I admit I got sucked into the circus that just ended with a "not guilty" verdict. I watched every second, taped and re watched most of it. I apparently have no life. It's summer, and I have more time these days to waste.
There are a couple of things to say, from a psychological perspective:
1. There are lots of people who's lives are surrounded by lies and lying. They just usually don't kill their children. By "lots" I mean 1-5% or there abouts? There are several diagnoses that may contain this behavior. These folks don't have much if any anxiety when they tell lies, and are constantly maneuvering to get what they want at our expense, what Peck called "People of the Lie." If they do have anxiety, it comes as a result of what they think may happen to them if they're caught. No, really. They are all around us; they just don't get displayed as obviously as we saw in the trial. Their surface can be pristine and they can look like compassionate, caring folks. That's scary. I think the jury didn't get that.
2. Casey had been lying most of her life to her parents and others. She pretended to go to work every day for years before her daughter's death. How about that? What would it take to carry on with that charade? Cold, manipulative calculation. Her parents had learned to accept that she lied: she had stolen "hundreds" of checks from them and used them, stolen her grandfather's money, etc. according to reports. These were only the tips of some very unpleasant, very frigid icebergs, I'd be willing to guess. I am also betting that the family was front and center in the development of these traits, in a variety of ways. This is a sociopathic personality if I've ever seen one.
3. Make no mistake: her age, race, and appearance were factors in the verdict.
4. An alternate juror said he kept waiting for the prosecution to provide a motive. This is exactly what I mean. The people I describe don't need any more motive than that they are being inconvenienced. That's all it takes for them to lie, and in some cases, to kill. In essence, you are an object to them; when your usefulness expires, you do, too. They will discard you easily as a friend or lover or family member. Their planning can be well in advance and systematically executed. Maybe she didn't intend to kill her daughter, but her daughter died as a result of whatever she did, or whatever she didn't do to protect her.
5. Generally, these types of folks are also quite narcissistic. They imagine that they are the smartest folks around - smarter than you - and that they deserve all the attention and accolades and special privileges. This can even extend to not understanding why they should be accused or held accountable for their behavior.
6. Going for a lesser charge to start with, one that may have only demanded a 30 year sentence, might have generated different results.
7. The scariest scenario? I had a patient who feigned anxiety after telling me a simple lie, so as to demonstrate that he was an "honest" person, one with a conscience. That was a setup to telling me a big lie later to which he showed no anxiety, thus getting around any detection of it on my part. Yipes!
There are a couple of things to say, from a psychological perspective:
1. There are lots of people who's lives are surrounded by lies and lying. They just usually don't kill their children. By "lots" I mean 1-5% or there abouts? There are several diagnoses that may contain this behavior. These folks don't have much if any anxiety when they tell lies, and are constantly maneuvering to get what they want at our expense, what Peck called "People of the Lie." If they do have anxiety, it comes as a result of what they think may happen to them if they're caught. No, really. They are all around us; they just don't get displayed as obviously as we saw in the trial. Their surface can be pristine and they can look like compassionate, caring folks. That's scary. I think the jury didn't get that.
2. Casey had been lying most of her life to her parents and others. She pretended to go to work every day for years before her daughter's death. How about that? What would it take to carry on with that charade? Cold, manipulative calculation. Her parents had learned to accept that she lied: she had stolen "hundreds" of checks from them and used them, stolen her grandfather's money, etc. according to reports. These were only the tips of some very unpleasant, very frigid icebergs, I'd be willing to guess. I am also betting that the family was front and center in the development of these traits, in a variety of ways. This is a sociopathic personality if I've ever seen one.
3. Make no mistake: her age, race, and appearance were factors in the verdict.
4. An alternate juror said he kept waiting for the prosecution to provide a motive. This is exactly what I mean. The people I describe don't need any more motive than that they are being inconvenienced. That's all it takes for them to lie, and in some cases, to kill. In essence, you are an object to them; when your usefulness expires, you do, too. They will discard you easily as a friend or lover or family member. Their planning can be well in advance and systematically executed. Maybe she didn't intend to kill her daughter, but her daughter died as a result of whatever she did, or whatever she didn't do to protect her.
5. Generally, these types of folks are also quite narcissistic. They imagine that they are the smartest folks around - smarter than you - and that they deserve all the attention and accolades and special privileges. This can even extend to not understanding why they should be accused or held accountable for their behavior.
6. Going for a lesser charge to start with, one that may have only demanded a 30 year sentence, might have generated different results.
7. The scariest scenario? I had a patient who feigned anxiety after telling me a simple lie, so as to demonstrate that he was an "honest" person, one with a conscience. That was a setup to telling me a big lie later to which he showed no anxiety, thus getting around any detection of it on my part. Yipes!
No comments:
Post a Comment