated Edition
Book Review: Why do people turn to crime? Answers no one wants to hear.
Summary: 4 Stars
Readers interested in criminology will find this a very difficult read because it strips away ALL the comforting palliatives society has thrown at the penal system, and reveals, for the first time, the harsh realities of why criminals do it.
They do it, Samenow says, because criminals have grown up thinking differently than you and me. Criminals live in the instant now; they have almost no sense of saving for a rainy day; they lie and steal as much to prove they are smarter than everyone else as to enrich themselves. Everyone is judged by how they may be used to further the criminal's selfish wants. The human wreckage thqat they leave behind is of no concern to them, but they are skilled at feigning sorrow if they see that as shortening their incarceration.
Rehabilitation as currently practiced--say by teaching criminals new skills--only produces criminals with new skills. It does absolutely nothing to change the underlying pathology. What is necessary is a strict form of psychotherapy in which the felons feet are held to the fire. They must be forced to recognize the crippling psychological shortcomings of everything they do. Daily meetings are held in which every act is recorded and analyzed, and no excuse whatever is tolerated. Criminals are masters at blaming everything and everybody for their predicament--except themselves. When all their excused are stripped away, and held up to them as obvious misdirection, then, slowly, can many prisoners begin to see how they must act if they wish to become clean.
This approach is refreshing, yet depressing for its complexity. But Samenow has made it work in over 30 years of practice with any enviable record of genuine, permanent rehabilitation. Bleeding hearts will hate the emotionless protocol, and reject that any approach other than the completely ineffective emotional empathy. Critics believe, the "Christian" approach of blaming harsh society, rotten environment, abusive parents, uncaring teachers is the answer, and if we could only solve all of these problems, crime would disappear. Odd then how many people suffering under they very same disadvantages still manage to stay out of prison.
The only pulled punch is Samenow's refusal to discuss how people become criminals when typical criminal traits are visible in children as young a 4 years old. Are they born evil? One senses that Samenow knows the answer but refuses to say.
Summary of Inside the Criminal Mind: Revised and Updated Edition
In 1984, this groundbreaking book presented a chilling profile of the criminal mind that shattered long-held myths about the sources of and cures for crime. Now, with the benefit of twenty years' worth of additional knowledge and insight, Stanton Samenow offers a completely updated edition of his classic work, including fresh perceptions into crimes in the spotlight today, from stalking and domestic violence to white-collar crime and political terrorism.Dr. Samenow's three decades of working with criminals have reaffirmed his argument that factors such as poverty, divorce, and media violence do not cause criminality. Rather, as Samenow documents here, all criminals share a particular mind-set--often evident in childhood--that is disturbingly different from that of a responsible citizen.
While new types of crime have grown more prevalent, or at least more visible to the public eye--from spousal abuse to school shootings--little has changed in terms of our approach to dealing with crime. Rehabilitation programs based on the assumption that society is more to blame for crime than the criminal, an assumption for which a causal link has yet to be established, have proved to be grossly inadequate. Crime continues to invade every aspect of our lives, criminal court dockets and prisons are oppressively overcrowded and expensive, and recidivism rates continue to escalate.
To embark on a truly corrective program, we must begin with the clear understanding that the criminal chooses crime; he chooses to reject society long before society rejects him. The criminal values people only to the extent that he can use them for his own self-serving ends; he does not justify his actions to himself. Only by "habilitating" the criminal, so that he sees himself realistically and develops responsible patterns of thought, can we change his behavior.
It is vital that we know who the criminal is and how and why he acts differently from responsible citizens. From that understanding can come reasonable, compassionate, and effective solutions.
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