Inside the Criminal Mind

1. Criminals Reject Societal Causes, Embrace Personal Choice

Behavior is a product of thinking, and so it is incumbent upon anyone formulating policy or working with offenders to understand how criminals think.

Rejecting the Victim Narrative. Criminals are not hapless victims of poverty, bad parenting, or societal ills. They actively reject positive influences and make conscious choices to engage in destructive behavior, regardless of their circumstances. They exploit the search for causes to offer even more excuses for their crimes.

Focus on Thinking, Not Causes. Understanding how criminals think—their decision-making processes, expectations, and self-perceptions—is crucial for effective policy and intervention. This approach shifts the focus from external factors to the internal drivers of criminal behavior.

Personal Responsibility. While environmental factors may present challenges, they do not determine a person's path. Many individuals from similar backgrounds choose not to engage in criminal activity, highlighting the importance of personal responsibility and individual choices.

2. Parents Are Victims, Not Creators, of Criminality

Child-rearing is not a one-way street.

Challenging Parental Blame. Parents are often unfairly blamed for their children's criminal behavior. Many parents of delinquent children are responsible, caring individuals who have done their best to raise their children well.

The Child's Rejection. Criminal children often reject their parents' values and guidance, actively choosing a destructive path despite their parents' efforts. This rejection, not parental inadequacy, is a key factor in their criminality.

Individual Temperament. Children have different temperaments from birth, and some are inherently more challenging to raise. Parents cannot change a child's basic temperament, but they can control how they respond to it.

3. Peer Pressure Is a Convenient Excuse, Not a Compulsion

“Us kinds find each other,” observed a youthful offender.

Seeking Like-Minded Individuals. Criminals are not coerced into crime by peer pressure. They actively seek out others who share their interests and values, forming relationships based on mutual attraction to destructive behavior.

Rejecting Responsible Peers. Criminally inclined youths often reject responsible peers and activities, gravitating towards those who are daring, disobedient, and engaged in illicit conduct. This choice reflects their underlying values and desires.

Personal Agency. While peer influence exists, it does not negate personal agency. Responsible individuals can resist negative peer pressure, while those with a criminal personality readily embrace it as an opportunity to engage in destructive behavior.

4. School Is a Battleground, Not a Sanctuary, for the Criminal Mind

The criminal rejects school long before it rejects him.

Rejecting Education. Criminals are often alienated from school because their objectives have little relationship to academic learning. They exploit the school as an arena for crime or as a cover for it.

Three Patterns of Criminals in Education:

• Dropouts: Disruptive students who leave school early.
• Drop-offs: Students who perform well initially but decline as academic demands increase.
• High Achievers: Academically successful students who use their achievements to mask their criminal activities.

Disrupting the Learning Process. Criminal students disrupt the learning process for others, creating a climate of fear and interfering with education. They are not merely victims of school alienation but active agents in creating a hostile environment.

5. Work Is a Means to an End, Not an End in Itself, for Criminals

To work is to become a slave.

Anti-Work Ethos. Criminals often view work as a form of enslavement, rejecting routine and responsibility. They may hold jobs intermittently to appear respectable or exploit them for criminal gain.

Inflated Self-Image. Criminals believe they are entitled to high-paying positions and are unwilling to perform menial labor. They may start their own businesses with unrealistic expectations of success, often engaging in fraudulent practices.

Using Work for Crime. Criminals may use their jobs to commit theft, embezzlement, or other crimes, exploiting their positions of trust for personal enrichment. They see work as an opportunity for power-seeking rather than a source of personal fulfillment.

6. "My Way or the Highway": The Criminal's Uncompromising Worldview

I made myself a little god at every turn.

Craving Power and Control. Criminals crave power for its own sake and will do almost anything to acquire it. They value people only insofar as they bend to their will or can be manipulated.

Unrealistic Expectations. Criminals expect to prevail in every situation and become angry when others fail to meet their unrealistic expectations. They view other people as pawns to manipulate.

Lack of Empathy. Criminals are indifferent to the suffering they cause and have little or no remorse for their actions. They are focused on their own needs and desires, disregarding the impact of their behavior on others.

