Offender Dynamics in Cases of

Severe Physical Abuse and

Neglect

Anna C. Salter, Ph.D.
Agenda
Dynamics of offenders

Difference in neglect and abuse

Ability of workers to recognize malevolence
Whether you can observe a thing or not
depends on the theory which you use. It is
the theory which decides what can be
observed.
Einstein
Effects of Sexual Abuse
Diminishes the subjects chance of
psychosis and allows better adjustment
to the external world.

(Rascovsky & Rascovsky, 1950, p. 45)
Effects of Sexual Abuse
Relatively minor effect on adult
adjustment.

(Gagnon, 1965, p. 177)
Effects of Sexual Abuse
May be either a positive, healthy
experience of, at worse, neutral and
dull.

(DeMott, 1980)

Children Not Severely Damaged
by Incest with a Parent
! Setting Fires
! Vandalism
! Disrupting Other
Children
! Stealing
! Aggression Against
Girls
! Sexually Abusing Boys
! Exhibitionism
! Fearing Calamity
! Suicidal Ideation
! Manipulative and
Smooth


(Yorukoglu & Kemph, 1966)
Malevolence


Intending to Do Harm
Malevolent Transformation
Harry Stack Sullivan


The realization that one lives with people
who mean to do them harm
Offenders
! Justify and rationalize behavior
! Behavioral attacks on child
We had to put locks on the freezer
because she stole food

! Characterological Attacks
Spawn of Satan
Benevolent Transformation
! Child My fault
Did something to deserve it

Am a bad person

He didnt really mean to hurt me


Benevolent Transformation
Professionals

In the Face of Malevolence
! Minimize
! Excuse & justify
! Project their own motivations
! Protecting their own world view
Good Parents Do Bad Things
! 14 month-old
! Adopted from Russia
Video from Orphanage
Well-appearing child in crib
No obvious injury
No self-injurious behaviors
Able to crawl
Pull up, cruise
Could babble, hums himself to sleep, mimics
noises & actions, waves/claps
Takes bottle, baby food, & table food; has
good appetite.
! After 4 5 days in hotel,
! Started to develop bruises:
! Upper & lower parts of both feet, face,
and arms
Foot bruises, soles & dorsum, bilateral
The shoes
Findings at hospital
! Bruises on mid & right side of forehead
! Pinch mark bruises on both ears
! Petechiae on both eyelids
! Bruises encompassing entire left side of
face, extending to temple
! 1.5 cm round bruise on abdomen
! Bruises and swelling of both feet (R > L)
from the toes to mid arch, with visible linear
pattern across the top and blue hematomas
on center of sole of each foot
! Abdominal CT: free fluid around SMA and
prominent pancreas, c/w trauma
! Acute oblique fracture of R mid femur
Dx: Abuse
! Fractured femur
! Characteristic abusive bruises on face, ears
! Suspicious bruises on feet
! Abdominal trauma: CT evidence of injury with
overlying abdominal bruise
! Liver injury: elevated liver enzymes that
normalized w/in several days

Reported to CPS

Parents state injuries due to extreme self-
injurious behavior ,tantrums

Removed from home

Placed w/ adoptive grandparents.
Finding

! Parents appealed
! Dozens of community
supporters at hearing
! Agency decision
overturned
! Child returned to home
! Record expunged.
Judge states:
Sometimes
good people
do bad
things
14 Month Old
! Broken femur
! Returned to parents
! No CPS follow-up
Abuse Dynamics
Didnt
Do It


Abuse Dynamics
Didnt Accidental
Do It


Abuse Dynamics
Didnt Accidental Justified
Do It ?


Abuse Dynamics
Didnt Accidental Justified Impulsive
Do It ?


Abuse Dynamics
Didnt Accidental Justified Impulsive Malevolent
Do It ?


Amber
! 4 pounds at birth
! Mother would not hold or cuddle
! Father working too many hours
! Age 4 parents split
! Mother moved in with registered sex offender
! Father moved to WI
! Father asked for custody given sex offender in
house
! Mother surrendered rights
Amber
! Began living with father and stepmother
Melanie at age 9
! Family told mental health she was violent
! Had threatened family
! Had a knife under pillow she said afraid an
imaginary friend would kill her
! Disclosed sexual abuse by Texas sex offender
! Hospitalized for mental health evaluation
! Hospital saw none of behaviors family said
but diagnosed her as RAD with autistic
fantasy and PTSD on parent report
! Didnt want to leave the hospital
! Drew picture of family playing together and
her outside the house
! Sent home with recommendation for after
care
! School saw none of the behaviors
! Crying when had to go home
! Wouldnt get off the bus
! Parents pulled her out of school
! Said school bribed her with food
! Sent request for forwarding transcripts
Disappeared from Public View
2007 2012

2012
! Cold winter night
! Car riding by saw a child on the street
barefoot with no coat
! Stopped, picked her up and called police
Pillow
Basement
! No heat
! No hot water
! No bathroom
! Forced to eat feces
Stepmom
! Condition of marriage father had to give
Amber to her
! Call her Majesty or Master

! Threatened Amber with being killed
! Beaten, strangled
Starvation
Had to ask for food
Usually denied
Take trash out neighbors saw her tearing
garbage bags open and wolfing down food
Neighbors called CPS multiple times
Cameras on pantries to make sure she
didnt open them
Had to clean the house nude
Disappeared from Public View
2007 2012

! No homeschooling
! No socialization with peers
! No out of home activities
! No sports
! No church
Weight from Age 10 to Age 15
! Age 10 80 pounds
! Age 15 68 pounds
Sadism?
! DSM-5 Only sexual sadism
DSM 5 Definition of Sadism
! Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent
and intense sexual arousal from the physical or
psychological suffering of another person, as
manifested by fantasies, urges or behaviors.
! The individual as acted on these sexual urges
with a nonconsenting person, or the sexual
urges or fantasies cause clinically significant
distress or impairment in social, occupational,
or other important areas of functioning.
What is

Absolute control of childs food, elimination, air,
access to socialization?

Insisting on being called master and
majesty?

Starving a child?

Making a child eat feces?
Diagnostic Issues
Is a thirst for power and control a diagnosis?

Is cruelty a diagnosis?


Legally
Is this neglect or abuse?
! Neglect Failure to bond
Failure to provide
Failure to take care
Failure to notice

! Abuse Intentional harm
Malevolence
Defense
! Too violent to be upstairs
! Starved herself
! Anorexic
! Autistic
! Ate too much if allowed to eat
! Thought she was diabetic; needed to
restrict sugar
! Parents doing the best they could
Defense
! Door not locked
! Alarm just went off so they knew she was
upstairs
! What happened if went upstairs?
! Child terrified of loud noises
1
st
Trial of Dad

Hung Jury
Childs Attributions Upon Release
! I am autistic
! I am anorexic
! I am not trust-worthy so I cant be upstairs
! I steal food
Attributions
! Internal My fault
! External Perpetrator or familys
fault
Cost of Attributions CSA
Internal
Shame, guilt
Withdraws from others

Negative mental health outcomes
Depression; suicidality, low self-esteem;
interpersonal problems; PTSD

(Zinzow, 2010; Weiner & Graham, 1999; Feiring et al.,
2002)
Cost of Attributions CSA
Perpetrator Blame

Generally better outcomes
(Feiring et al., 2002; Hoagwood, 1990; Lev-
Wiesel, 2000)

But
Anger, outrage, unjust world
Helplessness
Malevolent transformation: Frightening
What Causes Internal Versus
External Attributions? CSA
! More severe abuse
(Duration, type, frequency) internal

! More physical force or coercion external
(Chaffin et al., 1997; Hunter, et al., 1992; Wyatt &
Newcomb, 1990; Zinzow et al., 2010)
Recognizing Malevolence
! CPS: Why do you steal food?
! Amber: Because I am hungry
World View and the Ability to
Recognize Malevolence
Neighbor
I choose to believe there is good in
everyone because of the unintended
consequences to my life if I do not. I feel
an openness to others that wouldnt be
there if I didnt believe that theres good
in everybody.
Positive Illusions
! I have a guardian angel that looks after
me.
! Everything happens for a reason.
! Things turn out for the best.
Matlin & Stang.
The Pollyanna Principle.
1978

Summarized over 1000 studies
1. When exposed to pleasant and
unpleasant experiences for equal periods
of time, people report the pleasant were
more frequent.
2. People remember pleasant information
better and more accurately than
unpleasant.
(Matlin and Stang, 1978)

3. Pleasant information is easier to learn
than unpleasant.
4. People recognize pleasant words quicker
than unpleasant.
(Matlin and Stang, 1978)
Exploring Dynamics of Malevolence

Man Who Beat 3-Year-Old to Death
Johnny
! Age 30
! Caucasian
! Profession: Drug Dealer
! Preferred Coping: Women & drugs
! Offense: Beat 3-year-old to death
! Boyfriend of mom
! In home for 3 weeks
Injuries to Three-Year-Old
Blunt force injuries to liver, lacerations, multiple
hematomas of the head, pancreas, intestine,
interior vena cava to heart connection,
diaphragm and right testis, colitis and pancreas
damage
Head injuries consistent with shaking or having
head impact a fixed object or hitting with an
object. Even brain stem damaged.
Liver transected and divided in half
Child terrified of Johnny
Told aunt he hated Johnny
Showed her his swollen and bruised penis
and testicles
Said Johnny beat them
Aunt confronted mom kept leaving him
with Johnny

Mothers Reaction
! In hospital after childs death, told sister
she still loved Johnny and didnt want him
to go to jail
! Sister slapped her
Assaulted Mother as a Juvenile
She tried to put me on 5150 cause she
knew I was spiraling down. She picked up a
phone and I smacked it out of her hand. . .
When they came I kicked the headlights and
taillights out with my bare feet. I smashed a
windshield out with my hand. They knew I
didnt care. They asked me what I was
doing. I didnt really have a good answer.

