CASES OF PATHOLOGICAL LYING IN BORDER-LINE MENTAL TYPES
We could load our pages with histories of cases where the
statement of delusions, unrecognized as such, has created much
trouble in courts and out, but this type of case is too well
known to need any illustration. Text books of psychiatry deal
with the falsifications of paranoia and other insanities. That
the really insane also sometimes lie pathologically, that is,
tell for no normal purpose what they adequately know to be
untrue, is a fact not so well understood. But even that we need
not be especially concerned with in our case histories. It has
been well brought out in the previous literature on pathological
lying, as witness in our Chapter II. In the present chapter we
do not include the out-and-out insane, nor the definitively
feeble-minded, nor the recognizably epileptic.
Much more difficult of understanding and much less easily
recognized because of the mildness of many of the symptoms, or
their variations from time to time, are the types which we
enumerate. Several of these offer no complete picture of
insanity--even Case 25, although clearly aberrational, extremely
defective in self-control, and markedly criminalistic, did not
show to some psychiatrists who observed him a sufficiently clear
correspondence to any form of insanity as laid down in the
old-school text-books to be practically regarded as insane and in
need of long segregation. In considering this whole matter we
must never forget that there is no wall of demarcation between
those whose conduct clearly betokens insanity and those who are
not insane. There are plenty of instances where the easily
passable border between the two is permanently occupied or is at
times approached.
We keep our border-line cases separate in order to emphasize that
pathological lying by an insane person does not make a
pathological liar in the true sense. We should hesitate,
however, to give in legal form a verdict of insanity in several
of these border-line cases we cite--they are very difficult to
classify, and the question of responsibility called for sometimes
in court work is unanswerable. Keeping even these mild cases
away from our others serves, however, to lessen confusion; we
need in this subject to conserve all the clearness possible by
holding to fundamental classifications and showing up vagueness
of definition where it does exist.
Perhaps we are over-particular in keeping such a case as No. 22
in this chapter. The commonsense observer would hardly regard
this girl as at all lacking, even in self-control. On the other
hand, for the purpose of illustrating the subject of pathological
accusation we have kept Case 17 in the previous chapter when it
clearly shows great resemblance to Case 26 and is in reality a
border-line type. Then, too, the swindler, Case 12, in some
respects belongs in this chapter.
We are hardly called on in this work to discuss the lying of drug
habitues, although they so frequently in their mental conditions
represent border-line types. They are often on the verge of a
psychosis as the result of their intoxications. Their lying is
mostly done for a purpose, to be sure, and hence much would not
come under the head of pathological lying, but occasionally
veracity is so much interfered with that there seems to be a
tendency to aimless lying. This class of cases, however, is
sufficiently discussed in special literature pertaining to the
subject.[24]
[24] Vide, ``Morphinism and Narcomanias From Other Drugs,'' by T.
D. Crothers. Philadelphia, Saunders and Co., 1902. Also Chapter
V, Stimulants and Narcotics, in ``The Individual Delinquent,'' by
William Healy Boston, Little, Brown, and Co., 1915.
CASE 22
Summary: A girl of 14, a most vigorous and vivacious
personality, had for a couple of years pursued a curiously active
career of misrepresentation, of obtaining goods under false
pretenses and running away from home even to distant places. Her
conversational ability was above normal; her lies were evolved
for the purpose of adapting herself to the peculiar circumstances
in which she frequently found herself. Her general conduct
combined with her abnormal psychomotor activity gave ground for
the diagnosis of constitutional excitement--hypomania.
Birdie M., 14 years old, we saw after some clever detective work
had proved her to be the girl who in another town had repeatedly
swindled shop-keepers. It seems she had been accustomed to take
the train for localities where she had no connections whatever,
and there enter shops and make away with whatever she could. An
astounding incident was when she returned some goods she had
stolen and persuaded the manager to ``refund'' her the money on
the same. This was regarded by the authorities as extremely
clever.
We found Birdie very small for her age. Weight 76 lbs.; height 4
ft. 8 in. Tonsils very large. Teeth excessively crowded. No
sensory defect. Not yet menstruated. A very nervous type; quick
physical and mental reactions; exceedingly active, restless
manner.
Our psychological impressions state that Birdie did all her tests
brilliantly and quickly, but very often with less accuracy than
would have been the case had she taken the time to think quietly
rather than work rapidly. She was very keen to make the best
possible record. ``I am proud of being quick; nothing is hard
for me; it was not hard at school.'' It was found by steadying
her that she gave a more accurate performance. We diagnosed her
ability as good, but her school advantages had been poor.
Otherwise we noted she was a pert, talkative, responsive child,
of a distinctly nervous and somewhat unreliable type. Her ideas
came tumbling, one on top of another. Under close supervision
she was able to control her mental processes fairly well. For
instance, on the antonym test, where opposites to twenty stimulus
words are called for, Birdie gave them in the remarkably rapid
average time of .8 of a second, with only one failure and one
error. This is an exceptional record. From this and her
unexpected powers of self-control exhibited on some other tests
we were obliged to conclude that her aberrational tendencies were
not very deep-set. Her mental traits seemed to conform most
nearly to the type designated as constitutional excitement, or
hypomania. Further observation of the case confirmed us in this
first view of it.
On the ``Aussage'' or Testimony Test she gave 13 items, all
correct, upon free recital. On questioning, 14 more details were
added, but 6 of these were incorrect. Of the 6 suggestions
offered she accepted none.
