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

by Cheryl Paradis Narrated by Callie Beaulieu

Overview

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.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Insanity pleas are infrequently used (about one percent of cases) and rarely successful (about 20 percent of these cases), yet the circumstances involving them are often more captivating than fiction. Furthermore, these cases raise compelling issues about human nature, good and evil, and free will. Paradis (psychology, Marymount Manhattan Coll.), a forensic psychologist, describes 18 of her most challenging cases spanning more than 20 years. Perpetrators include "subway pushers," battered wives who kill, mentally deranged murderers, and those who attempt "suicide by cop." Their psychiatric defenses include extreme emotional disturbance, brain disease/damage, and even sleep medication side effects. In the second half, Paradis covers legal competency evaluations and juveniles and the assessment of malingering or faking psychiatric symptoms to avoid guilt. The author's use of established psychological testing tools and interviewing techniques is instructive, and the vignettes are written in a clear narrative style. Several cases include sufficient courtroom detail to serve as script outlines for a forensic psychology series. VERDICT This authoritative and even riveting introduction to "neurolaw" should appeal to aspiring lawyers, mental competency specialists, and devotees of courtroom drama.—Antoinette Brinkman, M.L.S., Evansville, IN

Kirkus Reviews

Courtroom experiences of a forensic psychologist. Paradis has spent more than two decades evaluating mentally ill and violent individuals and giving expert testimony in court. Here she details criminal cases in which the prosecution or defense asked her to establish whether defendants were competent to stand trial, or to vet such psychiatric defenses as insanity and extreme emotional disturbance. The cases, all tried in New York City, are fascinating, unsettling and often horrifying. A mentally ill Manhattan man ("The Butcher of Tompkins Square Park") killed, dismembered and cooked his roommate. A former mental patient shot wildly into a group of sanitation workers, wounding two of them, in the belief that they were alien invaders. A resident in a single-room occupancy building who claimed to be a supreme being working for the CIA stabbed and killed an elderly neighbor. The author also discusses the psycho-legal issues of cases involving juveniles and abused wives. To make her evaluations, Paradis conducts interviews, administers psychological tests, studies hospital records and searches for any other information that will help answer key questions: Is a defendant ill (delusional, paranoid, schizophrenic, etc.) or faking mental illness? What was the mental state at the time of the crime? She notes that many cases pose moral dilemmas: "If a man obeys the voice of God instructing him to attack his mother, for example, is he really guilty and responsible for committing this crime? And should he be imprisoned or sent to a psychiatric hospital?" Paradis offers broad insights into mental illness and the courts. Most defendants who go to trial pleading insanity, she writes, are found guilty and stay in forensic hospitals for years. No matter what the psychiatric testimony, juries are always swayed by personal feelings toward the defendant. A defendant's state of mind is best determined from his videotaped statement made immediately after his arrest; those who are psychotic when committing an offense may be on medications and much improved when interviewed weeks later. A welcome inside account.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170667246
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	05/31/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos