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Analyzing Criminal Minds: Forensic Investigative Science for the 21st Century
An insightful book presenting cutting-edge information on the newest, most remarkable forensic science and methods used for understanding the criminal mind.
Analyzing Criminal Forensic Investigative Science for the 21st Century explores new and emerging approaches to a perennially fascinating subject. Author Don Jacobs looks at 10 tools and products that have revolutionized the discipline, explaining how modern criminal mind analysis incorporates advances in criminal and forensic psychology, forensic neuropsychology, brain imaging, adolescent neurobiology, criminal profiling, and brain fingerprinting, as well as research into the paralimbic brain system and the impact of the "DANE" brain upon adolescent and young adult behavior.
Twenty-three characteristics shared by jailed violent criminals are analyzed and considered in terms of neuropsychology and developmental psychology. The book also probes psychopathy in its various degrees, in children, adolescents, and adults, and explains a controversial but increasingly accepted theory that psychopathy is a "natural" outgrowth of evolution, describing how this "natural" psychopathy can become a condition typified by violent, sadistic, and irreversible personality disorder.
Analyzing Criminal Forensic Investigative Science for the 21st Century explores new and emerging approaches to a perennially fascinating subject. Author Don Jacobs looks at 10 tools and products that have revolutionized the discipline, explaining how modern criminal mind analysis incorporates advances in criminal and forensic psychology, forensic neuropsychology, brain imaging, adolescent neurobiology, criminal profiling, and brain fingerprinting, as well as research into the paralimbic brain system and the impact of the "DANE" brain upon adolescent and young adult behavior.
Twenty-three characteristics shared by jailed violent criminals are analyzed and considered in terms of neuropsychology and developmental psychology. The book also probes psychopathy in its various degrees, in children, adolescents, and adults, and explains a controversial but increasingly accepted theory that psychopathy is a "natural" outgrowth of evolution, describing how this "natural" psychopathy can become a condition typified by violent, sadistic, and irreversible personality disorder.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published April 19, 2011
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November 15, 2013
Any redeeming qualities this book may have (the discussion of spectrum psychopathy and the neurological aspects of criminal psychopaths, for example), were overshadowed, for me, by Jacobs' subtle sexism and blatantly warped views on human sexuality. He repeatedly paints men as psychopathic predators and women as weak, vulnerable targets. He also makes claims like any sexual position where you cannot see into your lover's eyes is inherently degrading, thus enjoyed by those with psychopathic tendencies.
Oh, by the way, any human being who makes a mistake can be labeled as a psychopath, according to Jacobs' logic. He references several celebrities who have been involved in scandals as examples of psychopaths. Tiger Woods? Psychopath. Richard Nixon? Yup. Psychopath. Nevermind the fact that even in his own book there is acknowledgment that Hare's PCL-R requires a total of 30 of 40 points in order to qualify a person as a psychopath. Would all of the people Jacobs refers to as psychopaths meet those criteria?
Overall, I found this book disappointing, yet still interesting and informative. If Jacobs were to pull his own values and ideas of morality out of his academic works, this could have been a much better book.
Oh, by the way, any human being who makes a mistake can be labeled as a psychopath, according to Jacobs' logic. He references several celebrities who have been involved in scandals as examples of psychopaths. Tiger Woods? Psychopath. Richard Nixon? Yup. Psychopath. Nevermind the fact that even in his own book there is acknowledgment that Hare's PCL-R requires a total of 30 of 40 points in order to qualify a person as a psychopath. Would all of the people Jacobs refers to as psychopaths meet those criteria?
Overall, I found this book disappointing, yet still interesting and informative. If Jacobs were to pull his own values and ideas of morality out of his academic works, this could have been a much better book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review