Birdie immigrated from Austria with her family when she was 10
years of age. She came of a healthy family; all of her
grandparents and many of her uncles and aunts are living. We get
no history of any insanity, epilepsy, or feeblemindedness on
either side. She is one of 7 children, several of whom have had
nervous troubles. Two of the children had convulsions in
infancy, but then only. One brother at 10 years old is an
excessive stammerer and extremely nervous.
Birdie was born after a pregnancy during which the mother was
much worried and in poor health. The father, too, was sickly at
that time. The family conditions were defective on account of
poverty and illness during a large share of the period when the
children were born. Birdie at birth was very small and there was
difficulty in resuscitation. She, however, was never seriously
ill until she was 7 years of age, when she had something like
peritonitis. No spasms or convulsions at any time. She was a
very small child during her infancy, but walked at 8 months and
talked very well indeed when she was only one year old.
Developmental history otherwise negative, but all along there has
been poor family control on account of ill health and the slight
earning capacity of the father.
During the several months we knew Birdie she was always a most
unreliable person. She repeatedly ran away from home and was
lost track of. On one occasion she got as far as Omaha. By the
use of elaborate, but plausible stories she always succeeded in
winning the friendship of reputable people. Once she was found,
after she had been away several weeks, residing in a good home in
another State where the people thought of adopting her on account
of her brightness. Many times she wandered about her home city
and in the most active and sly fashion purloined anything she
cared for. Several times when she was taken by the police she
invented clever stories, without the least faltering, that seemed
entirely fitted to the occasion. As the investigator said, she
talked incessantly with not the slightest hesitation and was
always airy and sure. No one to whom she had gone with her
misrepresentations questioned her veracity-- she always came out
with a clearly connected and plausible story. We noted that her
parents in comparison seemed quite stupid.
Of course Birdie passed under various names. Once we recognized
her picture in the newspaper representing a weary, disheartened
girl who was tired walking all day long from one employment
bureau to another. She stated to the reporter it was her
ambition to become a model servant. When in Omaha her mental
peculiarities were recognized and she was studied by a competent
alienist who, however, was not willing to render a verdict of non
compos mentis to the police. This was when she had run away from
Chicago and had told a lot of stories all of which had turned out
to be untrue. The trouble which she created in various
communities by reason of her hyperactive delinquencies has not
been small.
With much merriment and an excessive amount of facial expression
this little girl held forth to us. It is hardly necessary to say
that the account varied somewhat from day to day. She did not
like it at home and did not propose to go back there. There were
too many in the family. As soon as the floor was scrubbed one of
the children would get it all dirty again. She had started for
New York, but the old gatekeeper at the station was mean and she
could not slip by him. She got along all right in Omaha, but
finally she gave herself up to the police there. She thinks
perhaps she might go up to the people in Wisconsin who wanted to
adopt her. In any case, she can do a great deal better than
Viola B. who ran away from New York and got caught, and was so
much talked about in the newspapers.
Thus her story would run along at great length, Birdie in the
meanwhile chuckling with the thought of her own escapades.
We never recommended institution life because it seemed as if
better things might be done for this girl. We felt that if she
were built up from a physical standpoint her tendency towards
nervous excitement might grow less. Her tonsils were removed.
Every one felt that the girl's good mental abilities should be
conserved to the utmost. Attempts at management in a different
environment gave some hope of success, and after a time her
parents moved to a smaller town, when we lost oversight of the
girl. Following our acquaintance with the case it had been
managed in the light of her characteristics, and her falsifying
tendencies were constantly discounted by those in charge. We
felt that her tendency was to grow more stable.
Three years later: We have just gained further information
concerning Birdie. The family is still in straitened
circumstances, the father having proved too weak a character to
support them. He posed as somewhat of a gentleman and made off
to another country. Birdie is said to have worked steadily for
months at a time, but over a year ago suddenly left home once
more, this time going with a stage company. Although the police
in several cities have been appealed to, no trace has been
obtained as yet of our young friend. Whether her lying was
continued at home we cannot satisfactorily learn, nor do we know
accurately about any continuance of her state of excitement, but
without doubt Birdie in her present wandering is fabricating
anew, and is what she was before, namely, a young adventuress.
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Mental conditions: Constitutional excitement. Case 22.
Girl, age 14 years.
Developmental conditions: Defective pregnancy.
Early impaction of teeth.
Poor general physical conditions.
Home conditions: Poverty. Irritability of father and
mother.
Delinquencies: Mentality:
Running away. Ability good;
Stealing. Constitutional
Lying. excitement.
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CASE 23
Summary: A girl of 16 having been out all of one night, related
a story to the police of having been led off, and incidentally
made the statement that she had been repeatedly immoral, once
with a relative. She dictated and signed a detailed account of
the affairs, giving times and places. This was used in
investigating and led to much fruitless effort even on the part
of experienced people--her story was quite untrue. When studied
she proved to be a mild case of chorea, exhibiting the typical
psychotic tendencies of that disease, such as we have observed in
court work a number of times.
Nellie M., when brought to us by her grandmother, following the
girl's experience with the police who had been told by her of
immoralities practiced, was found to be rather a nice looking and
gentle girl, pleasant and responsive with us.
On the physical side we found her to be poorly developed and
nourished. Weight 93 lbs.; height 4 ft. 9 in. Vision about
20/40 in each eye, but wears glasses which correct this. Rather
poor color. Complains somewhat of headaches. Marked tremor of
outstretched hands. Moderate amount of choreic movements in arms
and legs, exaggerated when attention distracted. Knee jerks
exaggerated. Conjunctival and palatal reflexes almost absent.
