This post is to justify my interest in the Casey Anthony case. I've always been amazed by sociopaths. I'm sure you've known at least one or two in your lifetime. They say its more of an anti-social sliding scale than a simple and singular diagnosis. In fact, it's not a diagnosis at all. But I digress: they fascinate me. When I first heard the story of this 22 year old who claimed someone kidnapped her daughter, but she didn't bother to report it for a month, I thought "Either this person knows exactly where her daughter is and just doesn't want to say anything or she is by far one of the biggest sociopaths I've ever seen." I said that because she was clearly not even a little bit concerned about her kid, so I figured she had to know where she was. Because even a sociopath would be upset that they got caught ... she didn't seem like she had a care in the world.
Well, we know the truth now. She's very far on the anti-social scale, but I don't think as much as Bundy or Ramirez. Especially Ramirez, who actively hates humanity. What I think makes her case so fascinating is the complete lack of forethought that went into her crimes (remember the check-forging, stealing, etc). All the other sociopaths that I am aware of (and obviously I am no expert) had a strong sense of self-preservation. Casey seems completely incapable of worrying about anything except what is happening to her at that very moment in time.
I read a book recently called Stumbling on Happiness. In it, the author talks about how happy lobotomized mental patients are. They found that the reason for this was that the prefrontal cortex controls planning and forethought. In the early days of lobotomies they had assumed the prefrontal cortex was not useful at all, but removing it had the pleasant side-effect of making their most anxiety-ridden patients as calm and happy as clams. The reason being that much of anxiety has to do with what you're thinking might or is going to happen. Take away that part of the brain and poof - no more worries. Literally.
So I got to wondering if Sociopaths have something wrong with their prefrontal cortex. I looked it up and guess what? They do have some strange wiring in the prefrontal cortex after all. Evidently it's well known, but hey, it was news to me.
Here's an interesting article about it: http://indioheathen.blogspot.com/2007/01/sociopathy-and-sado-authoritarianism.html If you're interested, google sociopaths & Prefrontal cortex. You'll get a ton of info about the biological roots of clinical sociopathy.
So who else among you has been following this case? What are your thoughts on Casey's motivations, her psychology, and anything else that would bring a person to the point of murdering their own child and not even bothering to do a half-way decent job of covering it up?
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2 comments:
Dont forget Scott Peterson. He would lie to someone's face when in literally 5 minutes his lie could and would be disproven. He and Casey are two peas in a pod. You should read up on the early days of the Peterson investigation. He tried to at least fake a few tears. Casey is a sociopath. I am more fascinated by the people who actually entertain the notion that she may be innocent or that she may have had an accident. Her baby daughter went missing and she did not report it for 31 days. 31 days. If I cant see my kid for 10 seconds in Target my heart starts pounding. Her car smelled like a dead body. There was a death band on the hair in the trunk. She partied and had fun for those 31 days. Story over. It is obvious she did it and its equally obvious to me that she isnt covering up an accident.
I still haven't looked into his case - but I should. I wonder how it is that Lacy didn't know he was a sociopath? Even knowing most sociopaths are not murderers, why would you want to associate with one? Surely she must have seen his sociopathic tendencies. How can you not notice that in someone?
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