Russell Williams was a colonel in the Canadian Forces, a pilot who flew dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II, and commander of the largest airbase in Canada. That is, until he was arrested for breaking into women’s homes and stealing their underwear, sexual assault and murdering two young women.
Lovefraud has written about Williams before: For Halloween: A real monster who liked to dress up.
The question, of course, is how did such a predator achieve the rank of colonel? Should he have been flagged along the way? How was it that Williams received nothing but stellar reviews, and turned out to be a murderer?
The Canadian Forces, stunned by what happened, launched an inquiry into how candidates are selected for senior command positions. Could enhanced psychological testing have revealed Williams’ true nature? Here’s what Macleans reported:
The answer, sadly, is no. Among hundreds of pages of internal military documents, obtained by Maclean’s under the Access to Information Act, is a draft version of that review. It confirms what leading experts have long maintained: there is no off-the-shelf exam that employers, armed forces or otherwise, can use to detect sociopathic killers. “Given the recent events in CFB Trenton, it is natural for the CF to question whether or not the organization could have identified a sexual sadist or predicted that an individual would become a serial sexual murderer,” the report says. But that “would be unrealistic to expect.”
Read There’s no way to spot another Russell Williams on Yahoo.com.
It’s probably true that no one could have spotted Williams. His case, however, is highly unusual. As I wrote in Sudden psychopath: The horrifying yet strange case of Col. Russell Williams, this case is unique in that Williams showed no signs of disorder before he suddenly became a sexual pervert and predator. Unlike most sociopaths, he didn’t have a history of lying, cheating and abusing. That’s why his case is so weird.
Judged by behavior
Although I don’t know much about the various psychological tests that are available, I doubt that any self-report inventory, where the subject answers questions about himself or herself, would work. After all, sociopaths lie. They lie about everything, so of course they’re going to lie on a personality test. Even if the test is designed to spot inconsistencies, how would anyone know which part is true?
To diagnose sociopaths, you need to know about their behavior. Most sociopaths leave a lifelong trail of destruction, ranging from overt crime to subtle emotional and psychological abuse. Dr. Robert Hare developed the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R), and it has become the gold standard for diagnosing psychopaths (the term he uses). The PCL-R has two parts—a semi-structured interview, and a “file review.” This means that the individual’s criminal and psychological records are included in the evaluation. In other words, the psychopaths are identified by their behavior, not by their answers on a test.
The Gift of Fear
We, of course, don’t want to experience a sociopath’s behavior. We want to avoid them, so they don’t have an opportunity to inflict any damage of any kind. Can we do it?
I believe the answer is yes. The way to avoid a sociopath is to listen to our intuition.
Several people on Lovefraud have posted about a book called The Gift of Fear, by Gavin de Becker. Oprah Winfrey called de Becker the nation’s leading expert on violent behavior, and his company helps hundreds of people, including celebrities, stay away from stalkers and other predators.
De Becker’s whole point in The Gift of Fear is this: Your intuition will tell you about danger. Listen to it.
I can back this assertion up with data. In the Lovefraud Romantic Partner Survey, conducted earlier this year, I asked the following question: “In the beginning of the involvement, did you have a gut feeling or intuition that something wasn’t right about the person or the relationship?”
Seventy-one percent of respondents said yes. Let me repeat that: 71% of people who became involved with sociopaths knew early on that something was wrong. Unfortunately, most of them stayed in the relationship anyway.
Trust your intuition
I think it’s unlikely that an accurate paper-and-pencil test for spotting sociopaths will ever be developed. However, we all have a built-in early warning system. The system isn’t designed to identify sociopaths in an abstract sense; it’s designed to warn us when we are in the presence of danger.
Here are the three steps to protecting yourself from sociopaths:
- Know that sociopaths exist.
- Know the warning signs of sociopathic behavior.
- Trust your intuition.
The key is to pay attention to the warning signals that we receive. But often we don’t. We doubt ourselves. We give the person another chance. We wait for hard evidence. In the end, we are damaged and filled with regrets.
Would listening to their intuition have saved Russell Williams’ victims? We’ll never know. But Gavin de Becker did relate a story about a woman who was assaulted in her apartment. The assailant told her to be quiet, promised he wouldn’t hurt her, and left the room. The woman, filled with fear, didn’t listen to him. She listened to her intuition and slipped away. The guy returned with a kitchen knife, intending to kill her. But she was gone.
one/joy_step_at_a_time
hens
http://www.3dachshundsbeer.com/
Ana
Hens,
Good for you and the weiner dogs! Yummy!