Small regular features. Well shaped head. Said to drink at
least 4 cups of tea a day. Heart sounds negative.
Mentally, she seemed to be fairly normal in ability, but was
undoubtedly in a peculiar psychical condition. She had reached
7th grade in spite of much moving about, even to different
cities. We found evidence of lack of good apperceptive powers
and the history of the case led us to see clearly that she had
been just recently in a very unstable, if not quite confusional
mental condition.
The ``Aussage'' or Testimony Test was not given in this case.
The history of heredity and development shows many points of
importance. The mother died when Nellie was a very little girl.
She was terribly abused by a husband who was excessively
alcoholic and in general a tremendous brute. They lived in a
roadhouse where drunken fights were not uncommon. Nellie has
been brought up since her mother's death by other relatives.
Outside of alcoholism on the father's side there is said to be no
family peculiarities. The mother came from a very reputable
family. Nellie suffered early from several severe illnesses.
When only six weeks old she is said to have been in a comatose
condition with scarlet fever and diphtheria. Later she had
measles, whooping cough and other mild ailments, and at one time
suffered extremely from constipation. Walked and talked early.
No convulsions. Menstruated first several months ago. Sometimes
complains of severe headaches. One observer reported that the
girl had been subject to slight melancholia within the last year.
Choreic movements have been present off and on for about a year,
but have not been marked until a little while previous to the
incident which brought her to us. The diagnosis had been made
that it was a case of mild St. Vitus dance. During all the year
Nellie had been regarded as in general unreliable, but nothing of
importance had happened prior to the above episode.
Nellie's story as told to us seemed coherent enough. Apparently
she had entire memory of her past actions and, in general, of
what she had said. Her own statements convinced us as much as
anything else of her unreliability at times. It seems she had
run away and gone to a picture show and had fallen asleep there.
When she got out it was very late, but it was election night and
people were about on the street. She finally was accosted by a
woman who took her home. After her story of being led off by a
man the police were called into the case and she gave them her
remarkable statement. Nellie told us of picking up with a man,
too, who lured her to a theatre, but who left her there. There
was no way of corroborating this. She fully acknowledged to us
the lies which had created so much trouble. ``Well, I was
telling the first lies and then when I was going to tell him that
I knew that I was telling wrong he acted so cranky and said such
things to me. He said he knew somebody had done bad things to me
and so I thought I had to give the name of somebody and so I gave
those names.
``The girls around in the schools I used to go to talked about
these things. I never went with them. I was always by myself.
None of the boys said bad things. The police were so cranky I
did not know what else to say. They said someone must have done
it to me when I was younger and I said it was my cousin because
he always used to want to. He said he would give me a pair of
skates if I would. He was 13. I never asked my grandmother or
anyone about these things. No one ever explained it to me. Just
the girls are the ones who told me about these things. They told
me themselves how they had been out at night with the boys. I
never did do it with anybody.''
Examination by a gynecologist about this time showed positively
that there had been no immoral relations, and after our findings
the case became a closed incident so far as prosecuting anybody
was concerned. Nellie was taken in hand by the family physician
and no further delinquencies or false accusations have been
complained of during the succeeding two years.
Outside of the girl's general frank bearing, undoubtedly a point
rather indicating to the police possible truth in her statements,
was the detail in which the alleged events were given. The
signed statement coming from an apparently naive girl of 15 would
seem in its clearness and coherency to bear the earmarks of
truth. We always regarded this case as one of our interesting
examples showing the unreliability of girl witnesses, especially
those who have had unfortunate experiences, even though merely
mental, with sex affairs.
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Mentality: Mild choreic psychosis. Case 23.
Girl, age 15 years.
Early clandestine sex teachings.
Delinquencies: Mentality:
Running away. Normal ability,
False accusations. temporary aberration.
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CASE 24
Summary: A girl of 16 whose general conditions won ready
sympathy created much trouble. She repeatedly made serious
accusations against a man and her attempt at suicide made her
statement seem convincing. Further study showed the absolute
falsity of her charges. It was a case of hysteria which had
developed largely upon a basis of injury--there was a traumatic
psychoneurosis. Under good treatment she made a fine recovery;
there being no more indulgence in pathological accusations,
although her nervous symptoms recurred for a short time after a
couple of years.
At the time when we first saw Georgia B. she was somewhat over 16
years old and had been only 5 years in this country. We saw her
because she had run away from home and attempted suicide. From
the latter she had been rescued, and then had accused a neighbor
of raping her. The case proved to be very troublesome until the
nature of the whole affair was understood.
We found a thin and anemic girl, not at all prepossessing in
appearance, dull in expression, suffering from a chronic
suppurating otitis media.
On the mental side we had much trouble in conducting an
examination because she was greatly given to tears. She did work
for us on a few tests and her efforts would have been graded as
those of a feebleminded person if her emotional state had been
left out of account. Even our physical examination was largely
hindered through her crying. However, her story was told in a
straightforward way and with that show of emotion which had
previously convinced others that grave injustice had been done
her. Distinct proof of hysteria was present; for instance, on
one occasion in the middle of a test Georgia apparently became
unconscious. Her head dropped to the table, but her lips were
red, her face did not change color, she resisted having her head
moved, and in a moment or two lifted it herself to a more
comfortable position. The diagnosis from such symptoms as these
and from her history was not difficult to make.
