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* Antisocial Behavior: Personality Disorders from Hostility to Homicide
by Benjamin B. Wolman
Paperback: 200 pages
Published by Prometheus Books
Publication date: October 1999
ISBN: 1573927015

REQUIRED TEXT FOR
CP203 Criminal Profiling & Psychopathy, II

Brent's notes: I like this book a lot because it gives very explicit case examples. Some of the conclusions are way off base, in my opinion, but then if everyone agreed with me then I'd never learn anything.

Brent's notes: Dr. Money has written a number of things in this area. A lot of interesting journal articles. His "Lovemaps" theory is, well, a very interesting and educational interpretation of criminal behavior.

But more to the point, what is forensic sexology? I think he made that up.

Book News, Inc., 03/01/95: Focuses on the relation of scientific research on human sexuality (sexology) to society's legal, judicial, and law-enforcement systems, in contributions that cover a wide range of legal and medical issues pertaining to the interconnection of law and sexual behavior. Section One examines the nature of paraphilic behavior and the social framework within which some of it becomes labeled illegal. Section Two looks at current strategies for assessing the problems of sex offenders and victims. The final section argues that sexology has much to contribute to the debate over the appropriate role of government in regulating the private sexual behavior of the citizenry. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Brent's notes: I really got a lot from this book. A very informative and very disturbing historical perspective on the motives and mechanisms of torture throughout history.

Brent's notes: Okay, so this is fiction. But you have to read this stuff. If you think serial sex offenders are doing something new and before unthought of by man, think again. DeSade was writing and fantasizing about sadistic, and I mean heavily, deeply sadistic scenarios long ago.

This book, and others by DeSade, are the how-to-manuals for Sadistic sex offenders. Well, this and detective magazines, according to Robert Ressler, who I think is quite a credible reference on the subject.

* Lovemaps:
Clinical Concepts of Sexual/Erotic Health and Pathology, Paraphilia, and Gender Transposition in Childhood, Adolescence, and Maturity
by John Money
Paperback
Published by Prometheus Books
Publication date: February 1,1989

Brent's notes: If I learn how to draw Lovemaps does that mean I won't get lost on the way to the crime scene? Does it make me a forensic sexologist?

In all fairness, it's important to read Dr. Money's work. Despite the unfortunate consultant-speak he uses, his research is fairly decent.

* The Mask of Sanity
by Hervey Cleckley
5th Edition Hardcover
Published by Emily S. Cleckley
Publication date: November 1988

Brent's notes: You should probably read this book. Cleckley has lost all objectivity by now, in this, his 5th edition of the work (1st edition was published in the 1950s, I believe), but it can still be useful. Cleckley goes on and on about the decline of man talking about how this generation is worse than any previous; I find that unsound as the behavior of generations is a cyclical thing. Plus you'll see him referred to all over the place by other authors. So read it with a grain of salt. The case studies, if nothing else will be useful.

You will also hear other people, scholars, non-scholars using phrases like "The offender had what in psychological terms is called a mask of sanity..." This would be the intellectual equivalent of someone telling you that all you need is a good paradigm shift to get out of your depression or to problem solve. The person using such a phrase just has no idea what they are talking about and they are using meaningless phrases to sound smarter (these same people will often be heard saying words like "Intranet" and "Proactive" and have bought the complete Anthony Robbins "You are a wellspring of personal power" cassettes).

First off, sanity is a legal term not a psychiatric or psychological one. Second off, Cleckley doesn't seem to believe in a true mask of sanity-- that is, a perfect facade of normalcy through which no one can discern the insanity that resides beneath. Cleckley proceeds from the premise that the mask can be seen through by the competent psychiatrist (a very false perception, which any well trained forensic psychiatrist will attest to). For a better work on the subject, pick up any article by Dr. Robert Hare or look into his book (which is far better and closer to a clinical study) Without Conscience.

Cleckley also wrote The Three Faces of Eve, in case anyone's curious.

* The Robert D. Hare Psychopathy Checklist
by Dr. Robert D. Hare
Published by Multi-Health Systems
Publication date: June 1990
This work is available only to qualified clinicians for the purposes of diagnosis and assessment.

