The Measure of Madness: Inside the Disturbed and Disturbing Criminal Mind

by Cheryl Paradis

Enter the “fascinating” and frightening world of modern forensic psychology as experienced by one of the most respected practitioners in the field today (Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times–bestselling author).   At the heart of countless crimes lie the mysteries of the human mind. In this eye-opening book, Dr. Cheryl Paradis draws back the curtain on the fascinating world of forensic psychology, and revisits the most notorious and puzzling cases she has handled in her multifaceted career.   Her riveting, sometimes shocking stories reveal the crucial and often surprising role forensic psychology plays in the pursuit of justice—in which the accused may truly believe their own bizarre lies, creating a world that pushes them into committing horrific, violent crimes.   Join Dr. Paradis in a stark concrete cell with the indicted as she takes on the daunting task of mapping the suspect’s madness or exposing it as fakery. Take a front-row seat in a tense, packed courtroom, where her testimony can determine an individual’s fate—or if justice will be truly served.   The criminal thought process has never been so intimately revealed—or so darkly compelling—as in this “excellent and entertaining” journey into the darkest corners of the human mind (Booklist).

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, True Crime, Audiobook, Crime, Medical, Mental Illness

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Cheryl Paradis, PSY.D., has more than twenty years’ experience as a forensic psychologist, and has evaluated thousands of seriously mentally ill and violent individuals. Her research and writings have been published in journals such as Medicine & Psychiatry and the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. As an expert in psychological and neuropsychological testing, she has testified in both the New York State and federal court systems. Currently a clinical associate professor at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and associate professor of psychology at Marymount Manhattan College, she has also been a staff psychologist at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I heard about this book a few months ago, I immediately added it to my wish list thinking that it was going to be about serial killers and other psychopaths. Instead, I was treated to a series of case studies about mentally ill people who had committed crimes. Despite the fact that this book didn't initially meet my expectations, I couldn't put it down because it was just too interesting. It was refreshing to see the human side of mentally criminals (for lack of a better word).

My only gripes are that some of the author's explanations were a little simplistic, or based seemingly on her own assumptions. I would have liked to have seen a little more depth with some of the case studies. Also, she tends to repeat herself a lot when talking about different cases with similar scenarios. It's not a dealbreaker, though.

If you have any interest in mental illness and its effect on the legal process, you should check this book out.

[Scott McD]

As a Psychiatric Screener, I found this book interesting and enjoyable. The writer gives a great presentation from a different perspective than mine, and she does it very well. She reviews all the material made available and is thorough. Not sure (since I haven't read them) why anyone would not rate this at least a 4.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at mentally ill criminals through the eyes of a forensic psychiatrist. Dr. Paradis details many cases she was involved in and describes the methods she uses to determine whether these individuals are competent to stand trial, and whether they were insane or suffering from an "extreme emotional disturbance" at the time of the crime. Contrary to popular belief, most of these cases are not murders; one man Dr. Paradis evaluated was only in for misdemeanor assault.

The only fault I find with this book is that it's quite repetitive -- the same psychological tests, for instance the house/tree/woman one, are described over and over again in each chapter. I think people interested in psychology and criminology will find this book very useful and illuminating.

[Jeff McIntosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a veteran of working in-patient psych units, and with an interest in forensic psychology, I was more than interested in read Dr. Paradis' book, "The Measure of Madness - Inside the Disturbed and Disturbing Criminal Mind".

As a clinician, Dr. Paradis details several cases from her long career as a forensic evaluator, and also discuss some of the legal issues that can a rise before, during, and after a forensic evaluation.

Certainly required reading for serious students of forensic psychology, and crime buffs.


Jeff McIntosh

[Lexy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m glad this book was free. I cannot believe this book was written in 2010. I thought for sure by the repeated use of “mentally r word” as a diagnosis that this had to be from the 80s. But no! And you have to check the publication date because are there years attached to any of these cases? No. Why would even the broadest of dates of these cases and investigations be needed to orient yourself? I thought it was shallow and not incredibly informative. There was also some weird CNA shaming that rubbed me the wrong way. If I were you, I’d pass on this one.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really interesting. Set out very nicely and super in depth in important areas. I really liked the case study structure, it kept it interesting the whole way through. At some points it felt a little outdated but that's not really the books fault.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt as though this book was mediocre at best. It was very repetitive and it seemed as though most of this information was skin deep. When I bought this book from Barnes&Noble I assumed it would be about serial killers and their motivations. (I partly blame myself for my disappointment because I should have looked into it more.) There seemed to be a lot of legal issues and the author mainly focused on a criminal's ability to stand trial. I give it three stars because some of the stories did spark my interest, enough to even pass the book off to a friend and have her read a passage or two. All in all, I have certainly read better books on psychology.

