Staring into the Abyss: Mysteries, Profiles, and My Quest to Decode the Criminal Mind
by (u. S.) Ann Walbert Burgess, Etc.
About This Novel
One day in mid-September 1978, Ann Walbert Burgess received a call from a stranger. At this time, she was already a well-known expert in the field of psychological trauma research on victims of sexual violence in the United States. Her series of studies not only fully discussed the huge psychological trauma suffered by victims of sexual violence, but also subverted the academic community's systematic understanding of sexual violence. Burgess may not have thought at the time that this phone invitation from the FBI would completely change his academic career and life trajectory, trigger huge changes in the field of criminal psychology, and even cause quite a stir in popular culture. In the late 1970s, an undercurrent of violence was sweeping the United States. Not only are the number of sexual crimes and murder cases rising, there are also an endless stream of serious and unsolved cases with cruel and bloody methods that the police are helpless to do, which has had an extremely negative impact on the public's psychology. The FBI invitation formally kicked off decades of criminal psychology research and law enforcement for Burgess. Under the guidance of criminal profiling methods, murder suspects who caused great panic among the public were arrested one after another. This book is Burgess's comprehensive review and self-examination of his career. It includes the joy of catching a criminal suspect before he commits another crime, the strong empathy and care for the victim, and the regret and reflection that profiling may lead to the injustice of innocent people. There have been too many literary and artistic works in various forms about profilers and the serious and cold cases they solved, but almost no one has ever mentioned the real mastermind and the only woman among them. Now, it's time to hear her story and her voice.
What Readers Think
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Official(1)Scraped 7d ago
A very easy-to-read introductory book on criminal psychology
Some of the cases used in the book are taken from some serial killers that the author participated in profiling. The author stands at the intersection of the criminal field and the psychology field, and explains the real criminal profiling process through actual cases. What impressed me most was that in the last part, the author described the trend of mass media's craze for criminals in recent years. This trend is reflected in the fact that we have produced many crime-related film and television works, in which more and more attention is paid to the murderer, his upbringing, what he looks like, and the charming criminals. We forget that the original intention of interpreting crime is to reduce the number of victims and protect the victims. Based on this trend, the author said that as a criminal psychologist, he has participated in judicial decisions and provided profiling reports to testify in court in recent years. He hopes that the judgment of the judicial system through the perspective of a criminal psychologist will reduce some misunderstandings about the murderer. No matter what, a crime is a crime. I may appreciate how Uncle Ba can eat people gracefully, but in reality, it would be better to catch him_(:з∠)_
Rating
Community(0)
Official(1)Scraped 7d ago
A very easy-to-read introductory book on criminal psychology
Some of the cases used in the book are taken from some serial killers that the author participated in profiling. The author stands at the intersection of the criminal field and the psychology field, and explains the real criminal profiling process through actual cases. What impressed me most was that in the last part, the author described the trend of mass media's craze for criminals in recent years. This trend is reflected in the fact that we have produced many crime-related film and television works, in which more and more attention is paid to the murderer, his upbringing, what he looks like, and the charming criminals. We forget that the original intention of interpreting crime is to reduce the number of victims and protect the victims. Based on this trend, the author said that as a criminal psychologist, he has participated in judicial decisions and provided profiling reports to testify in court in recent years. He hopes that the judgment of the judicial system through the perspective of a criminal psychologist will reduce some misunderstandings about the murderer. No matter what, a crime is a crime. I may appreciate how Uncle Ba can eat people gracefully, but in reality, it would be better to catch him_(:з∠)_
