Why Some People Turn Into Violent Criminals (From Selected Readings in Criminal Justice, P 33-53, 1998, Philip L. Reichel, ed. -- See NCJ-183418

• NCJ Number: 183419
• Author(s): Malcolm Gladwell
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from Malcolm Gladwell, "Damaged," The New Yorker, Crime and Punishment Issue, February 24 and March 3, 1997

Annotation

This discussion of the life of violent convict Joseph Paul Franklin and of brain research by psychiatrist Dorothy Lewis and neurologist Jonathan Pincus reports that new studies of the brain suggest that violent criminals may suffer from a combination of child abuse, brain injuries, and psychotic symptoms.

Abstract

Franklin said he shot publisher Larry Flynt, and civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, and committed a 1977 murder outside a synagogue. Lewis and Pincus have testified for the defense in more than 12 criminal cases and have published studies that have outlined the medical and psychiatric histories of violent offenders. They believe that the most vicious criminals are overwhelmingly people with some combination of abusive childhoods, brain injuries, and psychotic symptoms, especially paranoia. They also believe that each problem individual has no connection to criminality but that these factors together somehow create a synergy that impedes’ these individuals ability to control their behavior. In addition, newer studies have begun to explain the reasons why brain dysfunction and child abuse can have such negative effects. These findings have implications for crime prevention and the administration of criminal justice.