The Dr. Joyce Brothers Answers
Here are the answers to the Dr. Joyce Brothers criminal test from the other day.
1. FALSE. Most serial killers actually are more intelligent than average, and while some are filled with self-doubt and eager to challenge and prove themselves, others are egocentric. Sex is the dominant factor in most, often beginning with a hatred of their mother and/or prostitutes.
2. TRUE. Those at high risk of violence later often were unable or unwilling to play as a child. Frequently they were victims of brutal behavior in childhood. When children themselves are cruel and torture animals or other children, this is a warning sign of serious trouble ahead, and such a child should get immediate treatment.
3. FALSE. According to criminologists, the vast majority of crimes are triggered by humiliation, whether real or perceived. This would be considered a definite hot-button emotion.
4. FALSE. Child molesters unfortunately tend to look like anyone who might live in a community or even be accepted as an upstanding citizen, such as a banker, a doctor, a carpenter, the man who lives next door or someone in your church or synagogue.
5. FALSE. While arson tends to be rarer for girls, studies have shown that of those who do, more than 40 percent have been sexually abused.
6. FALSE. Incest is one of those crimes that is kept in a tightly locked closet, but as more and more victims are speaking out, we’ve learned that this is much less rare than once thought, and there are likely to be many victims, for frequently those who have been abused as children tend to repeat the pattern.
7. TRUE. Most experts readily admit that it’s extremely difficult and often impossible to accurately predict which person is actually going to commit a serious violent crime, unless he or she previously has been found guilty of other crimes.
8. FALSE. Because so many drugs remove inhibitions, the overwhelming majority of those serving prison sentences for crimes admit to having been under the influence of drugs when the crime took place.
If you answered six of these eight questions correctly, you’re better informed than most on this particular topic.
We thank everyone who took the time to write in and give us some insight on this topic.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:40 am
5. Girls rarely commit deliberate crimes of arson.
5. FALSE. While arson tends to be rarer for girls, studies have shown that of those who do, more than 40 percent have been sexually abused.
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This is the only one that my answer differed from Dr. Brothers. What I don’t understand is that in her answer she even says it is RARER for girls to commit deliberate arson. The line about being sexually abused didn’t make sense to me, in that it had nothing to do with the original question.
Oh well. I still say it is rare for females to commit arson when you are comparing it to the frequency that males commit that crime.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:55 am
GREGG and MATT: Sorry to go off topic, BUT…..
I just got home from vacation, went home to Vermont, and was going through stacks of mail, and LO AND BEHOLD, a postcard from Nantucket!!
Beautiful. Wow!!
So glad you had a nice vacation. It’s a little piece of heaven up there, isn’t it?
Thanks so much for the card!!
Always,
FS
August 16th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Sibby, I think what Dr. Brothers meant is that although it is more rare for females than males to commit arson, it happens frequently enough that it wouldn’t be described as “rarely”. At least that is the way I interpreted it…Her statement wasn’t comparing females to males, just stating “girls rarely commit the crime of arson”. I think you are right that they commit arson much less frequently than do men. I think the part about sexual abuse is just extra info…because often convicted criminals have been found to have been sexually abused as youngsters (or at least claim to have been). That’s how I read it anyway.
I think most of us who attempted the quiz missed just one…except Melissa got them all! Good job!