You would think parole boards would know better. After all, they deal with bad guys all day, every day, and they’re supposed to decide when criminals are sufficiently rehabilitated to return to society. But a study released in January found that when psychopaths in Canada’s prisons were up for parole, they were 2.5 times more likely to win conditional release than non-psychopaths.
The study was conducted by Dr. Stephen Porter from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and published in the Journal of Legal and Criminological Psychology. It looked at 310 men who spent at least two years in a Canadian prison between 1995 and 1997. Most had committed violent crimes.
Ninety of the men were classified as psychopaths. They had committed significantly more offenses than the non-psychopaths. The psychopathic child abusers among them had far more charges and convictions than non-psychopathic offenders.
Yet the psychopaths won the get-out-of-jail-free card much more often than ordinary criminals.
“Despite their long and diverse criminal records and much higher risk posed to the community, psychopaths appear to be able to convince decision-makers throughout the correctional system that they can be reintegrated into society successfully,” Dr. Porter wrote.
Oscar award winning performances
How did they do it? Charm and crocodile tears. The researcher said they put on a good show.
“They use non-verbal behavior, a ‘gift of gab,’ and persuasive emotional displays to put on an Oscar award winning performance and move through the correctional system and ultimately parole boards relatively quickly, despite their known diagnosis.”
And apparently, it wasn’t just the members of the parole boards who were fooled—it was everyone who had any input into the parole decision.
“I don’t want to pick on the (National) Parole Board,” Porter said in an interview. “The parole board gets all kinds of information therapy reports and case management reports and so on. So psychopaths are probably putting on a good show for everyone.”
What happened after the psychopaths won their freedom? They committed another crime. On average, they offended again and were returned to prison after one year, compared with two years for non-psychopaths.
Let’s not berate ourselves
Dr. Porter says that the parole boards and psychologists need help in dealing with psychopaths.
“We need to acknowledge that training in this area is essential and that objective file information is much more reliable than trying to assess performance in an interview context,” he said.
So here’s the conclusion for us survivors: We should never again berate ourselves for falling for a psychopath. After all, the professionals who dealt with these predators every day, and had access to their criminal files, were just as clueless as we were.
For more information on this study, see:
BBC: Psychopaths’ ”˜early release con’
Ottawa Citizen: Psychopaths use charm, lies to fool parole officials
housie: Welcome to LF! I am in a healing stage myself right now and have found a lot of support and wisdom here. Wonderful that it only took you a “short time to internalize the reality of who he was”, I am sorry for the grief you are going through, hope you feel a little bit better everyday!
Well, since I mentioned above about how I wondered how accurate self reporting of traits would actually be, I went and found this:
“The supposed problems with self-reports are legendary in psychology (see, for example, Allen & Potkay, 1983; Judd & Park, 1993). People’s reports of the traits they possess may not match the traits they actually possess, because their claims are often influenced by social desirability and self-presentational goals. Upon making direct observations of their behaviors, psychologists may see people as having a different set of traits than the ones that they see themselves as possessing. More generally, and more important from a practical point of view, their behaviors may reflect different traits than they claim to possess.”
Dear Housie,
Welcome to LF and glad you found your way here. It is a healing place for those who have indeed been involved with a psychopath(s).
GOOD FOR YOU for breaking it off again! Yes, I can relate to the denial. I am 62 and have been involved with “them” all my life it seems, from parents to my child and others. Overcoming that denial phase (which can last a long time!) is the biggest hurdle for me, and now that I am finally “getting it” I am healing. LF has helped a great deal!
Sounds like you have a pretty good back ground in the knowledge of the Ps, which is a good start because that knowledge can help us get back our power! Again, welcome to our “club” but sorry that you qualify for “membership” but if you do, this is the BEST group I’ve come across!
housie…Welcome, and what Oxy said…
housie…”In November of 2008 our daughter invited both of us to her home for Thanksgiving.”
That one rang my bell. I have a 26 year old…in denial during and since the divorce. Doesn’t know anything…doesn’t want to. She made a comment a while ago about a friend whose divorced parents, with their new families, who get together for friendly barbeques like old friends (I assume no p’s are in the mix).
I told her…”Ain’t gonna happen!” and offered no explanation. I know her mother likes to drag her into “her” drama and chaos. I “back-slid”, before…God help me if I do it again.
I see my daughter when she wants to see me. We had lunch Easter Sunday. I enjoyed it, and I hope she did, too.
Me…through Lovefraud and a good therapist…I’ve finally discovered “boundaries”. I make mistakes, and learn new things every day, but I am on my way out of the FOG and will continue to learn…about me. TOWANDO!
