Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic PsychologyHealy, William
Science
Pathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic Psychology
Healy, William
Criminal psychology; Swindlers and swindling
Adolf has worked for law firms and aided at times as an
investigator of criminal and vice situations. Occasionally he
has been much worried about his own court record. He did not
want it to stand against him. He thought he could get his sister
to swear that he never quarreled at home. Shortly afterwards he
served a short sentence for stealing from a law firm. Later he
came in and said he had a job in the legal department of a large
concern and that he had changed his name because he believed his
old name was ruined. ``I'm determined to be a lawyer. Ever
since a little fellow I have wanted to be--ever since I have had
an understanding of what the law means. I used to play court
with the other little ones and talk about law.'' At this time he
wanted a little loan. He had become particularly interested in
philanthropic work and thought he could do something on the side
about that--perhaps become a leader of boys, or help the
unprotected in some way. Adolf was really employed now to
investigate cases by some lawyer. About this time he had been
wearing a badge, impersonating an officer of a certain
philanthropic society.
For long this young man was concocting all sorts of schemes how
he might work in at the edge of legal affairs, as an interpreter,
a ``next friend,'' an investigator, etc. More recent activities
have taken Adolf away from the field of his first ambitions and
he has tried to use his talents in all sorts of adventuresome
ways. The accounts of his lying and impostures belong logically
together, as follows.
During all our acquaintance with Adolf we have known his word to
be absolutely untrustworthy. Many times he has descended upon
his friends with quite unnecessary stories, leading to nothing
but a lowering of their opinion of him. Repeatedly his
concoctions have been without ascertainable purpose. His
prevaricating nearly always centers about himself as some sort of
a hero and represents him to be a particularly good-hearted and
even definitely philanthropic person--one who loves all creatures
and does much for others. Pages might be taken in recounting his
falsehoods. Most of them, even when long drawn out, were fairly
coherent. I remember one instance as showing how particularly
uncalled for his prevarications were. After hearing one of his
tales, we started downtown together, but missed a car. Adolf
walked to the middle of the street and said he could see one
coming just a few blocks away. Being doubtful, I a minute later
went to look and no car even yet was in sight. Adolf sheepishly
stared in a shop window. He never took any pleasure in his
record of misdeeds. He was never boastful about them and indeed
seemed to have quite normal moral feeling. But so far, none of
his perceptions or apperceptions has led him to see the
astonishing futility of his own lying and other
misrepresentations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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