The ``Aussage'' test, for obvious reasons, was not given.
Georgia told her story with surprising coherency; in outline, it
was as follows: She ran away from home, and then was put under
protection of the police authorities by a man who caught her.
She said she was caught when standing by a drug store where she
had been to get medicine, just ten cents worth of peroxide. When
asked by us if it were not really carbolic acid she called for,
she said yes, it was and that she intended to take it. She
wanted to get rid of her life. What could she do in the way of
living? Her father and mother were both sick and they could not
live long and then how could she get along taking care of three
little children? When asked if her parents would not be terribly
affected by her suicide she said that it would not be the first
time they had buried a child. At this time she would go no
further into her history.
On the next day she talked straight to the point, but with a
remarkably dull expression on her face. She said that about five
weeks ago, she cannot tell the exact date, she went to a
neighbor's house. A man there wanted her to come and look at
some pictures. He finally got her to go to a bedroom and then
held her so she could not scream, and raped her. She is sure of
it. He later choked and beat her and kicked her out of the
house. At first she was afraid to tell her people. A couple of
weeks afterward she went back and asked why he did that, and he
swore at her and accused her of being bad, and she and he talked
back and forth for some time. ``He says, `I'll kill you. I did
not touch you at all.' I says, `You did. You're a liar and you
can kill me now if you want to. You have already killed me.
See, I grow large like this.' '' He then set upon her and beat
her again. She has not seen him since. After telling this
Georgia began to cry very hard and said that she really is killed
now and is done for. The whole story was told in a
straightforward way with a full show of emotion.
A complicating feature of this case, resultant upon lack of
understanding of the characteristic vagaries of this type, was
the action of a vigorous knight errant. He was the one who
rescued her. Hearing her ask in the drug store for the carbolic
acid, which she did not get, he thought she was desperate and
questioned her, but she tearfully refused to answer. He quietly
followed her until she got to the river, and then, when she had
her foot on the rail of the bridge and was about to jump off, he
seized her. She fought and kicked him so that she badly hurt one
of his legs. She told him she had reason to commit suicide. He
got her to some house and there she fainted. When she came to
she described her situation to him, naming a man who boarded with
a neighbor as having raped her. She told him this was the reason
she had tried to commit suicide.
This young man visited Georgia's family, found them strangely
indifferent and not inclined to believe the girl, so he set out
to see that justice was done. With his well-intended efforts he
succeeded in getting several agencies to work on the case, the
parents meanwhile partly resenting his interference. They said
they knew what kind of a girl she was.
We never felt thoroughly satisfied with the family history on
account of the comparative ignorance of the parents, our only
source of information, although they were honest enough people.
All points in heredity seemed negative, nor could we learn that
there had been anything significant in developmental conditions.
The girl had only recently menstruated. Her people felt that of
late her word was quite unreliable. She went as far as the 4th
grade. On account of the short time in school in this country
this was considered doing fairly well.
Ten months prior she had fallen off a street car; it was not
known she was damaged seriously. A jury had given a verdict of
several hundred dollars against the company, but on account of an
appeal having been taken the case was still unsettled. Since the
accident a number of fainting attacks had occurred and Georgia
had lost one position on account of them, a place where she had
worked for 2 years. She was said to have been quite healthy
before the accident. Some 5 weeks before we saw her, the girl
had become hysterical and announced that she had not menstruated
the week before and the cause was that she had been raped. Her
behavior was so peculiar in regard to this that her parents did
not believe her statements and did nothing about it. The girl
evidently was accustomed to telling falsehoods, although we could
get no specific account of them. The parents were very anxious
to avoid a scandal, for though they were poor they made much of
their respectability .
Georgia was examined after a later reiteration of her charges;
the physician said that she had not been raped. After we saw her
the parents thought it was best to go to another physician with
the young man who had become so interested. Once more the report
was that there had been no rape, but it now appeared that there
had been some manipulation of the parts. After this the case
quieted down, but Georgia had run away again just before this
second examination. When by our recommendation she was now
placed in a convalescent home she repeated the same stories and
announced that she was pregnant. Of course more trouble was
created by this and a third examination had to be made to
convince these good people who had been recently asked to
interest themselves in her.
After her stay in the convalescent home Georgia returned to her
parents, and, appearing to be recovered, went to work again. Her
record for two years was unexpectedly satisfactory. When the
above episode had blown over she regained control of herself,
adapted herself to family conditions, and worked steadily. On
one occasion her nervous symptoms have returned with much
depression and again an attempt at suicide. She was now
carefully studied in a hospital for signs of insanity, but again
it was determined that she was not of unsound mind. She made a
speedy recovery, adjusted herself once more to her surroundings,
and after a few months became married. During the last year or
so there has been no further trouble. A settlement of the law
suit for injuries was made before her more recent period of
depression. At the time of even her last attack we can learn of
no more false accusations having been made. The family attitude
about her has, all along, not been what it should have been to
have gained the proper results, but the problem of poverty was
always with them.
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Mentality: Traumatic psychoneurosis. Case 24.
Girl, age 16 years.
Accident, with law suit following.
General physical conditions: Anemia, poor
nutrition, otitis media.
Delinquencies: Mentality:
Running away. Poor ability;
Attempted suicide. temporary
False accusations. aberration.
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CASE 25
Summary: Case of a young man of 19, with already a long record
of criminalism, who created much trouble for a court where a
judge was keenly anxious to do justice. The fellow implicated
himself in a sensational murder, but investigation proved this to
be untrue. In other ways his word was found most unreliable.
