“The Avoidable Death of Rebecca Riley”

In this chapter, Ronson explains how many diagnoses made the DSM could be inaccurate. Tired of psychoanalyst, David Rosenhan got a few of his friends to go to mental institutions and be labeled insane for hearing voices, although they were sane. Rosenhan then declared that they were all faking and shook the industry to its core.  Robert Spritzer, editor of the DSM-III, reinvented the diagnoses of mental illness as we know it. He began to categorize mental illness in a completely different way, making checklists for all mental illness. However, the DSM-III was bought more by the average citizen than actual psychiatrists had and the era of over-diagnosing began. There has been an extreme uprising is the diagnoses of autism, attention deficit, and childhood bipolar. Ronson then speaks to Bryna Hebert, who truly believes both of her kids are bipolar, and David Shaffer, who believes it does not exist and they kids actually ADD. Finally, Ronson depicts the story of possible misdiagnosed four-year-old Rebecca Riley, who overdosed on her bipolar medication of 10 pills a day.

At the end of everything, I completely agree that a lot of kids are over-diagnosed. It’s crazy that kids who are hyper should be tagged as bipolar and ADD for the rest of their loves. While I believe there are some kids who have ADD, it is nowhere near as many as there are prescriptions for Adderall and Ritalin out there. That being said, I do not believe in labeling kids as bipolar. It is a terrible stigma to carry for the rest of your life and, until you reach adolescents and it can be clearly seen that the child is not just acting out, it should never be placed on a child.

Also, what is up with that book!?!

“Aiming a Bit High”

In this chapter, Ronson introduces Paul Britton, the disgraced father of criminal profiling in the UK. Britton was one of the fathers of criminal profiling and became famous from his amazing ability to catch sexual psychopaths. That being said, he made very similar diagnoses of sexual predators, the late teen or early twenty loner who loves violent pornography. Nevertheless, he received rave after rave from the police and media. When Rachel Nickell was brutally raped and murdered in front of her son, Britton was called to catch the sexual sadist who did her in. Britton created the usual profile and the police apprehended Colin Stagg. He was released but, so convinced he had done it, they created a honey pot between him and “Lizzie James” in order for him to confess. The letters became increasingly darker and more violent, but Stagg maintained his innocence all the while. However, Robert Napper was found to be the actual murder after killing once again; afterwards, Britton was shunned away. He still maintains he never crossed the line and there are people out there to corroborate his story, although no one has.

I really enjoyed both chapters, but for different reasons. Chapter 8 introduced David Shayler, a character of both interest and pity. I really love conspiracy theories and Shayler’s take the cake. Each new theory was more misguided and he kept building his crazy cake higher and higher until no one wanted it anymore. The sad part is he believes it himself and appears more mentally ill than psychopathic. Chapter 9 showed the shady lengths the police will go to in order to prove their theories correct. The honey pot they ran on Stagg was so explicit and entrapping and the poor boy only played into to have sex.

“Something Borrowed”

In “Something Borrowed”, Malcolm Gladwell ponders to what extent is plagiarism stealing and whether or not it is plagiarism if one were to steal someone’s life story or simply words. Byrony Lavery writes a play called “Frozen” and it is a huge success. However, soon afterwards, Dorothy Lewis, a psychologist who works will serial killers, is bombarded with calls that she will love the hot new play; this is because it is seemingly all about her life, from her kiss with a serial killer to her affinity for biting. Lewis is very upset about and files a lawsuit against her. However, upon Gladwell meeting Lavery, she explains that she did not believe she was plagiarizing since she read her profile in the newspaper. She did not fail to credit Marian Partington, the women whose grief-stricken personal story went in to creating the mother of the murdered girl in her play. She thought it was fine and legal to take Lewis’ profile because it was “news”. Gladwell then goes on to explain countless musical artists who takes chords and notes from other songs, but do not believe it to be plagiarism because it is art and they make it their own. Art is considered much more acceptable to borrow from, but with the written word, people take serious offence to plagiarism and find it unacceptable.

I really enjoyed this piece. As a college student, the consequences of plagiarism are extremely severe. I agree with Gladwell in that, while it is not good, it should not ruin someones life completely. Gladwell found it in himself, just like in “Frozen,” to forgive Lavery for her transgressions of copying. It seems odd to me to think that anything is still original, since there are 7 billion on this plant now and have been many more over the last 2000 years. Full on theft of whole paragraphs is not acceptable but no one owns words but the dictionary.

