Looking into the Eyes of a Killer: A Psychiatrist's Journey through the Murderer's World

by Drew Ross

Overview

Drew Ross explores the many contradictions and misconceptions that prevail when juries and judges evaluate insanity pleas and issues of blame. From 1990-1997, Ross served as a forensic psychiatrist for the criminal justice system. His job was to judge the "sanity" of people charged with murder. The law requires black and white answers: Did someone kill because of a psychosis? Should he or she be confined to a prison or to a mental hospital? What makes a person into a killer? In session after session, Ross was drawn into the killers' - and their victims' - nightmares. Unfortunately his training had taught him that the human mind is more complex than the law would allow, and little by little, he began to find his role unbearable. Looking into the Eyes of a Killer details one man's journey into the darkness of the human psyche and the evils of a system. Examining the record and searching his own soul, Ross looks at the degree to which murder is aberrant and chillingly reveals how killers are not always so different from the rest of us. Never falling prey to easy solutions, he makes a compelling argument for new guidelines for dealing with violent criminals, and shows how our failure to "reform" them springs from our unwillingness to confront ourselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306457913
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	01/01/1998
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1998
Pages:	271
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.04(d)

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on many cases and years of experience, Ross, a former prison psychiatrist, reveals in his nonfiction debut that truth is more haunting than fiction. Ross describes the well-nigh impossible task of defining insanity in legal terms that emphasize clear-cut external motivation over the layered and often mysterious roots of murder. Although marred by an awkward writing style and by overly intrusive appearances by the author, the cases presented here (details changed to protect confidentiality) illustrate the ancient conundrum about whether man is inherently good or evil. In the instance of one paranoid young woman who murdered under the panicky delusion that she was defending her home, mental illness seems to have tragically scrambled an innocent soul. In another instance, a retarded man who wore a perpetual smile seemed to harbor a cold core of evil. Ross's attempt to integrate the struggle of his own life among murderers (everyday cruelty and aggression take on an ominous charge; he is in the unwanted role of healer) feels a bit melodramatic and forced. Still, he compellingly makes the case that no one who commits murder can really be sane. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

From 1990-1997, the author served as a forensic psychiatrist for the criminal justice system. His job was to judge the "sanity" of people charged with murder. He explores the many contradictions and misconceptions surrounding insanity and blame in thoughtful vignettes about inmates he counseled in hospitals for the criminally insane. He looks at the degree to which murder is aberrant and reveals how killers are not always so different from the rest of us. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews