Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

The antisocial character

The antisocial character Louis R. Hott In the early 1950s, I interviewed a 20-year-old man on the prison ward at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital who had planned, conspired, and helped commit a double murder with ruthless disregard for the consequences of his actionsJ In a very businesslike way he had persuaded a companion, a schizophrenic who was an only son of two physicians, to poison them by having them both drink champagne, which the instigator had filled with arsenic, on the parents' wedding anniversary night at a "celebration" by this foursome. The police listed their deaths as a double suicide for more than a year. Meanwhile, a life insurance policy of $150,000 was shared by the two youths. The reason for their eventual arrest was my patient's need to impress his girlfriend by constantly boasting of his role in killing his friend's parents; she eventually informed the police about the crime. As a result, both young men were placed on the prison ward for examination and observation. The couple's son was diagnosed as a schizophrenic and my patient as a "psycho- pathic personality." During my psychiatric interviews with him, he neither showed consciously remorse, guilt, shame, nor anxiety, nor did he admit feeling http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

The antisocial character

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis , Volume 39 (3): 10 – Sep 1, 1979

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/the-antisocial-character-TPfzzgxaxM

References (28)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1979 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF01253568
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Louis R. Hott In the early 1950s, I interviewed a 20-year-old man on the prison ward at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital who had planned, conspired, and helped commit a double murder with ruthless disregard for the consequences of his actionsJ In a very businesslike way he had persuaded a companion, a schizophrenic who was an only son of two physicians, to poison them by having them both drink champagne, which the instigator had filled with arsenic, on the parents' wedding anniversary night at a "celebration" by this foursome. The police listed their deaths as a double suicide for more than a year. Meanwhile, a life insurance policy of $150,000 was shared by the two youths. The reason for their eventual arrest was my patient's need to impress his girlfriend by constantly boasting of his role in killing his friend's parents; she eventually informed the police about the crime. As a result, both young men were placed on the prison ward for examination and observation. The couple's son was diagnosed as a schizophrenic and my patient as a "psycho- pathic personality." During my psychiatric interviews with him, he neither showed consciously remorse, guilt, shame, nor anxiety, nor did he admit feeling

Journal

The American Journal of PsychoanalysisSpringer Journals

Published: Sep 1, 1979

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

There are no references for this article.