Inside the Criminal Mind [Hardcover]

Stanton Samenow (Author)

Book Description

Long-held myths defining the sources of and cures for crime are shattered in this ground-breaking book--and a chilling profile of today's criminal emerges.

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Long-held myths defining the sources of and cures for crime are shattered in this ground-breaking book--and a chilling profile of today's criminal emerges.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Crown; Underlining edition (January 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0134674995
• ISBN-13: 978-0812910827
• ASIN: 0812910826
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #850,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very accurate description of the criminal mind, January 17, 1999

By 

Pat Brown "Criminal Profiler" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Inside the Criminal Mind (Hardcover)

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

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Myths are complex, truths are simple, August 20, 2003

By 

Scott W. Pecora "snatchsquach" (Vancouver, Washington United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Inside the Criminal Mind (Hardcover)

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.

60 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely accessible, well-written, no-nonsense account, July 26, 2001

By 

James G. Greenhill "Jim Greenhill" (Durango, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Inside the Criminal Mind (Hardcover)

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.