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
The situation then became more complicated through the girl's
giving more explanatory details to the social worker, somewhat
accusing her own family. It was at this time I first saw her.
She then acknowledged that this story of a man who had saved her
life was purely an invention. Now she stated that in the western
town where she lived she had been engaged to a young man who was
discovered to be a defaulter and who had recently died. When
this fellow was in trouble, his mother, while calling on Janet's
family, used to make signals to her and leave notes under the
table cover, asking for funds with which to help him out. This
was a great strain upon Janet and even more so was his death.
She could stand it no longer and fled the city. Her lover's
stealing was a secret which she had kept from her own family.
Before we had become acquainted with the true facts about the
family this girl gave us most extensive accounts of various
phases of her home life which included the most unlikely and
contradictory details. For instance, they had a large house with
beautiful grounds, yet before she left home she bought a sewing
machine for her mother, which she is paying for on weekly
installments. Her $8 a week is very little for her to live on
because she is paying this indebtedness. Janet wishes now to
take out a twenty year endowment policy in favor of her mother.
Her brothers and sister are all very bright, she tells us, but
she has never been particularly close to any member of her family
except her mother. The others always remind her that they are
better educated than she is. She expects to take up French and
Spanish in the evenings because they would be very helpful to her
commercially. She does not care to grow up, prefers simple
enjoyments, and has no desire for social affairs. She is only
desirous of improving her education. She relates her success as
a Sunday School teacher. She thinks at times she is very
nervous, and especially when she was in the high school she
showed signs of it. Then she used to stutter much, but of late
she has been able to control this.
At another time, very glibly and without the slightest show of
emotion, she continues with her story. Tells of frequent
fainting spells when she goes from one attack into another. She
has not had them just recently, but she used to have them at
home. Tells us now that her mother has been very sick and she
has been worrying much about her. She wanted to send money to
her and help support her. `It's awfully hard on one to know your
mother is terribly sick and to think you can't reach her if
anything should happen.'' (It is to be remembered that all this
was told when the girl must have known, if she had thought at
all, that we would certainly get the full facts in a day or so.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account