7. Sex Is a Tool for Power, Not Intimacy, in the Criminal's Arsenal

Sex has always been the main objective in every relationship, if not the only objective.

Sex as a Means of Control. Criminals often use sex as a way to assert power and control over others, rather than as an expression of intimacy or affection. They may view their partners as objects to be conquered and manipulated.

Lack of Respect for Partners. Criminals often have little regard for their partners' feelings or desires, prioritizing their own gratification and ego. They may engage in infidelity, abuse, or exploitation.

Sexual Offenses. Some criminals commit sexual offenses, such as rape or child molestation, as a way to exercise power and control over vulnerable individuals. These acts are driven by a desire for dominance rather than sexual fulfillment.

8. Anger Is a Constant Companion, Not an Occasional Emotion

I can change from tears to ice and back again.

Perpetual State of Anger. Criminals often simmer with anger because people do not satisfy their expectations. They fail to confirm his perception of himself as powerful, unique, and superior.

Personalizing Annoyances. What most people find to be routine annoyances, the criminal personalizes as threats to his entire self-image. They react as though their entire self-image is at stake.

Uncontrolled Rage. The criminal simmers with anger throughout his life. When people fail to fulfill his unrealistic expectations, he reacts as though his entire self-image is at stake.

9. The "Good Person" Facade Masks a Destructive Core

No matter how much physical, financial, or emotional damage he causes, the criminal believes he is a good person.

Maintaining a Positive Self-Image. Despite their destructive behavior, criminals believe they are good people. They rationalize their actions, minimize their impact, and blame others for their problems.

Maudlin Sentiment and Brutality. Criminals can exhibit both maudlin sentiment and savage brutality, often within the same individual. They may perform kind deeds while simultaneously engaging in harmful behavior.

Barrier to Change. The criminal's view of himself as a decent person constitutes a major barrier to change. They are unwilling to acknowledge their flaws and take responsibility for their actions.

10. Mental Illness Is a Convenient Alibi, Not a Root Cause

Mental health professionals piece together information to understand perpetrators of mass shootings and other horrifying crimes.

Exploiting Mental Health Diagnoses. Criminals may feign mental illness to avoid responsibility for their actions. They are skilled at deception and do not want others to know who they are.

Mental Illness vs. Criminal Personality. Trained psychiatrists and psychologists often fail to recognize that they are dealing with the type of personality described in this book. They may misinterpret criminal behavior as symptoms of mental illness.

Insanity Defense. When experts cannot identify a motive for a crime, they may conclude that the perpetrator was legally insane. However, acquittals due to a successful insanity defense are rare.

11. Prison Is a Temporary Setback, Not a Transformative Experience

Human nature does not change, and thus the criminal mind that I described in earlier editions of this book has not changed.

Limited Impact of Incarceration. Prison may serve as a deterrent, retribution, or means of incapacitation, but it rarely leads to genuine rehabilitation. Criminals often remain unchanged, with many returning to prison.

Gang Influence. Gangs operate within prison walls, with their leaders having widespread influence not only on prison life but also outside the correctional facility.

Need for Effective Programs. As we learn more about the criminal mind, we shall be in a better position to help some offenders change so as to live productive and responsible lives.

12. Habilitation, Not Rehabilitation, Is the Key to Change

As we learn more about the criminal mind, we shall be in a better position to help some offenders change so as to live productive and responsible lives.

Beyond Rehabilitation. The conventional wisdom about causes still guides the efforts of many who craft policies to combat crime. Policy makers waste billions of dollars as they naively seek to combat criminal behavior by eradicating its so-called environmental “root causes.”

Focus on Thinking Errors. This process entails helping offenders identify “errors” in their thinking, come to terms with the destructive consequences of that thinking, then learn and implement corrective concepts.

An Alternative Approach. Programs that employ traditional psychological approaches remain unsuccessful. For example, “anger management” programs are widely used in efforts to help offenders change. Such efforts are doomed, in that they actually legitimize anger. I shall propose an alternative approach.

Last updated: March 3, 2025