The question concerning his sanity could only be answered by
stating that he was an aberrational type peculiarly inclined to
criminalism, and therefore needed segregation, and that he was
also given to pathological lying and self- accusation. From the
legal and social standpoints it is important to note that the
case represents a type, unquestionably abnormal, although the
mental pathology could not be subsumed under the head of any one
of the designated mental diseases.
The case of John B. was studied at the request of a judge who had
continued the trial because of the manifest mental peculiarities
of the defendant. We were told that his behavior varied much,
that one day he would cry and apologize, and on another would
show stupid bravado. As the judge stated, John had long been in
disciplinary institutions and this had failed to do any good.
The immediately peculiar features of the case were that while he
was being held for vagrancy and robbery, John made a strong
attempt to implicate himself in a murder case. In other words he
was a self-accuser.
We found a strong young man of 19 years; weight 157 lbs., height
5 ft. 5 in. Very broad shouldered and deep chested, but slouchy
attitude. Good color. Eyes bright. Varicocele. Somewhat
defective vision in one eye. Well-shaped head--circumference
56.5, length 18.5 and breadth 16 cm. Thick, heavy voice.
Appears dull and depressed, but energizes under encouragement.
Other physical examination negative. Complains merely of
headaches in left frontal region, but says he has had these only
since last year when he was struck there by a beer bottle.
Recently an excessive user of tobacco.
In the mental examination we found much of interest. When first
seen he gave every appearance of being a mental defective, but by
judicious stimulation he could be waked up to do comparatively
good work in several directions. On the Binet tests, 1911
series, he passed all but one of the 12 year set; in that he
followed the suggestion offered. On the 15 year old tests he did
three out of five. The failures were on the memory span of
figures and in the repetition of a sentence of 26 syllables.
By our other tests we also found him defective in verbal memory
processes, even when he read the passage to be remembered. In
working with our so-called construction tests, where his success
depended not only upon planning with concrete material, but even
more on the ability to profit by his failures, he did decidedly
poorly. In handling the puzzle box, where above everything is
required perception of the relationship of one step to another,
he succeeded very rapidly. With the cross-line tests, which
require mental representation of an easily remembered figure and
analysis of its parts, he did very poorly, succeeding only after
the third attempt in each of the two simple tests. This is a
type of work that is especially easy for the normal person.
In our ``Aussage'' or Testimony Test we got a decidedly poor
result. At first enumeration he gave only 8 items, and on cross
questioning gave only 6 more. He denied seeing other objects
plain in the picture, but contradicted himself somewhat on this.
It is interesting that he took only one out of four suggestions,
notwithstanding his suggestibility on the Binet test.
On school work he does altogether much better. He writes a good
hand, reads fairly well, and promptly does a sum in long
division. He claims to have reached the 6th grade. One
difficulty in testing him was his prevailing lethargy. We
constantly had to fight this by encouragement. Once he insisted
he must give up the work because he had not had a smoke for an
hour or so. Altogether, including his irregularities, we could
not call him lower than poor in ability, possibly subnormal. He
did not come within the limits of the feebleminded group. Just
where to place him would depend upon what he perhaps could do
under other more favorable conditions. So much for the tests of
ability.
In studying him for aberrational tendencies there were positive
indications. Most significant it was when, in the Binet tests,
he came to the word ``justice'' and turned to the examiner,
saying feelingly, ``I don't know what that is,'' and then burst
into tears. Yet this was from a fellow who had offered to get
himself into even worse trouble with the courts. He made much of
his worrying about not having any home and not being the child of
his so-called parents. His attitude was of sorrow and
hopelessness about his whole situation in life. As seen again
about two weeks later, still more evidences of aberration were
found. He contradicted himself then in regard to his previous
stories, in regard to his home life, denied he had made
self-accusations, and very clearly did not remember at all
accurately what he had previously told me. In fact, he evidently
was not quite clear just who I was, although he had before been
brought across town under the charge of a couple of officers to
see me--an important break in his incarceration. He also told a
different story from one he had told before to a certain official
who now was present. He seemed rather mixed on a number of
points, and this is all the more significant because he had been
heartily afraid of being adjudged insane. Our diagnosis at this
time was purely tentative as far as exact diagnosis was
concerned. We stated that in our opinion he was an aberrational
type and the practical point was that he should neither be
allowed to go out in the community, nor be sent to a
penitentiary, but rather to an institution for observation and
perhaps for long detention. The jury found it necessary, as
usual in such cases, to declare him insane.
The history of John runs as follows: From an evidently
conscientious parent we learn of nothing significant in the
family history. At birth he was said to be bright and healthy.
He had diphtheria severely at 4 years. At 6 he started to
school. He always got along well in his classes, but was very
troublesome. At 11 years he began to run away from home. His
father spent much time and money in going to various parts of the
country for him, and at 13 years of age he was placed in an
industrial school. He is the only child. He came home after 2
years, remained there for 3 or 4 months and then ran away once
more to California. (His home was in the middle West.) He was
returned by the police, sent to the industrial school for another
year, and then again returned home. He stayed only 2 weeks
before running away to New York. Coming back he got into some
trouble and was sent for the third time to the industrial school.
There he stayed until 6 months before we saw him. He was
released once more on parole, stayed at home a week, and again
ran away. It is reported that during his early time at the
industrial school he was rather melancholy by spells, and at one
time tried to poison himself. His relatives say he has a bad
temper. He had typhoid fever at 14, but made a good recovery.