[Stacy Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really impressed with this book. It's written for the layperson, and I not only learned a lot about the role of a forensic psychologist in general, but also more about how the system works. She did a really good job of explaining different symptoms by delving into various cases she's worked throughout her career. I'd recommend this to anyone trying to get a better understanding of the field.

[Lexi Love]

This book is amazing.

[Leanne Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping and intense.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟

This book was very interesting and very disturbing.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that this book had very relevant information, but lacked the follow-through that "non-forensic psychologists" would desire. I like the deeper look into the process of the "not guilty by insanity" plea, but wished there could have been some sort of "Where are they now?" portion. I also struggled a bit with the author's voice in the book. While clearly knowledgeable and well-written, I felt that there were several unnecessary back door toots of her own horn that would turn me off. Overall I am happy that I read it.

[Babs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been very interesting, but unfortunately Cheryl Paradis can not only not write, she also writes as though her readers are as thick as she is. I get the impression from reading this book that she has been trained very well as a forensic psychologist, but in herself is not all that bright. This book has piqued my interest for reading further analytical case studies, but just not by her.

[Meaghan Aylward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books in forensic psychology I have come across. The author does a fantastic job confronting different possibilities and evidence before reaching conclusions regarding the clients presented in each chapter, and the work is extremely true to the life and work in the field of forensic psychology.

Strongly recommend to both psychologists and students interested in forensic assessment and to people who just kinda find this stuff interesting.

🌻

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very much hope the author skimmed over what were in fact much more objective and extensive evaluations of these subjects. Otherwise, my horror at the American criminal justice system only increases.

[Marita Machey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love books from a professional perspective. Easy read, well categorized, thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped this would be more about the psychology of criminal minds rather than different case studies of trials she's been apart of for those who plead NRI.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Cheryl Paradis’ A Measure of Madness on a GR friend’s book list (full disclosure: she rated it 1⭐️). It’s the fourth book I’ve read over the last few months by a forensic psychologist - a doctor who evaluates claims/fears that an accused is and/or was too mentally abnormal to be tried according to normal legal processes. The doctor submits her findings to all parties, and they are often used to persuade the dangerously disturbed perpetrator to plead to some lesser charge that too will result in his imprisonment, but for what he hopes/believes will be a shorter period.
In certain ways this book is superior to the others because the writer has no perceptible agenda;* she does not investigate or speculate about the malfunction’s origins, but simply tests/interviews the accused to decide whether she thinks he is capable of assisting in his defense or whether his mind is such that he can/should accept moral responsibility for his behavior. The weight given to her report depends solely on the integrity of the judge/jury. Public outrage over the crime may be strong enough that despite insanity so profound that even a child can detect it, the trier of fact still finds the likes of Andrea Yates or James Holmes as sane as you and me.
Paradis’ unbiased* evaluations are both interesting and heartbreaking. The suffering of the victims (often complete strangers) and their loved ones is awful, as is that of the hopelessly insane criminal and those who have tried (sometimes for years) to get him “fixed.” True crime readers seldom glimpse the secret behind-the-scenes negotiations that underlie the public trial. Paradis’ book does a good job of revealing part of it. Highly recommended.

*almost, anyway. In chapter 3 she tells of someone’s dog being “killed by a pitbull.” If she had written “killed by a Black man’s dog” (or immigrant or transwoman or autistic) people would have been infuriated; those attributes of the dog’s owner have nothing to do with what happened. Why then does the writer attach significance to the supposed breed/race of the dog?

[Sarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book. It was published in 2010, but it felt much older than that. I was kind of surprised to find that the Rorschach test was still being utilized. I was also surprised by the House-Tree-Person test. The author kept exclaiming how unstable people were who draw a house with no ground under it. Well, if someone asked me to draw a house, I wouldn't draw ground under it either. I'd draw a house. Depending on my mood at the time, it might have two windows, a door, and a chimney, but it might just be an outline of a house. I looked the instructions up online and they're pretty vague. I'd be drawing stick figures for the people. Now I'm afraid I'm deranged.

Other than that, the book was all right. The stories were interesting, but I just can't get as excited about this book as I have with other psychology or forensic books I've read.

Enter the “fascinating” and frightening world of modern forensic psychology as experienced by one of the most respected practitioners in the field today (Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times–bestselling author).

