About book Savage Spawn: Reflections On Violent Children (1999)
“The noblest of all studies,” said Plato, “is the study of what man is and of what life he should live.” But what do we do when, long before boy becomes man, life turns dark and thoroughly wrong? Psychiatrist and mystery writer Kellerman wrote this brief work for a general audience in response to the Jonesboro Massacre, in which two boys in Arkansas—ages eleven and thirteen—killed five people at their middle school in a deliberate, calculated ambush. Almost exactly a year later, the Columbine High School Massacre occurred.It is unfair, I know, but the fact that it is pre-Columbine often makes it appear ancient, like a text on military strategy that refers to WW I as “the Great War.” Certainly, we as a nation are now much better informed about juvenile psychopathy than we were then, and Kellerman often spends his time on matters that are self evident to the sadder but wiser Americans of 2015: that “psychotic” and “psychopathic” are not the same, that it is neither all “nature” or all “nurture,” that psychopaths are rarely rehabilitated and never respond well to psychotherapy, and that the influence of computer and video games is definitely not a major problem.The book is still powerful, though, when Kellerman calls the balls and strikes with no regard for the political leanings of the batter. He condemns conservatives for their rigid rejection of efforts to keep guns out of the hands of children, and he condemns liberals for their eager embrace of every rehabilitative and managerial solution (including strict gun control policy), while continually refusing to look into the cold eyes of the psychopath and accept the irremediable darkness of his unregenerate heart. Kellerman reserves his harshest words, though, for his fellow psychiatrist who continually manipulate the official psychological and pharmacological classifications in order to increase their draw on tax payer money for therapy and prescriptions, regardless of the effects this may have on their patients or the consequences for the greater world.His solutions? First the short term fixes. Pass laws banning all juvenile access to fire arms, and reinforce those laws with strict sentences and stiff fines. If a young person threatens murder or serious mayhem, lock him up, and if he commits murder, lock him up until he dies. For the long term? Do a better job detecting and stopping child abuse, and understand that a good orphanage—although far from the best environnment—is much better than a bad home. Then take the children who exhibit the most violent and anti-social behaviors and place them in “structured, loving environments, free of abuse, where punishment is non-corporal and used at a minuscule level,” places where rewards are given for instances of valuable social behaviors, such as “courtesy, empathy, and kindness.”“A School for Morality,” Kellerman calls it. I think Plato would have approved.
A thin article he turned out in response to the Jonesboro massacre.He repeatedly advocates long, even life-long, prison terms but never once addresses the impact of that approach. Prison over-crowding; drugs / corruption / violence; sexually violent / career crims / lifers without hope of parole locked up alongside kids who got caught with small amounts of drugs or some other non-violent stupid act that gets them into big trouble. A couple of years ago we had riots in several cities & some of the people who ended up with short gaol sentences & criminal records were otherwise law-abiding citizens who helped themselves to a bottle of water or chocolate bar from a looted shop. In a knee-jerk reaction to the shock of the riots someone thought it would be sensible to make examples of them - I don't see that as a productive use of my taxes. Passing laws in the immediate aftermath of a shocking event is more likely to be politically expedient than sensible.Kellerman argues reasonably that many of these children who commit terrible, violent crimes are the products of chaotic, unstable homes but never considers the effects of incarceration on the families of the prisoners & guards.He mentions the 3-strikes & out laws more than once & always approvingly. No mention of any downsides or inequities.He discusses other people's work - the validity of their research / sample size / conclusions drawn etc - but then gives his own opinions or sweeping generalisations on Johnson & Golden; the Menendez brothers et al which appear to be based on nothing more than what he saw on tv or read in a paper. I think he's caught between wanting to write a general-access op-ed piece and being taken seriously as an expert in the subject who is offering a solution.And finally he basically says that there are ways to intervene and catch these 'scary kids' & rehabilitate them - but we probably won't. Cheery.
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This book suffers from its own identity crisis: is it pop psychology? A serious, scholarly take on the subject? Or is it a stream-of-consciousness account of the author's private musings? Written by a clinical psychologist who just happens to be a prolific crime fiction author (or is it the other way around?), the book juxtaposes scholarly-style citations with punchy, buzzword-laden staccato sentences and exactly two case studies. For all the shade the author throws at scientists (who aren't as smart as they think they are, ZING!), there is an awful lot of personal anecdote and uncited, speculative psychological theorization. Basically, this dude took a break from his obsessive crime-novel-writing (self-confessed) to pen a small volume for the general public about a subject with which he has no genuine personal experience, but has plenty of polemic opinions about. Call me a cynic, but I can't think of an audience that would actually benefit from the wild speculation and vehement rhetoric to be found in this book. That is all.
—Cynthia
The book is way shorter than I thought it would be. Right off the bat I could tell it was more for the "general public" (i.e. diluting and adding buzz words). It irked me a little since I thought such an important topic shouldn't be dumbed down, but maybe that's just me. For the most part the author sounds embittered, pretentious ("scientists are seldom knowledgeable -or as effective- as they claim to be" and journalists are "scientifically unsophisticated" and they are often "gullible conduits" for the "supposed sages in white coats"), and tries far too hard to appear to be witty and worth the reader's praise. He even plugs his wife, "and my wife, Faye Kellerman (check out her novel Justice" in the middle of the book, which made me a little queasy. The book itself was mostly a refresher in things I already know with a few new things mixed in (like low heart rate vs. high heart rate and how criminals -in adolescence- have low heart rates). To me it didn't really focus on the subject as closely as I thought it was going to. The examples were few and far between, as well as the experiments (I would have like to have seen the experiment with the children wearing masks vs not wearing masks and how the level of violence and aggressiveness increased and more experiments like that). Bottomline: It was ok. For as short as it was, it was only ok. I thought the content was watered down and meant for the "general public", which is more an insult to the American public than an aid. I don't think I'll be buying this or reading it again.
—Jennn
Very thought provoking, research-based volume on the possible causes and treatment of violent children. Speaks of children are mentally ill and who are psychopaths. It differentiates from those who are "crazy" and those who are calm, cold killers. Jonathan Kellerman's training and work as a child psychologist give weight to his assessments and make me want to re-think the stance we, as voters, make on the penalties for crimes committed by these children and later adults. Tough to read emotionally but important. This book is a volume of the Library of Contemporary Thought series.
—Sandy Neal
