4 ms·

So is being any sort of successful criminal. A pedophile, for example.

vanderZwan 13y ago
I'm not sure if I would lump in "successful criminal" - which implies doing something criminal - with a mental sickness (sexual attraction to children) that may or may not actually be acted upon.
undoware 13y ago
vanderzwan: I'm intentionally dealing with public-paranoia stereotypes: The pedophile on the hunt; the crack dealer at the schoolyard; etc. etc. I meant 'pedophile', and used this charged word, specifically to pick out how our reactions often blind us; but in doing so, I myself equivocated between illness and criminality. Ew. Thanks for catching that.
Arnor 13y ago
I still have no idea what you're trying to say. I don't have an abundance of trust for psychopaths, pedophiles, or crack dealers. I've worked very closely with psychopaths (one was also a pedophile) in an institutional setting in the past. I had to assume that every interaction was a manipulation. Even being extremely careful, it was easy to get caught from time to time particularly when I was understaffed (i.e. 1 staff to 3 clients). Reading the top parent of this thread was very interesting because he was thinking in exactly the way I had been conditioned to think at that time in my life. When a person in your life lies to you or manipulates you, you will certainly begin to question the value of other interactions from that person. Once you have confirmed that the person has a personality type that makes them particularly likely to lie or manipulate (compulsive liars, psychopaths, criminals, what have you), you must be careful about your interpretation of any communication. But here's the real difficulty: If a psychopath is trying to manipulate you and knows that you are conscious of it, the manipulations morph. They adapt to your particular defense. In the institutional setting, they're in it for the long haul so they don't mind missing a couple times. In fact, getting caught is often part of the manipulation. I wandered off my initial topic here so I better wrap it up.
- cdash 13y ago
  Everyone lies and manipulates you, not just psychopaths.
  - Arnor 13y ago
    Very true. Still, when you are aware of a particular propensity for manipulation, it is prudent to tread carefully.
  - DanBC 13y ago
    But psychopaths are particularly effective at it, and lack the boundaries that stop other people from being as good at lying.
DanBC 13y ago
lots of successful criminals are lousy liars. I'm not sure what your point is? Certainly lots of paedophiles are terrible liars.

I'm not sure if I would lump in "successful criminal" - which implies doing something criminal - with a mental sickness (sexual attraction to children) that may or may not actually be acted upon.

undoware 13y ago

vanderzwan: I'm intentionally dealing with public-paranoia stereotypes: The pedophile on the hunt; the crack dealer at the schoolyard; etc. etc. I meant 'pedophile', and used this charged word, specifically to pick out how our reactions often blind us; but in doing so, I myself equivocated between illness and criminality. Ew. Thanks for catching that.

Arnor 13y ago

I still have no idea what you're trying to say. I don't have an abundance of trust for psychopaths, pedophiles, or crack dealers. I've worked very closely with psychopaths (one was also a pedophile) in an institutional setting in the past. I had to assume that every interaction was a manipulation. Even being extremely careful, it was easy to get caught from time to time particularly when I was understaffed (i.e. 1 staff to 3 clients). Reading the top parent of this thread was very interesting because he was thinking in exactly the way I had been conditioned to think at that time in my life. When a person in your life lies to you or manipulates you, you will certainly begin to question the value of other interactions from that person. Once you have confirmed that the person has a personality type that makes them particularly likely to lie or manipulate (compulsive liars, psychopaths, criminals, what have you), you must be careful about your interpretation of any communication. But here's the real difficulty: If a psychopath is trying to manipulate you and knows that you are conscious of it, the manipulations morph. They adapt to your particular defense. In the institutional setting, they're in it for the long haul so they don't mind missing a couple times. In fact, getting caught is often part of the manipulation. I wandered off my initial topic here so I better wrap it up.

cdash 13y ago
Everyone lies and manipulates you, not just psychopaths.
- Arnor 13y ago
  Very true. Still, when you are aware of a particular propensity for manipulation, it is prudent to tread carefully.
- DanBC 13y ago
  But psychopaths are particularly effective at it, and lack the boundaries that stop other people from being as good at lying.

DanBC 13y ago

lots of successful criminals are lousy liars. I'm not sure what your point is? Certainly lots of paedophiles are terrible liars.