John has been known for years as a great liar, having told
miserable stories about his parents, all of which were quite
untrue. He has frequently mortified his father and mother by
denying his parentage. The last time John was on parole he wrote
more than one letter to police authorities in his home State,
informing them he had been implicated in a serious crime. An
officer at the reformatory institution had a letter from him
purporting to be written from a penitentiary, stating he was
sentenced there on a charge of robbery. When he was held in our
city on a minor charge, he informed the police officials that he
was connected with a certain notorious murder of which the papers
had been full just previously. He was sent out with a couple of
detectives who soon found he knew nothing about the actual facts,
and that his alleged accomplices were innocent men.
In jail it is reported that he seems childish. He has to be
locked up alone at times and then begs and teases to get out, but
in ten minutes or so will repeat the bad behavior. He has stolen
little things from others in custody and has attempted to dispose
of his own clothes for a few cents. It is definitely reported
that he has shown evidences of poor memory. From the institution
where he previously had been so long, word comes that he was
regarded there as not quite normal. John had been held in
another city on a charge of rape, but without much evidence, for
he was allowed to go. We could not find out whether he made
self-accusations in that case.
In his story to us he complains bitterly about his treatment at
the old institution, maintains he was head laundry man there,
tells about his excessive smoking of late, denies his parentage,
says the only friend he has is a certain church worker, maintains
he did not have any home to go to from the industrial school,
intimates he will commit suicide if there is any question of his
being declared insane, says that he had earlier stolen things
from home, tells of having spells when things get black in front
of his eyes and can't see for a little while, says he wants to be
sent to the penitentiary and wants to start right now serving his
term.
All told, there was nothing so striking about this whole case as
the extravagant tendencies towards prevarication. For years he
has been lying to no purpose, although he has never been
previously regarded as insane. Now he appears as an extreme
self-accuser and as a fellow whose word can't be trusted from
hour to hour. The lying, regarded as an aberrational tendency,
is out of proportion to our findings of abnormality in any other
sphere of mental activity, except perhaps the evidences of
defective memory processes. One trouble in gauging his memory
is, of course, the boy's prevarications, but one might argue that
if his memory processes were as good as his other abilities he
would make equal use of them.
Following our study and recommendation in the case John was found
not guilty, but insane. Then being resident of another State,
and, indeed, being on parole from a reformatory institution
there, he was held over to the jurisdiction of that State, and
placed in a hospital for the criminal insane. We have a full
report from the latter place which is exceedingly illuminating.
It appears that despite his first terror of being sent to an
asylum he adapted himself to his new surroundings very readily.
It is stated that he assisted with the ward work and spent his
leisure time in reading and playing cards. He asked for work
outside on the grounds and was regarded as a very courteous and
genial patient. No evidence of delusional or hallucinatory
trends could be obtained. He always seemed to be well oriented
and conscious of everything going on about him. Emotionally he
appeared somewhat subnormal inasmuch as he did not worry about
his own condition, but said he was perfectly contented. (The
latter, of course, to a psychiatrist would be significant.) He
was a great talker and his stories were well listened to. John
said that when he was indicted for robbery his lawyer advised him
to feign insanity and as a result he had been sent to that
hospital. (It is to be remembered that with us he made great
effort to show off his mental powers at their best and evidently
did somewhat better work than when later in the hospital.) He
gave them a history of being somewhat of a cocainist and
morphinist, of being a slick ``pickpocket,'' and of associating
with prominent criminals, particularly ``auto'' bandits. He was
boastful of his experiences, but sometimes admitted that he
prevaricated. It is most interesting to note that he told a
story of having concealed in Chicago some plunder--jewels, money,
and so on--and was really taken to Chicago by one of theBoard of
Visitors of the hospital to find the booty. It is hardly
necessary to say it was not located. The last of the hospital
report states, ``Inasmuch as we were unable to prove that he had
any form of insanity he was discharged.''
It is of no small importance for discussion of the relation
between insanity and criminalism to know that there are such
cases as this where the individual is unquestionably aberrational
and yet does not conform in mental symptoms to any one of the
definitive ``forms of insanity.'' They may be lacking in normal
social control and in ability to reason, impulsively inclined to
anti-social deeds and therefore social menaces, but,
notwithstanding this, may not be classified under the head of any
of the ordinary text-book types of mental diseases.
It is clear that for the protection of society a different notion
of what constitutes mental aberration or insanity should prevail,
so that these unusually dangerous types might be permanently
segregated. It would really seem that just the findings which
the hospital statement enumerates would convince one of this
individual's marked abnormality from a social point of view and
that his being at large was a grave undesirability.
The latest information concerning this young man is that he was
being held in a Western city for burglary.
We should hesitate to make out a card of causative factors in
this case. It is clear that the major cause in his delinquency
was his aberrational mentality. What there was by way of
causation back of this, our history, although obtained from an
apparently conscientious parent, is too meagre for explanation.
CASE 26
Summary: Boy of 16 had for 6 years caused a great amount of
trouble by his general unreliability and excessive lying. He had
been tried away from his own people in private homes and in
institutions without success. His lying was excessive and often
showed no purpose and no foresight. His peculiar delinquencies
demonstrated weakness of will. Although in good general physical
condition he simulated illnesses. Mental and physical
characteristics rendered certain the diagnosis of constitutional
inferiority.
