Making a psychopath : my journey into seven dangerous minds

Making a psychopath My journey into seven dangerous minds

Mark Freestone

Book - 2022

"Find out what truly creates and defines a psychopath, from the leading expert who helped to create Killing Eve's Villanelle. Dr. Mark Freestone has worked on some of the most interesting, infamous and disturbing cases of psychopathology in recent years, and now shares his phenomenal insight into the minds of violent criminals. Angela "the Remorseless", a rare female psychopath, casually confessed to murder on national television without a hint of regret. Danny "the Borderline" switched from grandiosity to rage to despair within minutes and killed his defenseless friend without explanation. Tony "the Conman" preferred charm, intimidation and sexual abuse over physical violence and once tried to dupe s...omeone into buying the Eiffel Tower. Jason "the Liar" had a fantasy life that led to vicious murders around Europe and preyed on those who see the good in people. Case by fascinating case, get to know seven of the most dangerous minds that Dr. Freestone has encountered over the last 15 years; these are up close accounts of some of the most psychopathic criminals, and of what can happen if you fall victim to their supreme powers of manipulation. Exploring the many factors that make a psychopath, the complexities and contradictions of their emotions and behavior, as well as an examination of how the lives of psychopaths develop inside and outside the institutions that are supposed to contain them, Making a Psychopath opens up a window into the world of those who operate in a void of human emotion--and what can be done to control them"--

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Subjects
Psychopaths > Case studies.
Criminal psychology > Case studies.
Case studies.
Genres
Case studies
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Mark Freestone (author)
Edition
First U.S. edition
Item Description
Originally published in Great Britain in 2020 by Ebury.
Physical Description
xvi, 282 pages ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781250277978
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. The Masks of Psychopathy
  • Chapter 2. Paul, the Hit Man
  • Chapter 3. Tony, the Con Man
  • Chapter 4. Jason, the Liar
  • Chapter 5. Arthur, the Parasite
  • Chapter 6. Danny, the Borderline
  • Chapter 7. Angela, the Remorseless
  • Chapter 8. Eddie, the Redeemed
  • Chapter 9. Psychopathy Is Bad for Your Health
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Acknowledgments
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Freestone, a sociologist who studied the treatment of psychopathic patients in prisons, shows "how very diverse criminal psychopaths are" in his brisk if somewhat flat debut. Freestone kicks things off with a brief overview of brain biology, but the bulk of his survey consists of case studies. He primarily uses composites of patients to create archetypes of psychopathic behaviors: there's "Paul," a charismatic and manipulative hit man who got prison staff members to do him favors at their own peril, including one who lost her job after being seduced by him; "Arthur," who was abused as a child and became a "parasitic psychopath"; and "Eddie," who overcomes his tendencies to create a life of peace. Freestone also includes a study of Angela Simpson, who savagely murdered a man in 2009 and is the rare example of a female psychopath. The author convincingly concludes that "it is the environment the child grows up in that makes the difference in creating a criminal psychopath," and makes a case that "forensic psychology and psychiatry are often insufficiently attentive to social context." The analysis is sound, though the methodological choice to create composites sucks much of the drama out of the proceedings. Still, it's a fine introduction to the workings of psychopathy. (Mar.)

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