The metaphor of the monster or predator--usually a sexual predator, drug
dealer in areas frequented by children, or psychopathic murderer--is a
powerful framing device in public discourse about how the criminal
justice system should respond to serious violent crimes. The cultural
history of the monster reveals significant features of the metaphor that
raise questions about the extent to which justice can be achieved in
both the punishment of what are regarded as "monstrous crimes" and the
treatment of those who commit such crimes.
This book is the first to address the connections between the history of
the monster metaphor, the 19th century idea of the criminal
as monster, and the 20th century conception of the
psychopath: the new monster. The book addresses, in particular, the ways
in which the metaphor is used to scapegoat certain categories of crimes
and criminals for anxieties about our own potential for deviant, and,
indeed, dangerous interests. These interests have long been found to be
associated with the fascination people have for monsters in most
cultures, including the West.
The book outlines an alternative public health approach to sex
offending, and crime in general, that can incorporate what we know about
illness prevention while protecting the rights, and humanity, of
offenders.
The book concludes with an analysis of the role of forensic
psychiatrists and psychologists in representing criminal defendants as
psychopaths, or persons with certain personality disorders. As
psychiatry and psychology have transformed bad behavior into mad
behavior, these institutions have taken on the legal role of helping to
sort out the most dangerous among us for preventive "treatment" rather
than carceral "punishment."
