David Adams rejects, to some extent, these categories of Websdale’s in part because he believes they frame the offender as “victim.” To Adams, the categories are less germane than his theory of narcissism. “If you have this outsized sense of yourself, and you suffer narcissistic injury, you’ll lash out,” Adams says. He’s speaking here, not simply of someone with a colossal sense of self-confidence, but with a recognized personality disorder. Such narcissists, Adams says, “live and die by their image.” When that image is compromised, say they’re discovered lying or a secret they’ve borne is
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