I always take Oxy’s advise..LOL keepin’ it between the ditches. And beer makes me sick
LOL One Joy Step that is toooo funny!
I’m such a cat purrson 🙂
one/joy_step_at_a_time
hi ana!
parallelogram
KatyDid: I like how you say, “that ’off’ moment, that DISconnect moment.” I’ve been wondering what to call it. I also like “immediately implementing permanent distance.”
“The Gift of Fear” is the single most important non-fiction book I have ever read. I wish it had been around to read when I first moved out of the family house and into the real world. I read it every six months now. I am never forgetting, if I can help it. I let intuition call most of the shots now ”“ it’s possible it lets me down sometimes or I’m being too vigilant but how would I know. Better safe than sorry.
What is really unsettling is stumbling across a picture of your spath a year (or however long) after “no contact.” Whch I did a few days ago. I had the luxury of just staring into his face with searchlight eyes but I felt”.nothing. A tiny scoff came out of my mouth but that’s it. I would have thought that my intuition would have been triggered (ack, remember, stay away!) or my skin would prickle or I’d be sad, but it was just nothing. Does anyone have a name or phrase for that?
I live near the same city as Russell Williams and I just got so sick and tired of everyone, EVERYONE, via all forms of media, mentioning how unique he was and how impossible it would be for anyone (really, anyone?) to identify another Russell Williams in the future should one come along (one’s here already, I’m sure). I always want to say, well, get cracking on it then. I don’t know what it is, but I know there’s a way. And in the meantime, can all the media stop freakin’ the living daylights out of everyone, constantly reminding us that it could happen to us, we won’t know it until it’s on top of us, sorry, can’t help you, we told you it was “impossible”, etc. “The Gift of Fear” has shown me how to defend myself and stay out of trouble, and how to feel sufficiently safe in a world where random things accost you constantly, and force you to make split second decisions to save your own life (if you’re lucky) ”“ why can’t the media do the same?
And dear media: stop telling me how “unique” this guy is. Find a different way to say it if you absolutely feel you need to say it because it makes me want to throw up.
skylar
Campfire… LOL!
you guys kill me! That’s hilarious.
I can only dream. one day.
MoonDancer
Hi Onesteprs – Your a stranger around here anymore, hope all is well with you..
Thanks fpr the III Dachshund – I am thinking about getting a new weeny puppy, please talk me out of it ~!
darwinsmom
STJ, Synchronicity are coincidences happening all at once.
Serendipity are unrelated coincidences or events and tying it together and applying coherent meaning to it.
Oh yeah, sometimes I come across something of his, not even knowing anymore it was there. I either toss it in the garbage or if it’s of any use to someone else, I give it away.
sharing the journey
I too feel either a sort of disgust at myself for being so gullable or nothing when I look at it’s photographs.
I think the nothing feeling is ’emotional detachment’.
Thanks darwinsmom for clarifying.
STJ
xxx
one/joy_step_at_a_time
hesn, oh darhlin’ you are talking to the wrong person , if you want someone to talk you OUT of it! I can’t wait for the day that my MCS is better so that i can’t have animals again. And doxies are so cute. I think i would get a mutt though – i have seen the issues with the doxie’s backs and don’t want to deal with that. our family has had 5 doxies. 1 when i was a child, 2 new ones and the 2 the parents got a few years ago. The two brothers they got a few years ago are the ones i knew best – one is on wheels (and thick as a stick) and the other beauty died riddeld with cancer – then the folks bought ANOTHER from the same parents – which given the longevity and health of the first pair, sounded dumb to me. One of them has a very similar personality to the lovely one who died, so that is a great comfort to my mom.
yah, not here much anymore. It just doesn’t fit right now. xo one joy
MoonDancer
onejoy – If you were not tryin to talk me out of taking on a new puppy it worked anyway, I could buy me a nice truck if I had all the vet bills back for the doxie’s I have had, recently took Posey to a doggy dentist, that werent cheap..But the love and companionship is priceless if you can afford them.
I think it is wise to step away from things that dont work for awhile, but please check in ever so often..xo