There is also a Robert D. Hare Psychopathy Checklist - Revised published in 1991, and a Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version published in 1995.

The screening version, according to research conducted by Dr. Robert Hare and separately by Dr. Vernon Quinsey of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, shows strong evidence that it is a very good predictor of violence and dangerousness in psychiatric patients, both civil and forensic.

Both works are published by MHS (Multi-Health Systems) in Toronto, Ontario, and can be obtained by calling them direct at:

US: 1-800-456-3003
CANADA: 1-800-268-6011

Please tell them Knowledge Solutions sent you.

Brent's notes: It's a shame that DSM-IV disposed of the psychopathy diagnosis in favor of the watered down and all but useless anti-social personality disorder diagnosis. But that's just the way it is.

This book is an excellent reference for those in law enforcement and mental health. And Dr. Hare does some of the best work on psychopathy in North America (I have to say that because he works out of the University of British Columbia and I want to include the U.S. in his realm of influence somehow). He has a great mind and has an excellent grasp of his subject. It's a brilliant work and I reference it a lot. I especially like the parts that I disagree with.

* The Psychopathic Mind:
Origins, Dynamics, and Treatment
by J. Reid Meloy
Published by Jason Aronson
Publication date: April 1,1995

Brent's notes: After attending the 1997 AAFS meeting in New York and having had the opportunity to hear Dr. Meloy lecture and comment on topics from Stalking to the potential for criminal behavior on the Internet, I must say I am very impressed. I had read several of his journal publications but have read none of his texts, which I will soon correct.

* Sex Crimes
by Ronald M. Holmes
Paperback
Published by Sage Pub.
Published in 1991

Brent's notes: Dr. Gary Perlstein made me buy my first copy of this very small, thin, black book about three months before my first interview with convicted serial killer Jerome Brudos. It did not help. Not that it it should have.

I did not really like it because it lacked objectivity, and spent a lot time sermonizing. By that I mean that most of his conclusions were moral rather than clinical.

Holmes furthermore includes a section on homosexuality in the book that discusses the homosexual community vis-a-vis law enforcement. It goes nowhere and concludes nothing. There are a lot of sections like that in this book, in fact, entire chapters that seem like they belong in other works, or that seem totally out of place because they are not crimes (like autoerotic behavior).

However, this book is very good for having a handy, learned reference for the definitions of obscure paraphilic behavior, like saliromania which is destruction or defilement of female undergarments or nude statues or paintings of females. And there are a lot of statistical references for those who care for that sort of thing.

So it's a pretty imperfect book but you may want to have a copy because many people will refer to it to make themselves sound smarter, and it gets referenced a lot in academic journals as well.

* Without Conscience:
The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
by Dr. Robert D. Hare
Paperback, 236 pages
Guilford Press
Publication date: December 1998

Required text for CP202

Brent's notes: This book is very easy to read and digest, and I all but require many of my defense and law enforcement clients to read this book thoroughly. It is not written as a textbook, but as a learned, informed exploration of a poorly understood subject. I have a great deal of respect for this work and for the man who wrote it.

It's a shame that DSM-IV disposed of the psychopathy diagnosis in favor of the watered down and all but useless antisocial personality disorder diagnosis. But that's just the way it is. This book is an excellent reference for those in law enforcement and mental health. And Dr. Hare does some of the best work on psychopathy in North America (I have to say that because he works out of the University of British Columbia and I want to include the US in his realm of influence somehow). He has a great mind and has an excellent grasp of his subject.

Synopsis: Are psychopaths born without empathy, or created by circumstance? Based on 25 years of groundbreaking research, this fascinating book is "of exceptional value to anyone wishing to . . . guard against these baffling predators" (Joseph Wambaugh). "A brilliant, in-depth handling of a most complex subject." - Hugh Aynesworth (Conversations with a Killer).