Housie —
I’ve been saying for some time that being married to my husband was like being in a cult and maybe I need deprogramming. Actually to be more specific, trying to get away from him was/ is like getting free mentally from a cult. I’ve not been in a cult per say but was strongly connected to a church that had cult-like tendencies in the heavy handed way they used up and treated people, and in the expectations of total conformity to their views. When they began teaching doctrine contrary to Scripture it was very difficult and painful to leave (like a divorce) and had a profound impact on my church relations for years. Anyway, any thoughts on deprogramming in regards to leaving these sociopathic creatures?
One other thing that relates to the original article. I had a wonderful therapist who really helped me through the first 6 months apart from my husband. Then she gave me the name of a psychologist in her office for my husband to see, who, she said, was great at seeing through people like him.
Well, sometime later my therapist changed from being very supportive and suggesting to me that my husband may be sociopathic, to this is your “truth” and that is his “truth”. The strain in the sessions became almost palatable. I know professional standards dictate that my therapist and his psychologist shouldn’t speak about us but I feel sure they did, and the result was that my husband again controls the message! And I am forced to go to a new therapist.
I am ashamed to admit it, but without God’s help I am presently very much afraid of my husband and what he’ll do. The real divorce process is beginning and I’ve already had glimpses of his great powers of persuasion and how he influences people. Well, I already knew these things about him, but haven’t seen them directed soley towards defaming me.
“Well, sometime later my therapist changed from being very supportive and suggesting to me that my husband may be sociopathic, to this is your “truth” and that is his “truth”. The strain in the sessions became almost palatable. I know professional standards dictate that my therapist and his psychologist shouldn’t speak about us but I feel sure they did, and the result was that my husband again controls the message! And I am forced to go to a new therapist. ”
I feel for you. The “truth is relative” mantra is a popular fantasy that enables Cluster Bs. Dupes feel sophisticated and wise when they adopt this mantra. It makes them feel “above the fray”. The trouble is, truth is not relative.
You need a therapist who understand that embracing reality is liberating. If you can figure out what is true, and make decisions based on reality, not spin, your life improves. You need someone who can help you with the process of identifying what is real and coming to terms with it.
I’m sorry you’re divorcing such a capable spin Meister. I suggest you exercise extreme caution in your friendships, and only confide in the most stable and discrete.
What kind of church are you attending now? This is one of your most important relationships. Make sure you are associating with Christians who aren’t swayed by slander originating in his “high control” congregation. These cult-churches often have influence that extends much farther into the community than you’d expect. The last thing you want to deal with is bizarre behavior from your fellow congregants while you’re trying to deal with a nasty divorce.
Those of us who go to church for respite are often surprised to find that people whose lives are essentially boring go to church for a bit of excitement. This gap in expectations is a nuisance when we’re not in crisis, but it can be totally crazy-making when we’re worn down. Make sure your church is mature enough to offer respite when the slander gets vicious, as it almost always does.
Dear Elizabeth,
Your advice is so wise, and you continue to amaze me in how you see these things….that is what makes LF so wonderful, is the diversity of thoughts and experiences that brings out wonderful advice on so many aspects of the healing process.
I am SO GLAD YOU are here, I wouldn’t have even thought to caution her on such, but you are RIGHT IN SPADES, thank you for this insightful post! (((hugs)))) and Prayers
Jim, I would also like to thank you for being here at LF, your advice (above) is also right on. We MUST not get drawn into their “drama” and that old saw “there are two sides to every story” may be true, but it does NOT MEAN THAT THERE ARE TWO CORRECT SIDES…with the Ps, one side is ALWAYS a LIE. (((((hugs))))) and my prayers for you as well!
Ox Drover,
You flatterer you!
Seriously, church is the last place people expect to be attacked. Unfortunately, many congregations shoot their wounded. They make a lot of self-righteous noise while doing it too! It’s hard to figure out what on earth’s going on until you’ve witnessed the pattern a few times.
I pray you never do. It’s like a shark feeding frenzy, minus the redemptive quality of nature.
Is it “mutual admiration day”? My Aussie friend calls it “monkeygrooming”! Hey, everybody here is good. All the different stories that seem to have many of the same chapters. Or, as Matt said: “same church, different pew”. If we’re all crazy here…I’m in. Better than being crazy in the P-FOG. LOL.
Compared to some here, though a long ordeal, mine seemed to have less residual damage, and the stress effects on health dissipated fairly quickly…now it’s just normal, or regular neurotic life, in a world with better visibility…less FOG.
Cleared for take-off (I got the sink drain rebuilt…accomplished one thing today! TOWANDO!