The human mind
seems capable of infinite quirks. Contrary to common sense, outlaws attract a
cadre of admirers, people glorifying criminals, even to the point of condoning
their murderous crimes.
An editorial by
Charles M. Blow in The New York Times
on February 16, highlights a recent case –mythologizing Dorner- to the point of
portraying his actions “as righteous retribution.” A former Navy reservist and policeman, Dorner wrote a
manifesto threatening the lives of policemen and their families, including
children; gunned down four people; and initiated the “largest police manhunt in
history.”
In popular
culture glorifying criminals is known as the “Bonnie and Clyde Syndrome.”
Serial killers-especially those who have received lots of media publicity-
receive a lot of fan mail.
A criminal is an
outsider who sabotages society in some way. If we probe deeply enough, each of
us can find aspects of the
“outsider” in our psyches. Most of us want to be insiders and affiliate
with other insiders. But an outsider may be motivated to identify with another
outsider-even a criminal. (This observation dovetails with my last blog of
February 18, the false dichotomy between “Them vs. Us.”)
The common
phenomenon of “tunnel vision,” the tendency to focus on one concern while
glossing over other important details, partially explains the identification some
of us have with the outlaw as an outsider. Like many others, Dorner felt
victimized by the police force; but unlike most, he set out on a murderous
rampage.
The term
hybristophilia, coined by the sexologist Professor John Money, has some
relevance here. In this sexual paraphilia, an individual derives arousal from having
a partner known to have committed an “outrage” or a crime.
Sheila Isenberg,
author of Women Who Love Men Who Kill,
interviewed many hybristophiles and discovered that some women recognized the
moral wrongness, while others harbored delusions, including idealized
fantasies.
My only clinical
experience with a hydristophile was a woman, who practiced prostitution
(herself a societal outsider) and wrote love letters to the Menendez brothers,
Lyle and Erik, shortly after their crime, aspiring to marry one of them.
Similar to other
hybristophiles, my patient identified with these young men as victims of
violent, abusive parents. She believed they wouldn’t harm her and that she
could rescue them. (They remain in prison in California for murdering their
parents in 1989. In spite of having no conjugal rights, they have been married
for years to women whom they met through fan mail).
Conclusion: We humans want and need to be connected
to significant others. Understanding the universality of the “outsider” position can help us
understand, but not identify, with a perpetrator of violence.
Dear Reader, Your
comments are welcome. jsimon145@gmail.com
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