“When Evil Wears a Feminine Face” Comments, Page 1

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2 Comments (One Discussion Thread) on “When Evil Wears a Feminine Face”

  1. Hello Dr. Simon. As always, your article is very interesting. This one is perhaps moreso for me. I’m wondering whether you would regard Karla Homolka as psychopathic? She certainly got off lightly for the crimes in which she participated. However, I have another question. I am seeing a mother who describes her teen daughter as exhibiting behaviour and traits consistent with your description of psychopathy. The mother has had to ban the child from her home because of violent and destructive behaviour, steeling and lying. The mother has forwarded e-mails from the daughter to me and allowed me to listen to phone calls she receives from her while we are in session. The daughter is extremely (uncannily) manipulative and turns on a dime from sweetness to profoundly abuse. The mother is devastated that she has had to kick her daughter out for her own safety. This woman has 2 other children who do not seem to exhibit the same characteristics, althought the child’s father (whom the mother left) was similar but not as extreme. The mother continues to hold out hope for her daughter and basically I’m counselling her to remain strong in setting boundaries with her. It is very disturbing to see this in a teen.

    1. I’m not familiar with the Homolka case, so I really can’t comment on it. But regarding the other situation you describe, it’s unfortunate that character disturbance has become so prevalent in recent years and respects no gender boundaries. Many young women show varying degrees of it. And, as I have mentioned in several other articles, while it’s not always accurate to hang the label psychopath or sociopath on someone who lies and manipulates, there’s unfortunately a vast continuum of character disturbance upon which too many people fall, the most extreme of which, of course, are the psychopaths or sociopaths.

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