Inside the Criminal Mind

by Stanton E. Samenow

Paperback

Published November 4, 2014

About the author

Dr. Samenow received his B.A. (cum laude) from Yale University in 1963 and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1968. After working as a clinical psychologist on adolescent inpatient psychiatric services in the Ann Arbor (Michigan) area, he joined the Program for the Investigation of Criminal Behavior at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. From 1970 until June, 1978, he was clinical research psychologist for that program. With the late Dr. Samuel Yochelson, he participated in the longest in-depth clinical research-treatment study of offenders that has been conducted in North America.

In 1978, Dr. Samenow entered the private practice of clinical psychology in Alexandria, Virginia. His specialty has continued to be the evaluation and treatment of juvenile and adult offenders. Dr. Samenow has delivered lectures, training seminars, and workshops in 48 states, Canada, and England. These presentations have been to a variety of professional groups including mental health, law enforcement, corrections, education, social services, and the judiciary. He has served as a consultant and expert witness for a variety of courts and agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dade County (Florida) Public Schools, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Office of Probation. In 1980, he was appointed by President Reagan to the Law Enforcement Task Force and in 1982 to the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime. In 1987, President Reagan appointed him as a Conferee to the White House Conference on a Drug-Free America.

Reviews

[Lex Walsh]

Eh…was bored and this was on my sisters book shelf from a college class she took…not great or that enlightening, not very empathetic.

[Ellie Baker]

Incredibly insightful, and as someone who is interested in psychology, I couldn’t stop reading it! Samenow offers a unique perspective, that sometimes opposes my own, which I think was the best part!!

[Hayden]

This is one of those books that I started reading a long time ago, put down, and never picked back up... until now! I think that having left this book until I was older was for the best, since this book takes nuance and maturity to read, and my 15 or 16-year-old self had neither.

I will say that there is a lot of repetition in this book, and I found at times that I got tired of getting beaten over the head with the same points. However, looking back, I think that was the entire point: no matter what situation the criminal is in, no matter what their life story is, or what crime(s) they're committing, it boils down to the same fundamental errors in thinking. Dr. Samenow can't help but repeat himself because they all think the same way. The repetition makes his conclusions more believable, since I was less likely to think that he had missed some particular case. He covers all of his bases, and then addresses the problem.

Addressing the problem is hinted at throughout the book, but Dr. Samenow waits until the second last chapter to cover it properly. But boy, is it worth the wait. According to the note at the beginning of Chapter 15, other than an additional note at the very end, the entire chapter is unchanged from the first edition of Inside the Criminal Mind published in 1984, and I can understand why. It covers the journey of one man, Leroy, through the process of correcting patterns of thinking that had pervaded his life and caused him to commit crimes. This chapter, besides being the climax that Dr. Samenow built up to, is compelling storytelling. You can't help but root for Leroy, despite all of the harm that he has caused. It's a classic redemption story, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

What makes the entire book truly stand out is that despite it being about "the criminal mind", there was a lot that I took away from this book that applies to my own life! Dr. Samenow warns at the very beginning that this book may cause the reader to develop a case of "medical students' disease", where you begin to see criminality everywhere you look, and this is certainly where that nuance and maturity piece comes in. As Dr. Samenow concludes, "The issues I've addressed here are not new: the power to choose, free will, good versus evil, one's response to temptation, and whether one demonstrates courage or cowardice in the face of adversity." These are all things that non-criminals deal with as well, albeit the temptations we feel and how we react are not as extreme. Seeing these problems addressed in such extreme forms, however, helps to see them in their less obvious but related forms that we all exhibit. So yes, while this book is great for those interested in psychology, prison reform, and criminal justice, it is equally informative for regular people who are trying to become better people.

[Jahna Pusedu]

It was a little tough to rate. I wanted “more”. Not more information but almost more drama. I think my brain wanted something with a bit more dramatic and thrilling since I had been on a thriller kick before this book. So really information wise, I would say it was great, an interesting approach to how a criminal thinks. It’s so easy to assume that they are criminal because of nature and nurture, but from this POV maybe that’s not always the case. Apparently it hasn’t been since the 1960s, lol! I recommend this book to those who want a Dr/psychiatrist perspective. It includes real stories of criminals and a touch of hope for human kind. It does bring up a large issue that I have seen where you can’t be surprised that criminals who sit in jail or prison are going to change their ways just because they went thorough our corrections system, this books explains in depth why that may be. Happy reading!