We saw William S. first when he was over 16 years of age, after
he had been arrested for stealing. He had already been in three
institutions for delinquents. From his father and others we
gained a long story of the case.
William was in fairly good physical condition. No sensory
defect. Weight 125 lbs.; height 5 ft. 3 in. Although well
enough developed in other ways he was a marked case of delayed
puberty; as yet no pubescence. Strength only fair; for his age,
muscles decidedly flabby. A high, broad forehead. Large nose.
Peculiar curl of the upper lip. Small, weak chin. These
features give him a peculiar appearance--readily interpretable as
showing weakness of character. Cranium notably large. With
small amount of hair measurements were: circumference 57.8;
length 19.6; breadth 15.5 cm. (Head same size as father's.)
Expression downcast. Voice high pitched. ``Under dog''
attitude. Slouchy. No analgesia or other signs of hysteria.
The performance on tests was peculiarly irregular. In this
monograph we have omitted discussion of the results of separate
tests, but the citation of the summary as dictated when the case
was first studied will prove instructive: The work done on our
tests was very irregular, peculiarly so. Perceptions good and
most phases of the memory processes fair, but in reasoning
ability and especially in tests which require the application of
some foresight the results are poor indeed. The failure is
remarkable in proportion to what he could do in school work and
to his abilities in some other ways. He reads fluently, writes a
very good hand, and in arithmetic is able to do long division,
but showed no grasp of good method. When at his best he sticks
at a job well enough, but does it with no intelligence and does
not save himself in the least by thoughtful procedures. We were
interested to note that in a game which he said he had played a
great deal, namely checkers, he made the most foolish and
shortsighted moves. It is only fair to say that this boy varied
in his performance from time to time; his emotional condition
largely controlled his performance.
On the ``Aussage'' or Testimony Test he gave a functional account
upon free recital, with 15 details. On questioning he gave 13
more items. Out of the entire number only 3 minor errors. Of 5
suggestions proffered none was accepted.
There was a great deal more to be said about this boy's mental
peculiarities than what was evidenced by the giving of tests.
Our observations of him made at intervals over a period of
several months corroborated entirely the statements of several
others, including members of his own family. The boy was
remarkably unstable in his ideas and purposes. What he
apparently sincerely wanted to do and be at one time was entirely
different at another. His changeableness was shown in many ways.
When he had been found apparently suitable employment or a new
home he often would stay only a few days. The father's first
statement that the boy was a craven was borne out by all that we
saw. He was too cowardly to be ``tough,'' but he was a
persistent runaway and vagrant. He sometimes used an assumed
name. In general demeanor he was good natured, but always
restless. Not the least of his peculiarities was his ready
weeping. It was amazing to see so large a fellow draw down his
chin and sob like a young child. He was easily frightened at
night. Under observation he had peculiar episodes of behavior.
Once in a school-room, without any known provocation, he suddenly
began to cry and scream, picked up a chair and soon had the
entire room cleared out. A moment afterwards he was found
sobbing and bewailing his lot because he ``never had a fair
chance.'' On another occasion his legs strangely gave out and he
had to be carried to bed by his fellows. The next morning a
physician found him with his legs drawn up and apparently very
sensitive over his back and other parts of his body, but with a
little encouragement all his symptoms soon disappeared. He gave
a history of having had convulsions, but this was found to be
untrue. He was a ``bluffer'' among boys; when met valiantly
showed always great cowardice.
We felt much inclined at first to denominate him a case of
abulia, but his stubbornness in recalcitrancy led us to change
our opinion. From the above physical signs and mental phenomena
he was clearly a constitutional inferior.
Some facts we obtained on the family history were most
significant. The mother of William suffered from attacks which
were undoubtedly epileptic. Her mother, in turn, had convulsions
at least during one pregnancy. We did not learn whether or not
she had them at other times. No other points of significance in
that family are known. The father himself was brought up, as he
says, strictly, but he was inclined to be wild, and he has
indulged for many years altogether too much in tobacco and
alcohol. He is distinctly a weak type and the poorest specimen
of his family. William is the only child. There was nothing
peculiar in developmental history until he was 2 1/2 years old
when he suffered from ``brain fever and spinal meningitis.''
This was said to have left him with a stiff right arm and to
account for his being left handed. (We could discover no
difference in the reflexes.) Then at another period he was sick
in bed for 6 months with some unknown, but not very serious
illness. The mother has been dead for years and so we were
unable to get accurate details about this. At a very early age
William sought the pleasures of tobacco, even when a child of 6
or 7 he used his pennies for that purpose. He was brought up in
an environment defective on account of his father being a poor
earner and weak in discipline. But still his parent took for
years a great deal of interest in him and it was not until the
boy had proven himself most difficult that his father proclaimed
himself unable to manage his son.
At about 10 years of age William began running away from home and
manufacturing untrue stories. One of his favorite statements was
that his father had been killed in an accident. It is notable
that all these years he has been attempting to gain sympathy for
this or that assumed condition, whether it be his own alleged
physical ailments, or fictitious family difficulties. As a
matter of fact, during this time he has been in some good homes,
failing each time to comport himself so that he could be retained
there. It was typical that he reiterated, ``I have no friends;
there is no one to stick up for me.'' Besides being in three
institutions before he was 16 years old, William had been in
homes which he had found when he had run away, or in which he had
been placed by his father or by social agencies, the services of
which had been evoked. His stealing was often done with an
extraordinary lack of foresight. For instance, in one good
position that had been found for him he took a box of cigars,
when, of course, as the newcomer he would have been suspected,
and even after his employers made it clear to him that they knew
of the theft he took another box the next day. His lying under
all occasions was nothing short of astonishing. To even his best
friends he offered all sorts of fabulous tales which one iota of
forethought would have made him realize would redound to his
disadvantage. Almost his only show of common sense in this was
when he gave an assumed name while getting a new position, and
even this performance could hardly be considered deeply rational.
