Yesterday I happened to be watching CNN as the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial was announced. Like much of America, I was stunned that she was acquitted. From the reports I’ve seen about Anthony’s pathological lying and lack of concern about her missing daughter, I am confident that she exhibits sociopathic traits. A criminal profiler came out and said on national television that she is a psychopath. See:
Profiler says letters show Casey Anthony to be a psychopath
All of us at Lovefraud know what sociopaths/psychopaths are capable of. So I was more stunned by one of the so-called CNN pundits, Dr. Frank Farley, who came on the show later. He said that the prosecution’s theory of Casey Anthony’s motive for murder was ludicrous. No mother, he claimed, would kill her child simply so she could go out and party.
Farley actually posted his views in a blog piece on CNN, in an article called Infanticide in order to party: A nonsense motive. He wrote:
No credible motivational psychology that I know of would support that a single mother who seemed to love her child and who had lots of back-up parenting, in the grandparents and perhaps even from a brother, would go through the careful planning and complex, unpredictable, scary process of killing and disposing of her child in order to get a bit more free time.
This could not be true, unless she was seriously mentally ill, and no available evidence showed that. To go against that deep human instinct to take care of a child, and instead kill that child, demands a very significant reward in the opposite direction, and partying doesn’t rise to that level.
What sane human being could wake up in the morning and say, “Gee, I could have a fun time if I killed my daughter.” There was also no evidence that Caylee was a difficult child whose behavior could lead her mother into a homicidal rage. This whole scheme goes against our deepest instincts rooted in thousands of years of evolution.
Obviously, the guy knows nothing about sociopaths. These disordered individuals have no love motivation. They are capable of killing for the flimsiest of reasons. Take the case of Diane Downs, cited in Dr. Robert Hare’s book, Without Conscience. She shot her three children in 1983 so she could carry on an affair.
ABC News recently aired interviews with Diane Downs, along with a clinical diagnosis: psychopath. Watch the videos here:
1983 Video: Mom who shot kids speaks on ABCNews.go.com.
Professor Farley
Now here’s what is really scary: Frank Farley, Ph.D., is a psychologist and professor at Temple University, and former president of the American Psychological Association. He teaches educational psychology to graduate students. Here’s his biography:
Frank Farley, Ph.D., Temple University College of Education
Farley has come up with this goofy theory of “Type T Personalities.” The “T,” he says, stands for “thrill-seeking,” and certain people are driven to a life of constant stimulation and risk-taking. In fact, he recently wrote an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, claiming that this is why politicians cheat on their wives. I mentioned it in a recent blog post:
More on powerful men behaving badly
Actually, cheating politicians are probably displaying their sociopathic tendencies—grandiosity, overactive sex drive, recklessness, sense of entitlement. But Farley doesn’t get it. He also doesn’t get that it is quite possible for a woman to kill her child for barely any motivation.
And this is what he is teaching to his educational psychology students. No wonder so many people do not know that the sociopathic personality disorder exists.
Twice Betrayed
Louise: her attorneys coached her on how to dress/act during the trial, I read. Which, is common.
Louise
Twice Betrayed:
That’s right…they do NOT want to be saved!! My X spath sure didn’t. I tried.
They are coached on how to act and dress. It’s just so ironic that she is acquitted and then comes out this morning with her hair down (which means more sexy) and laughing and smiling like crazy. Far cry from yesterday.
Twice Betrayed
Louise: Nope, they think they are GREAT just the way they are! Plus, she’s not going to let anyone get away with having that much power or saying they have that much power over her for long. That loss of power status is not going to resonate well with a P. They live for power.
Speaking of power, yup, that’s why she’s all sexy again. Getting ready to roll and work that sex bomb. POWER….she’s giddy on it-look out. She figures her looks, supreme greatness and ability to charm and con is what secured her freedom-not that attorney. Clash of power gonna go down there, betcha!
Ox Drover
TB, well you know in general what I think of attorney (Matt excepted!) LOL So yea, he is patting himself on the back for saving her life (*oh, what a hero!) but he has also made himself a zillionaire in future paying cases so he doesn’t need Casey any more. Or she him, but I bet’ya she ends up making porno flicks like Amy Fisher in a few years.
Constantine
Dear T.B., Louise,
Yes, T.B. is right in saying “They think they are great just as they are.” That’s the problem. Duped’s post mentioned “treatment” or “counseling” for Casey A. Indeed, that might be a good thing for a “normal” person, but for a Sociopath it has been proven time and again to be counterproductive. In fact, they did a study of this on prison inmates, and this is what happened: The study consisted of two groups, each one diagnosed with PPD (i.e., Psychopathy). One group was forced to attend “social skills” and “anger management” classes, while the other did not. Well, the surprising thing was that when released, the group that didn’t attend the counseling classes had a recidivism/reconviction rate of 59%. However, the group of Psychopaths that DID attend the classes had an a reconviction rate of almost 80%! – So the moral of the story is that counseling a Psychopath actually seems makes them worse! No one knows exactly why this is so, but one theory is that the counseling merely teaches them the psychological jargon of “remorse” and “empathy”, and so forth, but nothing more. In other words, it makes them into even more formidable and dangerous chameleons than they were originally!
Constantine
Dear Duped,
So sorry that you had to live through your grandson’s murder – and then go through all the other stuff as well. It makes me think of the old saying, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions.” – However, it seems like you’ve been able to grow and find meaning in all that you’ve endured. And that’s the main thing, right? We might not be able to prevent the tragedies from happening, but we can at least learn to find the hidden meaning in them – provided we look deep enough.
Did you say that you wrote something to me on another thread? If so, I can’t seem to find it! Do you remember the heading?
Twice Betrayed
Ox: yep, on the attorney and Casey.
Constantine: scary, isn’t it? Trying to help them actually gives them more skills.
Louise
I heard Casey will be out next Wednesday. How did that happen?
Back_from_the_edge
My Dearest Constantine,
I was GOING to reply to another post you had made on another link but then got sucked away into the busy-ness of my day over here. I also run a little business during the day and have been quite busy today. I apologize for not responding as yet but I have also been giving your post lots of thought before responding.
You will see it in the blog headers, I am sure, when I get around to responding to it. ((((Constantine)))) Thank you for your hugs. Yes, not single spies but battalions, My Dear Friend….
Only the strong survive, you know.
Legions – just legions….
The trick is to know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, it’s the only way to survive the onslaught.
Yes, the most important thing is WHAT YOU DO WITH IT ALL.
YES: turn the sorrows around and make something good from it and release it back into the world. When you do that, goodness grows.
I will, after I get to a peaceful place in my evening, sit down and respond to your post you made earlier. I apologize for my tardiness. I will try, in the future, not to forewarn. xxoo
Until later,
DUPED
Back_from_the_edge
BY THE WAY:
I THINK “IT’S” gone now……
It will be a month on 10July……
Will the big bad wolf return this time or not?
THAT is the question. 🙂
SO FAR, SO GOOD.
If I could buy you all a glass of wine, I would most certainly do it.
*BLESSINGS*
DUPED