Scan barcode
jmeyers888's review against another edition
2.0
Parts of this book was good (the fact based parts). However, the author writes A LOT about his own opinion on how to handle criminals, which greatly opposes my opinion as a forensic psychologist. Such as, “kids who kill should be locked up until they die.” He seems to think in good and evil terms, whereas I feel it’s more complex than that. Though I felt like this author knows a lot about child psychology, he is very uneducated about the flaws of the criminal justice system. (Such as the 3 strikes law, which sends more people to prison for life due to drug charges than they do violent crimes).
Also, the author seems to think all murderers are psychopaths. This annoys me to no end. He does give good facts about studies done on psychopaths, but applies those facts to pretty much all killers, gang leaders and kids who kill. I couldn’t get over this. As a forensic psychologist who has explored psychopathy exhaustively, and who works as a mitigation investigator for the defense team regarding death penalty cases, I know first hand this is not the case!
Again, I think the author knows a lot about child psychology, but needs some more education regarding forensic psychology and the criminal justice system.
Also, the author seems to think all murderers are psychopaths. This annoys me to no end. He does give good facts about studies done on psychopaths, but applies those facts to pretty much all killers, gang leaders and kids who kill. I couldn’t get over this. As a forensic psychologist who has explored psychopathy exhaustively, and who works as a mitigation investigator for the defense team regarding death penalty cases, I know first hand this is not the case!
Again, I think the author knows a lot about child psychology, but needs some more education regarding forensic psychology and the criminal justice system.
vanillafire's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
brightside878's review against another edition
2.0
It was very interesting, but I am just not a nonfiction person :P
sophierayton's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of thoughts and research on psychopathy in general then a bit (maybe a quarter?) about children in particular. It's an old book and I'm sure there's more research on the subject now, but this was still interested and informative.
More...