It is hardly necessary to give lengthy specimens of his
falsifications; they always pervaded his stories about himself,
but strangely enough he acknowledged many of his delinquencies.
A good example of the latter was when he collected a little money
for a new employer and on the way back, looking in a shop window,
saw an electrical toy and immediately bought it. He then went
home, not even returning to the office to get the wages which
were due him. An example of his lying is his responses to
questions about his schooling. He maintained that he only
reached the third grade. (In reality he could do sixth grade
work at least.) He said, ``I know long division by about 13 and
about 5 figures. I don't know it by any other numbers.'' William
maintained these same characteristics over the 6 years during
which we have good data about him. We know he continued the same
kind of a career for a year or so afterwards.
Three years later we have direct information from his family
concerning William. His habits of prevarication have been kept
up steadily, so it is stated. He has been in and out of
institutions and at present is serving a sentence for larceny.
He all along has been unwilling to face realities and has lied
against his own interests continually. For instance, we are told
that if he lost a place, instead of obtaining the help his family
would have been willing to give him in gaining another, he would
steadily pretend to be holding the former position. He is still
considered utterly unreliable and a thoroughly weak character
with a tendency to meet a situation as readily by a lie as
another person would tend to react by speaking the truth. People
who have known him of late speak of him as being at 21 ``just the
same fellow,'' which probably indicates that he is thoroughly a
victim of habit formation as well as of innate tendencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mentality. (Typical constitutional inferior.) Case 26.
Boy, age 16 years.
Heredity: Mother epileptic. Maternal grandmother
had convulsions. Father alcoholic and
tobacco in excess--weak type.
Developmental conditions: Early disease of the
central nervous system.
Delinquencies: Mentality:
Running away. Abilities irregular,
Stealing. psychic episodes.
Lying.
---------------------------------------------------------------
CASE 27
Summary: Case of a boy, age 16 years, who told the most
extraordinary stories of his vagrant life and the character of
his family to officers of several organizations who tried to help
him. He understood well that evidences of his unreliability
would count against him. His stories, although often repeated,
were not credited, and later, after a home had been found for
him, he began a new series of lies that seemed almost delusional
and somewhat paranoidal. After months during which much had been
done for him it was suddenly discovered that he was an epileptic.
John F. appealed to an agency for assistance. He told a story of
having wandered with his brother since he was a young boy. ``My
father was insane from what my uncle did to my mother. He
drowned her. The house caught on fire and he blamed her for it.
She said she didn't. She was too sick to get up and he took her
out of the house and his big son pumped water on her. She was
pretty near dead anyhow. We was too little to do anything. I
seen it. I remember that all right. I can see that yet Brother
and sister died about 3 years ago. Brother took sick from
sleeping out. We slept around in barns for 2 years. Father was
in an insane hospital in Kansas. I think my uncle was hanged at
N. Junction. We did not stay there. I remember yet when they
went to put my mother in the grave. I jumped in with her. We
put right out and after awhile folks wrote that father was
dead.''
So much attention would not have been paid to this gruesome tale
had it not been repeated to various people during the course of
several months. The boy wrote letters reiterating these
incidents. His stories always went on to include the most
surprising amount of abuse. It seemed that everywhere he had
been illtreated. Farmers had whipped him, or clothed him badly,
or defrauded him of his wages.
Physically, we found John to be in good general condition. A
strong active country boy. No serious defect of any kind was
discovered.
On mental tests he did better than we expected. To be sure he
was very backward in arithmetic, but then his story was that he
had hardly ever been to school at all. He certainly did well in
many of our tests with concrete material, but the results as a
whole were curiously irregular, even if we allowed for his
deficient schooling. At that time we were disinclined to pass
ultimate judgment on his mentality without knowing more about his
antecedents.
On the ``Aussage'' Test he gave only 11 bare items on free
recital. On questioning 19 more details were added. Of the
entire number only 3 were incorrect, and these were not serious
mistakes. Of 6 suggestions offered he accepted 3.
The history of this boy and his family has never been
forthcoming. The authorities in his alleged home State have not
been able to trace his family, which they could have done had his
stories been true. Their report made it clear that the boy's
reiterated family history was a fabrication--the raison d'etre of
which is still in doubt. In spite of his lying the boy was found
a desirable home in the country at the work for which he was
suited. After staying for a few weeks he returned to the city
and got lodgings for himself. We next heard of him because he
was induced by a ``hold-up'' man to secrete a revolver on his
person while the police were in the neighborhood. Upon looking
up his landlady, it was found that while with her he had suffered
from epileptic attacks. These had not been observed during the
several months we had previously known him, and he had strongly
denied them to us. In our court work we constantly inquire for
evidences of epilepsy; in this case we received nothing but
negation. After he served his sentence this young man was lost
sight of. Even in the institution to which he had been sent he
continued his fanciful and often hideous stories, still largely
centered about the idea that he had suffered unjustly wherever he
had been.
No complete summary of causative factors is possible in this
case. The major cause for his lying as well as other
delinquencies, particularly his vagrancy, is, of course, the
mental traits peculiar to epilepsy.