Styles of Criminal Thinking-The Critters!
When talking about the criminal mind with clients and perpetrators, you have to remember that there are many different styles of going about seeking and taking down victims. Laying those styles out is an effective way to make clients feel like their particular style or approach is recognized, and therefore, they may be more open to examining their criminality and perhaps may also recognize the style or styles in which they were perpetrated against in their own history. Consider the following:
THE SHARK: this seems like the attack in a parking ramp where you don't see it coming. You're putting your key in the car door and WHAM! - something hits you out of nowhere in a blitz attack, so sudden and so hard, it's almost impossible to protect or defend yourself.
THE COBRA: the Cobra is seductive. I once saw a film at First Avenue on a dance nite (Prince's old hangout and where Purple Rain was filmed) in which two cobras were doing a mating dance for each other. It was amazing how erotic and seductive it was. A cobra draws its victims in, fascinating them, tantalizing and amazing them until you are finally in range for a strike, and then WHAM! - the fangs are in you and you are poisoned and going down for the kill!
THE GRASS SNAKE: the grass snake is subtler and typically hidden. You are walking through tall grass and it goes for your leg. It drops from a branch down onto your shoulder and immediately bites your neck or tries to put the stranglehold on you! It has to lie in wait and be patient because the victim has to come to them, within their range, before they can do anything.
THE RATTLE SNAKE: the rattle snake is unique because it gives you a chance - brief as it might be! You come close to its lair, you're about to step on it because you aren't paying attention or watching your step. Suddenly you hear the rattle and if you look down, you see the rattlesnake curling up, coiling for the strike and you had better move fast, jump far, hightail it out of there or suddenly the fangs are sinking in through your pant leg and entering your flesh and injecting that poison that will make you sick and maybe kill you.
THE FOX: the fox is a hunter, looking for a trail across the snow or across the meadow. Perhaps a mouse or vole just passed that way. The fox will follow, but cautiously because it needs to get very close to its prey and if they see the fox coming they'll run faster or go into hiding under a tree trunk or into a hole. The fox has to groom in a sense - every time the little mouse stops and smells the fox stops and holds its position until it is clear the victim feels secure enough to get moving again. Over time the fox creeps closer and closer, patiently waiting out each moment of apprehension or suspicion or fear until it's close enough to close its jaws on the tender flesh of its squirming victim while it runs quickly to its lair to feed its kit pups.
THE SPIDER: the spider is a skilled weaver - creating a web, laying the first strands across a daring expanse, strengthen the net until it is full and ready, preparing for the victim to come into its territory and get ensnared unwittingly in the sticky design the web provides. Once the web is woven and covers the territory the spider has laid out, the spider goes to the side to watch and wait, hoping a victim will come soon and get caught in the web, so the spider can slide forward across the web and enfold the tender morsel in a silk cocoon to keep it captive until it's time for dinner! It takes skill and patience and you need to know where the web will do the best work: where do your victims congregate? What time of day are they most likely to come by? A human spider can lure as well as weave the web. Presents, treats, enticements to draw you into the web from which you can never extricate yourself and will horribly know the terror of being caught and entombed.
I have found these little toys to be very useful and engender a lot of useful conversation. Once clients recognize their style, they talk much more freely about how they pursue their victims and recognize much more clearly how predatory they are in those moments - they see the cold-blooded-ness of it all. It helps them recognize their perpetrator self and perhaps even recognize when and how it starts to emerge and go into hunting and seeking mode, all part of the treatment and recovery process.
A good exercise to consider in a group setting is to pass the collection of critters and around, asking each client to pick one and extol on how it matches his/her own style of perpetration and give examples. Might take a little to break the ice, but it’s a useful way to get the group sharing vital information they can use later to enhance accountability.
When talking about the criminal mind with clients and perpetrators, you have to remember that there are many different styles of going about seeking and taking down victims. Laying those styles out is an effective way to make clients feel like their particular style or approach is recognized, and therefore, they may be more open to examining their criminality and perhaps may also recognize the style or styles in which they were perpetrated against in their own history. Consider the following:
THE SHARK: this seems like the attack in a parking ramp where you don't see it coming. You're putting your key in the car door and WHAM! - something hits you out of nowhere in a blitz attack, so sudden and so hard, it's almost impossible to protect or defend yourself.
THE COBRA: the Cobra is seductive. I once saw a film at First Avenue on a dance nite (Prince's old hangout and where Purple Rain was filmed) in which two cobras were doing a mating dance for each other. It was amazing how erotic and seductive it was. A cobra draws its victims in, fascinating them, tantalizing and amazing them until you are finally in range for a strike, and then WHAM! - the fangs are in you and you are poisoned and going down for the kill!
THE GRASS SNAKE: the grass snake is subtler and typically hidden. You are walking through tall grass and it goes for your leg. It drops from a branch down onto your shoulder and immediately bites your neck or tries to put the stranglehold on you! It has to lie in wait and be patient because the victim has to come to them, within their range, before they can do anything.
THE RATTLE SNAKE: the rattle snake is unique because it gives you a chance - brief as it might be! You come close to its lair, you're about to step on it because you aren't paying attention or watching your step. Suddenly you hear the rattle and if you look down, you see the rattlesnake curling up, coiling for the strike and you had better move fast, jump far, hightail it out of there or suddenly the fangs are sinking in through your pant leg and entering your flesh and injecting that poison that will make you sick and maybe kill you.
