I found this book to be one of the best on the market on behavioral science with respect to serial killers. Unfortunately, many other readers are determined to point out Keppel's faults as a writer. I believe this text is meant to be more informative than entertaining. Perhaps if they are seeking entertainment, they should look for Crime Novels rather than True Crime selections.
On the other hand, I agree with the other readers in regards to the author's annoying habit of repetition. However, I won't let that stop me from reading his other book, The Riverman.
|
.
Dr. Keppel presents his concept of diphasic personality formation of people who become serial killers. He believes it is a mistake to believe there is a fundamental gap between serial killers and serial abusers, those who stop short of actually killing their victims. Serial killers and serial abusers, according to Keppel's are childhood victims of neglect, often by an absent parent, who displace their anger onto others whom they perceive to be at a disadvantage.For instance, the serial abuser can be the neglected child of a calculatingly cruel prominent surgeon, whose cruelties to his own families are not apparent to outsiders, yet which child acts out his own anger towards his own father [or mother] by methodically and cunningly gaining psychological control over other neighborhood children [males and/or females] and torturing them through continual [sexual] humiliation. The serial abuser can be the therapist who gains control over his/her patients by placing them into an emotional bondage, grafitying himself/herself through exploiting them, and even acting out a necrophilic scenario with a drugged patient, stories we hear about only when they make the evening news. Many people are walking victims of serial abusers, who are abused even further by the professionals they turn to for help. Keppel's book is an invaluable tool for parents, behaviorists and those working in the criminal justice system and mental health system. (...) |
