Yesterday I watched the new HBO Documentary, Crazy, Not Insane. It considers the history of psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis who studies specifically sadistic killers – those who may mutilate or consume parts of their victim, or practice ritualistic type behavior on them, i.e. Ted Bundy. She basically talks to the craziest, scariest people on earth, guilty of the most disturbing acts one could even fathom, and seems to relate to them more than she does their victims.

For myself, this was the first time I began to consider my opinion on these types of criminals. I am an avid reader and watcher of anything “true crime.” So, I always thought I held the opinion of “an eye for an eye” when it came to the topic of punishing these types of people. But what she explains about her life’s work is that this idea that we’ve been taught, of the crazy sadistic EVIL killer may not actually exist. As she says so pointedly in the documentary, “Evil is a religious term not a diagnosis.” This opened my eyes to the idea that socially we have been conditioned to believe that evil exists on earth. That there are certain people just born evil to their core. When in reality, evil may be created within someone as a reaction.

Dr. Lewis goes furhter to say that if evil does Not exist and these individuals are a product of their extremely violent and abusive upbringings, then we are essentially using the death penalty to kill these mentally disturbed victims. As is discussed in the film, this seems like a crime against humanity – something people wouldn’t actually be so open about admitting their support for. To clarify, she does say that in no way does she want such violent individuals released after the crimes they’ve committed. She does not think that they belong in society, but instead wants to see them sentenced to life in prison with treatment and/or committed to a more proper medical prison facility.

A violent childhood is not an excuse for the behavior of these criminals. This delving into their backgrounds in not an unnecessary hunt. This goes deeper than just a release of pent up anger built up from feeling helpless for so long. Dr. Lewis has discovered that these individuals have quite literally split their own minds in order to protect themselves from the horrors they experienced. She discusses one serial killer, for example, who was terribly terribly abused as a child- we’re talking hung from his stomach by a wire by his father type of behavior. He remembers his abuse up to a certain point but then seems to create another personality in his own mind who is able to handle the pain that personality 1 is not. Once this split happens, the boy no longer has memory of what takes place when he lets the other personality take over. Over time, a third personality is created with the purpose of avenging the violence absorbed by personality number 2. This third personality is the one responsible for enacting violence on others, and his actions too are unknown to personality 1, the boy.

How fascinating to think that the human brain is capable of such things. Capable of protecting its physical self by creating differing personalities to make sure that the body stays as functional as possible. The source personality was succumbing to the pain of its abuse. So, the mind created a second personality to take over that could handle the pain. Then a third when the second became so frustrated with all of the pain he had to endure. If we look at our selves I believe we can all see a little bit of these tendencies within us, on a much smaller scale of course but still present. As someone from a somewhat painful childhood, I have memory lapses and years in my life where my brain doesn’t seem to allow me in to view my own memory bank. Personally, I find it comforting. Its a protective instinct that I feel from my brain. I trust my brain to know “what’s best,” in a way.

So if I can accept this micro version of this disorder in myself, can I accept it in its most roaring form in someone else? Should I try? Do we all need to try? Is this the way to prevent these acts from happening? By acknowledging the pain of these offenders and thus creating a world where children aren’t abused in these ways, therefore eliminating the creation of these violent offenders? Should the death penalty be used more sparingly, or even at all? All important questions that I found myself pondering while watching Crazy, Not Insane on HBO. Check it out!