Tangled Web UK Review May 2007
Sadistic Killers: Profiles of Pathological Predators by
Carol Anne Davis
pbk out February 07
(Summersdale Pub)
at £7.99
Her latest True Crime book – Carol also writes Crime Fiction – in which the
focus is on a certain type of killer, probably the nastiest kind ,
where sadism is the prime moving force and gives - what the murderer is after
-sexual satisfaction. Her aim is to find answers to the questions, "How can we
prevent sadistic killers being formed ?" and also "How can we treat those who
already exist and who have committed terrible crimes?".
So, in order to find the answer to these questions, the author examines in
detail the lives and crimes of an impressive number of killers who fit into this
category and in doing so interesting facts emerge regarding, for example,
differences between British, American and Australian killers of this kind. A
section is devoted to each of these and also particular attention is given to
Female Sadists. Consensual Sadomasochism forms the subject of another
chapter where certain well known people are given as examples in order to
provide further enlightenment on the subject.
We are probably all familiar with the conditions which the author lists and
which we know can influence the development and nurturing of the kind of
nature which results in the horrendous acts we read about in this book – life
in an impoverished and brutalising home environment , a school life where
sadistic methods of control are practised daily , perhaps prison experiences
where the same ingredients are present.
Carol Anne Davis, in attempting to provide answers to the questions she has
posed, has spent time with and has observed the work of Dr Bob Johnson, a
prison psychiatrist, who treated, with some success, a number of
psychopaths, before the unit where he was carrying out his work was closed.
A BBC Panorama programme publicised his important work, but it was too
late to change the decision by the then Home Secretary, Michael Howard.
This book is well researched, thorough in all aspects of the subject examined,
and the author's plea for a more enlightened approach to the treatment of
such killers can only be considered admirable.
(
Phyllis Davies
)
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