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A Never Ending Cycle?

© Gail Giordano

What intrigues the human mind to learn about another human mind, the reasons behind the things that we do, even the reasons behind vicious crimes?

Recently I finished a book by Ann Rule called Small Sacrifices. The attention getter for me was not the crime that had been committed, even though that was atrocious, but more the process by which it was proven; a story interracially woven, describing the mind and life of the criminal. One of the things that interested me in this book I just finished was how the media was involved in this investigation. For the majority of the time, the mother, who in this case was the criminal, played the media. She had them in the palm of her hand from the time the crime had been committed. Somewhere along the way the media changed their minds about her, my guess would be at the trial. A trial that took a year to get too but patience in this case paid off in the end. The patience that the prosecutors had to ensuring they had a solid case ensured a conviction that will keep this particular criminal behind bars for a long time. When I finally reached the end of the book I had learned a number of things. First I had walked away knowing the story of two children who survived being shot by their own mother. I learned also about sociopath’s, narcissists, and various psychological personality disorders that exist. The biggest thing I walked away from reading the book was that when I see warning signs while working with children that some type of abuse is occurring you should act then and stand the chance of being wrong rather than waiting and standing the chance of being right.

In true crime novels you learn about the life of a criminal and the acts in which they have committed. You will meet the victims, and the author will rebuild the lives of all involved and the scenario in which the crime occurred. As bad as crime is it is still a part of the society in which we live in. Some of us will never live to witness or partake in a horrible crime, while others of us have been directly or indirectly involved with the criminal process as a victim or even as a party to. The true crime novel helps society learn about a part of itself that is not a liked part, often time it is the numerous and various criminal cases that helps bring changes in local, state and federal laws. The novels provide a way for us to learn about and decide for ourselves what steps should be taken in the future to ensure it doesn’t happen again.