Domestic Violence
The first time I remember hitting a girl, she
had ran into an ex-boyfriend. Instead of
telling me that, she tried to play it off like she
was with a girlfriend. I found out. . . I felt like
there was an ulterior motive. She was
obviously working against me, and I would
snap. I would feel bad afterwards,
sometimes during it, but I would have to do
it.
Violence as Arousing
It was also exciting, which sounds weird.
There was one or two women that would
understand that the confrontation, the
yelling, the hitting, it was arousing as well.
Thats hard to cope with. It wasnt hard for
me to cope with. I understand it. But to find
women who understand it, thats a different
story.
History of Violence

! On probation for false imprisonment. Beat
a woman (hit over 50 times), pulled her hair,
held a knife to her throat, and put out a
cigarette on her chest
Abuse to 3-Year-Old
That last night, I didnt want to be there any
more. I didnt really want to be there. I just
didnt have any other place to stay. They told
me to stay with my dad. He wouldnt stop the
drugs. He wouldnt clean the place up. He said,
go stay with this broad. All you have to do is
date her. . . I just wanted a place to stay and a
ride to work. She thought it was a relationship.
To me it was just sex. . . I was very boisterous
that I didnt want to be there. I didnt want the
kids around me.
On Violence
It just makes sense. Thats the way Ive
always. Its always been me. Violence is, I
cant explain it. Its right. It makes
sense. . . Ive been with some women who
know that if they push me, they make me
jealous, its exciting to me and its exciting
to them.
Q. What is violence to you?

A. I guess I dont understand the question. Its
just there. Until the longest time I figured
everybody lived the same way I lived. Everybody
had the same thoughts I had.
Q. Do you regret the violence?
A. I had to. It wasnt like there was a day I
decided I could go this way and have my life go
this way or go that way. It was just what I had to
do ever since I can remember.
Q. Why did you have to do it?
A. I dont know. The situation called for. I never
did anything I didnt have to do. Ive been
involved in courts my whole life. Obviously the
people like that, they dont understand it.
On Violence
Q. If things go wrong for you, its an option?

A. Its the first option.

! Continuously assaultive
! Assaulted a guard in prison
The way I lived and the way people want
you to live it doesnt match. At the time as I
said, that was my life. It was natural to me.
I didnt really understand any other way. I
got in trouble because thats just what
happens, you get in trouble.
Childs Death
Q. How do you feel about his suffering?

A. I guess I dont feel anything.
When Other People Suffer?
There are various reactions. Theres not
one reaction. Sometimes I feel for them, as
much as I can. Sometimes its funny.
Sometimes I feel nothing.
Why is He Violent?
! Antisocial?
! Psychopathic?
! Sadistic?
! Impulsive?
! Just excessive corporal punishment?
Q. Do you see yourself self as a child abuser?
A. No
Q. As a batterer? I mean I got convictions for it
but I dont see myself as that.
Q. As a criminal?
A. I know thats what Im seen as but no, I
dont.

Theories of Violence
! Loss of Control
! Product of Distorted Thinking

Loss of Control
! Impulse Control
! Stop and Think
! Exit Risky Situations
Loss of Control
! Interviews 20 Violent Offenders
! Meaning Units = Phrases
Loss of Control
12%

(Polaschek et a., 2010)


Violent Schemas
! Violence is Normal
! No Choice
! Hostile Attribution Bias
! Social Status
! Self Image
! Victim Deserved It (Widget Theory)
Violence is Normal
! Normal for discipline
! Normal for achieving goals
No Choice Domestic Violence

She wouldnt listen to me unless I hit her
first.
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 87)

No Choice: Discipline
How else was I going to get through to him
that schoolwork was important?
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 87)

Violent prisoners spoke of violence as a
routine occurrence between people that
hardly needs explaining and that could be
helpful in achieving some personal and
social goals.
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 86)
Violence is Normal
Meaning Units

46%

(Polaschek et al., 2010)



Evaluation Severe Abuse and
Neglect
! Assess with an open mind
! Be aware of your own world view
! Understand the difference in neglect and
intentional harm
! Entertain the possibility that people have
motivations you cant empathize with
! Learn to recognize them
Sadistic Women Offenders
N = 36

14 sexually aroused by pain

(Saradjian, 1996)
Female Sadists
I just cant explain the feeling it gave
me. . . You couldnt understand, nothing
compares to the high, nothing, no drink,
drugs nothing. Its power I think, I feel
really strong, powerful and important
nothing and no one can hurt me. The high
is incredible. Theres nothing, there just
arent words to describe it.
(Female sadist; Saradjiam, 1996)