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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| I'm a forensic psychiatrist and I work with killers - here are 5 myths people believe about murderers |
| 2024-04-02 |
| [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das, London, debunks common myths about murderers. 1. Dr Das, 44, said that the first myth he wanted to debunk is that all murderers must be mentally ill. 'Some definitely do have mental health diagnoses, but most do not. The ones in the psychiatric units, obviously do.' He continued, explaining that it 'depends how you define mental illness'. 'If you're the layperson, you might say that anybody who does something as extreme as killing another person - especially if it's somebody they don't know - is mentally ill,' Dr Das explained. 'But that's not the psychiatric definition. The psychiatric definition is somebody that has to have like a recognised mental disorder like depression, like bipolar, like schizophrenia...and of all killers, only a very small proportion have those things. 'And here's something to throw a pie in the ointment - even if they do have symptoms of mental illness, or if they are mentally ill, most of the time, it's quite mild symptoms...not severe enough to control their actions.' A pie in the ointment? 2. The second myth he discussed was that most murderers kill strangers. He explained: 'That's true, but it's actually more commonly not true. So there are cases [like that]... which shock the nation because [it can happen to] complete strangers who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. 'But you're much more likely to be killed by somebody you know, especially if you're young, and especially if you're female.' According to Dr Das: The Office for National Statistics said that in the year ending March 2020, which is when the most recent statistics are available, 62 per cent of of victims of murder knew their killer - and this was higher for females - 70 per cent compared to male victims, 52 per cent, and for victims under 16, the proportion that knew their suspects was even higher - about 88 per cent.' 3. According to the expert, myth number three is that murderers will kill again. But, he said: 'Actually, it's very unlikely for somebody who's killed before, to go on to kill again.' 4. Moving onto myth number four, he said that it is that 'serial killers are these brilliant criminal masterminds'. He added that around 40 per cent of serial killers have low I.Qs, they live on the fringes of society, and they attack their victims randomly. 'So [there isn't that sort of pre planned effort, stalking people for a long period...they just have this like, this frenzied urge and rage to kil, so they go out and do it randomly. 'They often don't move the bodies, they literally just leave the scene, they try and hide. Or they try and disguise the trend evidence because they just want to get out. 5. Dr Das's fifth and final myth about killers is that...'they are all inherently evil or they are all monsters. He added: 'So to me, this paints a simplistic and harmful picture. People who've taken life before come from diverse backgrounds, they have different motivations, experiences, have different mental states. 'So judging them solely on this one act ignores the complexity of their life and circumstances, even taking morality out of the question.' He added: 'I guess what I'm saying, is somebody can have done something horrendous, and it doesn't necessarily reflect their entire personality or character.' |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #6 ^ Great summary! |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2024-04-02 14:41 |
| #5 Ok, I'll bite: (1) Not all killers are crazy. Some people need killing. (2) Most killers kill someone they think needs killing. (3) Killing's a lot of work. So's staying out of jail. (4) Successful serial killers are smart. They also know when to stop. (5) See (1): Some people need killing. Your mileage may vary. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2024-04-02 14:26 |
| #4 his study is probably not worth much. Poss why this is posted as opinion. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-04-02 12:19 |
| #3 Seems like murder is a broad topic that can include murder for hire, murder of a significant other, drive by’s, honor killing, jihad, war crimes, etc.. there would also be variation by country. The datasets would need to be huge. The quality of data coming out of places like Haiti or North Korea might not be very good. That said, I’m glad Dr Das was able to do a lot of debunking. Hopefully, he is not a sociologist. Otherwise, his study is probably not worth much. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2024-04-02 11:24 |
| #2 The psychiatric definition is somebody that has to have like a recognised mental disorder like depression, like bipolar, like schizophrenia... He left out sociopaths. Maybe he doesn't consider reptiles to be insane. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2024-04-02 11:11 |
| #1 3. According to the expert, myth number three is that murderers will kill again. Check how many incarcerated inmates have tear drop tats on their face. Some data info not included. How many did he count as killing in self defense? How many did he count as killing in line of duty? It's like deaths by guns including suicides but not specifically identifying that fact in the overall numbers. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-04-02 07:18 |