Inside the Criminal Mind

Dr. Stanton Samenow

In 1984 a man named Stanton E. Samenow wrote a book entitled Inside the Criminal Mind. He advocated holding criminals completely accountable for their crimes. If a criminal changes the way he thinks, he can learn to live a responsible life. Somebody must help the criminal learn to identify then abandon thinking patterns that have guided his behavior for years.

He must be taught new thinking patterns that are self-evident and automatic for responsible people but are totally foreign to him.

Parents need to know about the Samenow book as they attempt to raise responsible offspring.

Criminals know right from wrong. In fact, some know the laws better than their lawyers. But they believe that whatever they want to do at any given time is right for them.

Does your teenager portray himself as a victim?

Criminals claim they were rejected by parents,
schools, neighbors, and employers, but rarely does a criminal say why he was rejected. Even as a young child he was sneaky and defiant, and the older he grew, the more he lied to his parents, stole and destroyed their property, and threatened them. He made life at home unbearable as he turned even innocuous requests into a battleground. He conned his parents to get what he wanted, or else he wore them down through endless argument. It was the criminal who rejected his parents, rather than visa versa.

By portraying themselves as victims, they seek sympathy and hope to absolve themselves of culpability. As a child, the criminal shuts his parents out of his life, because he does not want them or anyone else to know what he is up to. ...No matter how hard they try, mothers and fathers cannot penetrate the secrecy, and they discover that they do not know their own child.

...Despite a multitude of differences in their backgrounds and crime patterns, criminals are alike in one way: how they think. ...All regard the world as a chessboard over which they have total control,
and they perceive people as pawns to be pushed around at will. ...Toward a few, they are sentimental but rarely considerate. Some of their most altruistic acts have sinister motives.

This book was written before young people had smartphones, which they now can use to shut parents out of their lives. I think the ability to portray themselves as victims is definitely key. When you see that happening, raise a red flag in your mind.

The parents become the first in the criminal's string of victims. Only it is not a one-time victimization. The emotional turmoil of seeing their child injure others and jeopardize himself is like a persistent searing pain. The parents interminable struggle to cope with this wayward youngster saps their energy, drains their finances, weakens their marriage, and harms their other children. But the criminal child remains unmoved and unaffected.

Instead of allowing your teen to criticize or blame others, make him look at himself. What did he do in the situation? Make him evaluate himself before criticizing others.