The Mind of a Murderer: Privileged Access to the Demons That Drive Extreme Violence

To further his study of mass murderer Richard Speck and raise awareness of brain disorders, psychiatrist Marvin Ziporyn dared to meet with this killer in his prison cell twice a week. Although there have been many such "close encounters," the findings of trained behavioral professionals who developed relationships with extreme offenders have not been meaningfully catalogued and compared—until now.

The Mind of a Murderer: Privileged Access to the Demons That Drive Extreme Violence presents a series of cases in which a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor gained privileged access to a mass or serial murderer, going beyond the typical mental assessment to learn more about criminal behavior. Through their work, readers are granted a unique view of criminology and a better understanding of the criminal mind.

The book opens with the earliest professional observations of criminals in the late 19th century and goes on to explore the rudimentary behavioral profiling and case analysis of the early 20th century. It shows how, by the 1960s and 1970s, behavioral professionals recognized the need for intense study of extreme offenders and got close to the likes of Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy to gain a fuller picture of their psychological development. Finally, readers learn how today's behavioral professionals rely on neurobiological correlates to assess predatory, impulsive, and addictive behavior.

Katherine Ramsland, PhD, is associate professor of forensic psychology at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA. She has published 38 books, including Inside the Minds of Serial Killers: Why They Kill; The Devil's Dozen: How Cutting-Edge Forensics Took Down 12 Notorious Serial Killers; and Into The Devil's Den: How an FBI Informant Got Inside the Aryan Nations and a Special Agent Got Him Out Alive, which won the 2009 New Mexico Book of the Year Award.