For more information on a book, or to order, please click on the title of the book

Midwest Book Review: In Dark Eros: The Imagination of Sadism, Thomas More turns to a shocking subject: the hidden values in the repulsively fascinating fiction of the Marquis de Sade. Moore offers a fearlessly new reading of sexual sadism, as he exposes the psychological and imaginative implications of torture, violence, and victimization. Moore, whose eye is always on the soul, advocates a third way of dealing with life's inherent problems of power and tyranny - not moralistic repression, not idealist transformation, but rather than the ancient paradox that the cause of a disease is its cure. Imagination cures literalism, opening a way through the cruelties that affect family, education, love affairs, the work place, and politics.

Deviant Behavior
by Alex Thio
Hardcover, 550 pages
Published by Addison-Wesley Pub Co, 1998
ISBN: 0321014952

Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom and Other Writings
by Marquis De Sade
Reprint Edition
Paperback, 753 pages
Published by Grove Pr
Publication date: October 1990

Patrice Petro, Art in America: A compelling chronicle of Weimar Germany's disturbing and pervasive fascination with the sexually motivated murder of women, Lustmord breaks new ground in our understanding of German art and culture during this turbulent period between the two world wars.... Tatar has written a brilliant book of art and cultural criticism, a book that scholars and theorists of the Weimar period will have to contend with for some years to come.

Perverse Crimes in History
Evolving Concepts of Sadism, Lust-murder, and Necrophilia - From Ancient to Modern Times
by R.E.L. Masters, Eduard LEA
Hardcover, 323 pages
Published by The Julian Press, 1963

Book News, Inc., 10/01/92: Dr. Rosenfeld presents cases from many years of experience as an analyst working with deeply disturbed or psychotic patients, and demonstrates how his clinical and theoretical formulations can also be applied to less disturbed patients. Distributed by Brunner/Mazel. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Synopsis: "Sir" John has been involved in the S&M, or sadomasochism, scene for over 20 years. And he has kept a record of his experiences in the form of hundreds of notes, letters, diaries, photographs, and even video tapes. This book is his story--it is a surprising history of the movement that demonstrates the tremendous variety of motives and relationships that exist within the "scene."

Card catalog description: Sadomasochism is explored from three distinct vantage points in this volume. First, there is an extensive critical overview of the etiology of the clinical syndrome that singles out specific parent-child interactions responsible for its causation. Second, the author presents a sociological perspective tracing the sadomasochistic elements existing in all basic interactions between men and women and argues compellingly that sexism is ultimately an expression of a sadomasochistic arrangement between the sexes. Finally a detailed and specific treatment plan is offered. Richly illustrated with four case histories, this plan integrates the developmental phases of normal infancy with specific phases of the therapeutic process.

Sex Offenders
by Paul H. Gebhard, John H. Gagnon, Wardell B. Pomeroy, Cornelia V. Christenson
Hardcover, 923 pages
Published by Harper & Row, 1965
ISBN: 1125259086

Sexual Deviations in the Male and in the Female
by Louis S. London
Hardcover, 172 pages
Published by Bell Publishing Co., 1957

Book News, Inc., 12/01/96: A critically rigorous study of sexuality which doesn't sacrifice entertainment value in its presentations of sexuality's nature and the cultural and historical values which make it less of a universal than might be immediately supposed. Soble (philosophy, U. of New Orleans) exercises a sense of humor even as he delves into the rather grim Christianity of the Augustinian-Thomist variety, contemporary feminism, Men's Liberation, and other ethical travesties intersecting with topics in masturbation, adultery, health, beauty, and pornography. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Brent's notes: I once got a $40 fine from PSU for not returning this book, although I swear I don't have it. And they have it on the shelf. So I've paid for it, but I don't have my own copy.

What a gyp.

Strange Loves:
The Human Aspects of Sexual Deviation
by Eustace Chesser
Hardcover, 255 pages
Published by William Morrow & Co., 1971
ISBN: 0688029329

Brent's notes: Mask...see, like Cleckley's Mask of Sanity. Because psychopaths all wear masks.

It's ironic to me that a serious work such as this reaches back for Cleckley's subjective mess for appeal in its title. Or maybe it's depressing. I'm not sure which. Maybe both.