Chapters 6 & 7

In this chapter, Jon Ronson witnesses the destruction corporate psychopaths can cause upon meeting Al Dunlap, an ex-CEO and corporate fat cat. Ronson goes to Shubuta, Mississippi, the previous home to a Sunbeam production plant. The shutdown of the plant created a derelict town and Al Dunlap was the cause of it all. After seeing the destruction Dunlap caused, Ronson arranges to meet with him in order to diagnose his psychopathy. Dunlap’s house is covered in gold, furnished with predatory sculptures and void of family pictures except majestic portraits of Dunlap and his second wife. With little diplomacy, Ronson asks Dunlap if he is willing to take the psychopath test. He agrees and although he fits many psychopathic traits, he affirms that they are not negatives but instead are the positive traits of leadership.

            While I liked both chapters, they were interesting for different reasons. Chapter 6 was an in-depth look at an executive psychopath. His weird obsession with gold and predators declares him not only a psychopath but also a serious creeper; even though he loves gold’s charm and luxury, it is really just tacky and gross. However, the superior of the two is chapter 7. The technique Charlotte Scott conceived using medication as an indicator to have a guest on TV is sickening. Preying on the mental illness of others for great ratings speaks volumes about our society. While what Charlotte did was unconscionable, she did so to appease a society obsessed with madness and shock. Who then is really to blame?

Ten Page Paper Blog

Are psychopaths and serial killers created by nature, nurture of both?

            I chose this question because I have always had a fascination with serial killers and psychopaths, a guilty pleasure entrenched even further by the Ronson book we are reading in class. This seems like an interesting question because while most of what Ronson says claims that psychopaths are made that way by nature, many serial killers are created by both aspects.. There is a lot of research and statistics on serial killer and psychopaths, although probably more on the former than the latter. I would probably have to read a lot of medical journals, books and interviews since I cannot conduct any research myself. Subquestions might include that since there is sure to be some overlap between serial killers and psychopaths, where they lie on the nature-nurture scale. Are there personality, psychosocial, physical, or mental similarities in serial killers who use different weapons or techniques and in psychopaths of the corporate world as oppose to just the common criminals. The biggest problem I will probably face is the same problem I believe criminal profilers or anyone doing an assessment of serial killers and psychopaths may face; I can only base my findings on those who have been caught or diagnosed.

How are the mentally ill and/or disabled being treated in our health care system?

            I chose this question because I have a deep connection with the mentally ill. It seems like an interesting question because the answer would be affecting millions of people. To look for information, I would go to the library and read lots of assessments of the health care system, as well as assessments of mental intuitions. I would also conduct interviews with a few people I know who are either mentally ill or disabled and hear what their options are on the treatment they have received. Subquestions may include whether or not certain types of mental illness are treated worse or better than other types of mental illness, whether or not certain disabilities are treated worse or better than other disabilities, and if the health care system treats the disabled better or worse than the mentally ill. The possible problems I feel I could run in to is there may be many governmental assessments that pad the actual goings-on in mental health institutions.

“The Psychopath Test”

In this chapter, Jon Ronson discusses Bob Hare and his studies on psychopathy, mainly “The Psychopath Test”.  Ronson attends Hare’s three-day seminar for criminal profilers, psychiatrists and other professionals of that ilk. While there, Ronson was introduced to the specifics of the twenty-point Hare PCL-R Checklist, which uses cues and traits to diagnose psychopathy. The conventionists watch several videos of convicted psychopathic felons and Hare’s Checklist held up to the psychopaths’’ behavior.  While he and several other are skeptical at first, they have all converted into believes by the end of the seminar. Afterwards, Ronson thinks himself an expert and feels so confident that he begins to diagnose those who have bothered or insulted him in the past. In the end, Hare admits to Ronson that there may be more psychopaths in the top tier of society than in prisons and that unnerves Ronson to no end.

Knowing Hare’s twenty-point PCL-R Checklist is the most invigorating idea to me. I often claim people are psychotic with no basis but if I had the clinical knowledge to do so, I would be so much more exciting to go out in to the world every day. I unapologetically make this declaration for my own selfish gain and in no way to help society. However, I should be careful to admit this after receiving my own score.