THE FOX: the fox is a hunter, looking for a trail across the snow or across the meadow. Perhaps a mouse or vole just passed that way. The fox will follow, but cautiously because it needs to get very close to its prey and if they see the fox coming they'll run faster or go into hiding under a tree trunk or into a hole. The fox has to groom in a sense - every time the little mouse stops and smells the fox stops and holds its position until it is clear the victim feels secure enough to get moving again. Over time the fox creeps closer and closer, patiently waiting out each moment of apprehension or suspicion or fear until it's close enough to close its jaws on the tender flesh of its squirming victim while it runs quickly to its lair to feed its kit pups.
THE SPIDER: the spider is a skilled weaver - creating a web, laying the first strands across a daring expanse, strengthen the net until it is full and ready, preparing for the victim to come into its territory and get ensnared unwittingly in the sticky design the web provides. Once the web is woven and covers the territory the spider has laid out, the spider goes to the side to watch and wait, hoping a victim will come soon and get caught in the web, so the spider can slide forward across the web and enfold the tender morsel in a silk cocoon to keep it captive until it's time for dinner! It takes skill and patience and you need to know where the web will do the best work: where do your victims congregate? What time of day are they most likely to come by? A human spider can lure as well as weave the web. Presents, treats, enticements to draw you into the web from which you can never extricate yourself and will horribly know the terror of being caught and entombed.
I have found these little toys to be very useful and engender a lot of useful conversation. Once clients recognize their style, they talk much more freely about how they pursue their victims and recognize much more clearly how predatory they are in those moments - they see the cold-blooded-ness of it all. It helps them recognize their perpetrator self and perhaps even recognize when and how it starts to emerge and go into hunting and seeking mode, all part of the treatment and recovery process.
A good exercise to consider in a group setting is to pass the collection of critters and around, asking each client to pick one and extol on how it matches his/her own style of perpetration and give examples. Might take a little to break the ice, but it’s a useful way to get the group sharing vital information they can use later to enhance accountability.
When talking about the criminal mind with clients and perpetrators, you have to remember that there are many different styles of going about seeking and taking down victims. Laying those styles out is an effective way to make clients feel like their particular style or approach is recognized, and therefore, they may be more open to examining their criminality and perhaps may also recognize the style or styles in which they were perpetrated against in their own history. Consider the following:
THE SHARK: this seems like the attack in a parking ramp where you don't see it coming. You're putting your key in the car door and WHAM! - something hits you out of nowhere in a blitz attack, so sudden and so hard, it's almost impossible to protect or defend yourself.
THE COBRA: the Cobra is seductive. I once saw a film at First Avenue on a dance nite (Prince's old hangout and where Purple Rain was filmed) in which two cobras were doing a mating dance for each other. It was amazing how erotic and seductive it was. A cobra draws its victims in, fascinating them, tantalizing and amazing them until you are finally in range for a strike, and then WHAM! - the fangs are in you and you are poisoned and going down for the kill!
THE GRASS SNAKE: the grass snake is subtler and typically hidden. You are walking through tall grass and it goes for your leg. It drops from a branch down onto your shoulder and immediately bites your neck or tries to put the stranglehold on you! It has to lie in wait and be patient because the victim has to come to them, within their range, before they can do anything.
THE RATTLE SNAKE: the rattle snake is unique because it gives you a chance - brief as it might be! You come close to its lair, you're about to step on it because you aren't paying attention or watching your step. Suddenly you hear the rattle and if you look down, you see the rattlesnake curling up, coiling for the strike and you had better move fast, jump far, hightail it out of there or suddenly the fangs are sinking in through your pant leg and entering your flesh and injecting that poison that will make you sick and maybe kill you.
THE FOX: the fox is a hunter, looking for a trail across the snow or across the meadow. Perhaps a mouse or vole just passed that way. The fox will follow, but cautiously because it needs to get very close to its prey and if they see the fox coming they'll run faster or go into hiding under a tree trunk or into a hole. The fox has to groom in a sense - every time the little mouse stops and smells the fox stops and holds its position until it is clear the victim feels secure enough to get moving again. Over time the fox creeps closer and closer, patiently waiting out each moment of apprehension or suspicion or fear until it's close enough to close its jaws on the tender flesh of its squirming victim while it runs quickly to its lair to feed its kit pups.
THE SPIDER: the spider is a skilled weaver - creating a web, laying the first strands across a daring expanse, strengthen the net until it is full and ready, preparing for the victim to come into its territory and get ensnared unwittingly in the sticky design the web provides. Once the web is woven and covers the territory the spider has laid out, the spider goes to the side to watch and wait, hoping a victim will come soon and get caught in the web, so the spider can slide forward across the web and enfold the tender morsel in a silk cocoon to keep it captive until it's time for dinner! It takes skill and patience and you need to know where the web will do the best work: where do your victims congregate? What time of day are they most likely to come by? A human spider can lure as well as weave the web. Presents, treats, enticements to draw you into the web from which you can never extricate yourself and will horribly know the terror of being caught and entombed.
I have found these little toys to be very useful and engender a lot of useful conversation. Once clients recognize their style, they talk much more freely about how they pursue their victims and recognize much more clearly how predatory they are in those moments - they see the cold-blooded-ness of it all. It helps them recognize their perpetrator self and perhaps even recognize when and how it starts to emerge and go into hunting and seeking mode, all part of the treatment and recovery process.
A good exercise to consider in a group setting is to pass the collection of critters and around, asking each client to pick one and extol on how it matches his/her own style of perpetration and give examples. Might take a little to break the ice, but it’s a useful way to get the group sharing vital information they can use later to enhance accountability.