Inside the Criminal Mind

Revised and Updated Edition

By: Stanton Samenow

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Long-held myths defining the sources of and cures for crime are shattered in this ground-breaking book - and a chilling profile of today's criminal emerges.

©1984, 2004 Stanton Samenow (P)2014 Listening Library

Great insight!

I really enjoyed this book because it offers the listener a contrasting view of the causes of criminal behavior.

For me personally, it had allowed me a better understanding of offenders that, despite many opportunities for change, they continue to make poor decisions. I recommend this book for anyone in corrections.

Dr. Samenow explains the persistent criminal mind

Dr. Samenow step by step explains how people can have a criminal mindset and how this mindset leads to crimes against society,defined by when one person takes from another through deceit or force. Societal crimes are committed all the time even though many are never prosecuted. This book also explains how people can live in society succesfully and appear to act good though the intention is always to put themselves at the center of focus with the hidden negative goal of using and exploiting others. This total narcissism is completely void of ethics or morals applied to their own lives , they know what is right and wrong but believe that they themselves are a law unto themselves, that they are special and entitled to take whatever they want without suffering the consequences . They believe arrogantly that they can take as they seem fit, be it your personal affects or even your life. This criminal mindset is the basic philosophy of all people who commit crimes be it stealing an old ladies purse to mass shootings. Dr. Samenow writes other books that follow and expand on the ideas in this book based upon decades of studying and researching criminals from the bluecollar who pillages a retirement fund to serial killers. This book helps ethical people to change their perspective and to understand that the criminal in not crazy, that no matter what tactic is used by the criminal to avoid responsibility their goal was always to exploit others to feed their bottomless pit of everything is about me. These criminals are always on the con and being as they have an entitlement attitude they do not believe that they bad people so they do not see why they need to change. Dr. Samenow explains that the thinking and attitude of the criminal must change before the behaviors will and that is why most criminals find no incentive to change; why should they change when most of the time their manipulations work for them. Dr. Samenow convincingly proves that from parents who coddle their abusive children to courts that give mere slaps on the hand as consequences for crimes committed , we as a society need to change on multiple fronts to change the Criminal Mind.

Great, but sometimes flawed information

Would you try another book from Stanton Samenow and/or Mark Bramhall?

Maybe if it was more limited on its scope. I understand Samenow's approach to what causes crime, especially after decades of being exposed to criminals. However, he is quick to dismiss things out of his personal experiences when research supports those things. If he sticks to his own research and doesn't try to poorly attack others, I think I would.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It was his (and Yokelson's) research and experiences. I would say 80% of his book was fantastic, the 20% is described in the comments below.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, but the narrator quickly became a huge distraction when quoting things inmates say. Every inmate had the same annoyed whiny voice that was quite distracting.

Could you see Inside the Criminal Mind being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Absolutely not.

Any additional comments?

Overall I think most of what he has discovered is absolutely fantastic in terms of research into criminal behavior. However, there are some large issues I have with this book:

He quickly and selectively dismisses many, or all other, criminology theories of crime. It is as if he has a selective and biased view towards them and doesn't quite fully understand what they, how they came to be, or that they are not meant to be 100% explanations of all or most crime. It is really hard to dismiss those theories since they have all gone through much research and study, not to mention have been replicated numerous times as well. Those did not come from some yahoo in his basement who wanted an excuse for crime, they came from highly educated and experienced people who genuinely found more than just correlations.

He also appears to trivialize certain things, such as terrorism and those who possess child pornography (suggests those who only possess child pornography be paroled and not jailed when they actually contribute to the more serious crimes being committed to get the pornography). Not really sure why he gets involved this much into the criminal justice system when he is a psychologist.

Needs to stay away from the rock star superhero psychic profiliers as references for certain information.

I think his research is fantastic if he were just staying in his lane. He should approach as just a psychologist, nothing more.

Eye Opening

Extremely helpful and up to date. I highly recommend this book to anguished parents who are trying to cope with their adult child's aberrant behavior.

A cognitive approach to criminality

Like some others, I tended to wonder what lack of parenting contributed to delinquency. This book argues ALL criminals are responsible for their own actions and behaviors. I find this a very refreshing approach (although the "program" has been around since the 1970s). There are undoubtedly environmental, social, biochemical and value contributors, in the end, criminal behavior is about incorrect thinking. In fixing these erroneous thinking patterns, lives can be changed. As in the case study of Leroy, the journey to change is perilous, difficult, and never really ends with slow and steady progress. For those who persevere, the journey itself is its own reward. A very well done book that describes a program I am interested in learning more about.

An sincere effort to enter a criminal mind

It is an sincere effort to understand criminal mind.The author puts all his experience to tell us about criminal mind.May be the brain functions in such a complex manner that it is difficult to decipher all its patterns.
The remedies suggested are practical and with lots of common sense.The book is read well to keep up the interest in the subject.

A helpful read for anyone

Insightful, meaningful, and useful for anyone. Everyone knows someone who has a little bit (or more) of the criminal mind in them. Probably we all have a little too. This book looks at all aspects of life and how the criminal views the world around them, and what that can mean for the people in the criminal's life.

Challenging

As someone who has gotten my foot into the door of human services related fields - this book challenges much of what I have learned during my education in sociology and psychology and how I apply my current knowledge to people. It reflects the difference between people who are in the constant cycle of criminality and those who make an honest mistake.

enlightening

as is the case with most people, I used to look for the "why" with criminals. this view taught me a lot. I'm so glad it was recommended to me, and I highly recommend it to you.

For anyone who deals with Criminal Personalities

This book put all the pieces together. I was completely hooked and couldn't put it down.

extremely informative

brilliant breakdown of the criminal mind. makes you realise we are all criminals until we a taught valuable habits and logical thinking