Inside the Criminal Mind

出版者:Random House Inc

作者:Samenow, Stanton E.

页数:288

出版时间:2004

价格:$25.00

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9781400046195

具体描述

From Publishers Weekly

This revised edition of a 1984 study is long on assertion and short on evidence. Dr. Samenow, a clinical psychologist, is legitimately disdainful of explanations of criminal behavior that blame everyone (society, family, violent television, etc.) but the criminal for his actions, but his counter-arguments will persuade few. He makes frequent sweeping generalizations ("Even the most hardened criminals who spout anti-police rhetoric to one another recognize society’s need for police"), and provides nothing other than anecdotes in support of his position that all criminals break the law consciously and deliberately. A short new chapter on terrorism illustrates perfectly the limits of the author’s "methodology"—he defines the issue down to link Al Qaeda with any criminal whose actions frighten someone, and then simply discounts any outside influence as meaningfully contributing to the making of a criminal.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

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.

作者简介

STANTON E. SAMENOW, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, has spent thirty-four years as a researcher, clinician, consultant, and expert witness specializing in criminal behavior. He has also served as an independent evaluator in adversarial child custody disputes for the past twenty years and has been appointed to three presidential task forces on law enforcement, victims' rights, and a drug-free America. In October 2003, he was appointed an expert witness for the prosecution in the trial against accused "Washington Sniper" Lee Boyd Malvo, aka John Lee Malvo. Dr. Samenow lives in Virginia.

用户评价

坦白说，这本书的行文风格非常“内敛”，它极少使用那些吸引眼球的煽情词汇，所有的力量都蕴含在严谨的结构和无可辩驳的证据链条之中。它更像是一位资深研究员在与你进行一场极为耐心的智力对话，而非一个讲故事的人。我个人非常喜欢这种冷静到近乎冷酷的叙事，因为它最大程度地保持了对研究对象——即那些深陷犯罪心理泥沼的人——的客观距离。书中对于“机会结构”和“犯罪机会理论”的阐述，对我理解日常风险管理都有了全新的启发。它不仅仅是关于极端犯罪的探讨，更是一本关于人类决策失误和系统性缺陷的教科书。阅读过程中，我感受到了作者知识的广博，她能将神经科学的发现无缝衔接到社会学的大背景下，视角转换极其流畅自然。这本书的阅读体验是“耐读”的，它不适合快速浏览，而是需要你像对待一份重要的法律文件一样去逐字品味，因为每一个词语的选择都承载着作者深思熟虑的重量。

这本书的叙事简直像一把锋利的解剖刀，精准地切入人性的幽暗角落。作者的笔触冷峻而富有穿透力，她没有沉溺于血腥或表面的惊悚，而是选择了一条更具学术深度的路径。我尤其欣赏她对动机的层层剥笋。读完之后，你不会仅仅满足于知道“谁干了什么”，你会开始思考“为什么会变成这样”。那种对环境、遗传学和社会结构如何共同编织出一个犯罪者的命运的探讨，令人不寒而栗，却又不得不承认其残酷的真实性。书中引用了大量的案例研究，但绝非简单的案例堆砌，而是巧妙地穿插在理论论证之中，使得枯燥的心理学概念变得鲜活起来，仿佛那些被研究的对象正坐在你面前，坦白着他们扭曲的世界观。阅读过程更像是一场精神上的马拉松，需要集中全部注意力去追踪作者精妙的逻辑链条，一旦分神，就可能错过一个关键的转折点，导致对整个论点的理解出现偏差。对于任何对人类行为的灰色地带抱有好奇心的人来说，这本书提供的视角无疑是颠覆性的，它强迫你放下简单的道德判断，去直面复杂人性的全貌。

这本书的节奏处理得非常高明，它不是线性的叙事，而是一种螺旋上升的结构。开篇似乎只是蜻蜓点水地介绍了一些基本概念，但随着章节的深入，作者不断引入新的变量和观察角度，每一次回顾旧的理论时，都会因为新的证据链的加入而显得面目全非，充满了新的解读空间。这种阅读体验就像是在玩一个极其复杂的迷宫游戏，你以为已经找到了出口，结果发现出口本身只是通往更深层迷宫的入口。书中对“创伤后应激反应”与“攻击性行为”之间复杂关联性的探讨，尤其引人入胜。作者没有简单地将创伤等同于犯罪，而是展示了中间那些微妙的神经化学和认知重塑过程。读到那些案例分析时，我常常会暂停下来，不是因为内容过于震撼，而是因为需要时间去消化作者提出的那种看似矛盾却又无比合理的解释。这本书的价值在于，它让你对那些你曾视为“异类”的群体产生一种复杂的、混合了理解与警惕的复杂情绪。

从读者的角度来看，这本书最大的亮点在于它的“去戏剧化”处理。作者似乎刻意避开了媒体渲染下那些夸张的犯罪细节，转而专注于构建一个逻辑自洽的“犯罪者视角”模型。这本书更像是一份详尽的内部报告，它试图用科学的语言去命名那些我们本能地感到恐惧的情感缺口和认知偏差。每一次阅读都像是在学习一门全新的、关于人类缺陷的语言。我特别欣赏作者在描述不同类型犯罪者时的那种细微区分，她强调了病理性欺骗和环境诱发性冲动之间的光谱关系，这使得“邪恶”这个概念不再是一个扁平的标签，而是一个多维度的复杂结构。然而，正因为其内容的专业性和深度，这本书的门槛也相对较高。如果缺乏一定的心理学背景，某些术语的理解可能会稍显吃力，需要频繁地查阅注释或进行回溯阅读。这并非缺点，而是它作为一部高质量学术普及作品的必然属性。它不哄骗读者，而是要求读者与之共同成长。

我必须说，这本书的语言风格带着一种近乎古典的庄重感，这在当代犯罪心理学读物中是相当罕见的。它不像很多畅销书那样追求即时的感官刺激，而是更偏向于一种缓慢、深沉的哲学思辨。作者似乎不太在意读者的阅读速度，她更关心的是信息的精确传递和观点的稳固建立。书中的排版和引文格式都显得非常严谨，仿佛在向读者宣告，这不是一篇随意的随笔，而是一部经过数年沉淀的严肃著作。我个人非常喜欢这种“慢阅读”的体验，它迫使我放下手机，泡上一壶浓茶，与文字进行更深层次的交流。其中关于“反社会人格”的章节，用极其细致的语言描述了情感缺失如何影响决策制定，那种描述让我感到一阵寒意，不是因为恐怖，而是因为那种绝对的理性（或非理性）所带来的抽离感。总的来说，如果你期待的是那种紧张到让人手心冒汗的惊悚小说式体验，你可能会感到失望；但如果你寻求的是一种能够提升你对人类心理边界理解深度的知识盛宴，那么这本书绝对值得你投入时间。