At the heart of countless crimes lie the mysteries of the human mind. In this eye-opening book, Dr. Cheryl Paradis draws back the curtain on the fascinating world of forensic psychology, and revisits the most notorious and puzzling cases she has handled in her multifaceted career.

Her riveting, sometimes shocking stories reveal the crucial and often surprising role forensic psychology plays in the pursuit of justice—in which the accused may truly believe their own bizarre lies, creating a world that pushes them into committing horrific, violent crimes.

Join Dr. Paradis in a stark concrete cell with the indicted as she takes on the daunting task of mapping the suspect’s madness or exposing it as fakery. Take a front-row seat in a tense, packed courtroom, where her testimony can determine an individual’s fate—or if justice will be truly served.

[Craig Amason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading this book I really knew nothing about forensic psychology. For the most part, Paradis has collected transcripts of interviews with her most interesting and representative subjects while serving as an expert witness to determine the "sanity" of people accused of crimes, most of which are violent, including murder. She provides commentary on the cases, background about the defendants, clinical analysis, and her opinions about their ability to stand trial.

She does a good job of separating myth from reality, correcting misperceptions perpetuated by television and movie depictions of the field. She also crushes the popular notion that people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity somehow "get off easy." She explains that many of them end up spending more time in mental facilities under heavy guard than they would have spent in prison. She also makes it clear that successful insanity cases are very rare.

The people she profiles in this book are incredibly messed up. Most of them hear voices and/or have paranoid delusions that drive them to criminal behavior. Some of them are terribly tortured souls. At the end of the book, she addresses criminals who try to act insane in hopes of avoiding a guilty sentence. The tests and examinations she outlines in the book to determine the mental health of defendants are intriguing.

[Lexi Sølvhammer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just no!

I stopped reading this after about 5 minutes.

First of all the introduction to the book is to put it mildly boring.

And secondly when the author doesn’t have her facts straight that’s just a NO GO.

The man who shot John Lennon was Mark David Chapman and not John Chapman as the author claims.

When I read a book like this I expected there has been some amount of proofreading before the book is released therefore a mistake like this is not acceptable in my world.

*This review is posted on several platforms

[Gege · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did try hard to like this because I thought it sounded so interesting but I couldn’t finish it in the end. I’m just not quite sure how the author managed to convince juries that some of the patients couldn’t be held mentally accountable for their crimes - while being questioned in a stressful courtroom no less - when she couldn’t even convince me half the time in her own book, where she has the freedom to build that narrative. Maybe they truly couldn’t be - but I didn’t find her very convincing at all

[Georgia Mountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting cases of the disturbed mind. Dr. Paradis really has compassion for her clients and goes in depth of how she comes to her theories in a way that the standard reader can comprehend. I learned many concepts about mental illness by reading this book. I always thought the insanity plea meant you were free when considered cured. Not true. That's a good concept to know for the general public. I highly recommend this book if you want an interesting and educational read.

[Greta Musteikienė · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was okay, though repetitive in places.
This is just some retelling of forensic psychiatry cases, not dwelling too deep into the criminals' psychology and focusing more on justice practice in the USA.
It looked like the book was pieced together from former separate articles, because of the repetitiveness (the author explains some thing over and over as if expecting the reader hasn't read the case in the previous chapter just yet).

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book thinking there would be insight as to why some people do the things they do. Why is there on going “madness” for some and others are “mad” in the moment? What the author delivered were the stories for certain criminals and the tests she administered when given permission to interview them. There are some mistakes with names here and there that the editors or better yet the authors herself should have caught.

[Jane Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Measure of insanity

This is a very good book. The author described very understandably and clearly what is meant be the insanity defense and what must be demonstrated to find a defendant insane. She explains that a successful insanity defense does not !ran that the defendant gets away with the crime.

[lynn stilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychological evaluation for the courts

This author was well organized and methodical in her profession and writing. Her choice of cases was great. I could never do her job, but she makes it sound easy. The only thing I would ding her on was that the book needed a summary at the end.

[Sandy James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. Having taught psychology for more years than I care to admit, I appreciate learning even more about my subject--especially about forensic psychology. This is a must read for fans of shows like CSI and Criminal Minds so that they can see what REAL forensic psychology is about.

[Fehreen Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read of various cases of individuals who have committed a crime and the differences in mental state. The author highlights their assessment where an individual has a mental illness such as hallucinations and schizophrenia and differences to those with narcissistic characteristics attempting to imitate madness to plead insanity.

[Bren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book and very approachable. However, the author repeats the same definitions many times throughout the book like the reader can’t remember that long and defines words that probably don’t need to be defined. I enjoyed it despite these things though.