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
It was months after this and just before we saw the case when a
detective, who had kept the case in mind, went to the house to
get the goods which Edna maintained had been stolen. There he
found the ``mother'' and another woman smoking and thought he
detected signs of their being drug habitues. Later, I myself
felt sure of this point, but we were never able to state to what
drug they were addicted. Edna frequently stated she had been
accustomed to buying morphine for these women, but her statements
about its appearance and its cost were so at variance with the
facts that though it is likely she had bought something of the
kind, yet no amount of inquiry brought out the definite facts.
The woman's appearance and her remarkable lack of veracity were
both highly suggestive of a drug habit.
In our several interviews with this woman we were amazed by her
strange self-contradictions. It was not only that she stated
something different from what she had said a week before, but
even at different times on the same day her statements would be
changed. Concerning her relationship to Edna she gave us the
facts of the girl's birth and laughed off the idea that she was
not the girl's mother. ``Why, I can remember every moment of my
pregnancy with her.'' It was anomalous that this woman had hired
a righteous man as a lawyer to represent her and the girl. This
attorney, consulting with me, soon came to the conclusion that
the only interest he would serve in the case was that of the
girl, and then only in the effort to save her from the miserable
influences of her mother.
Edna's school record was most peculiar. She had been frequently
changed on account of her dishonesty. In one sectarian school
she was said to steal all sorts of useless things--bits of
string, pieces of pencils, and articles no one else would want.
She also stole a two dollar bill from a grocery store; the
cashier followed her and recovered the money from her person
right there in the school. Edna always denied that she took
things. While in another school she had flowers sent to all the
teachers and the florist's bill was presented to her there. In
still another school she took a pair of shoes from a boy at
recess, wore these and left her old ones in the locker room. Her
word was everywhere recognized as being most unreliable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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