Construing The Construction Processes Of Serial Killers And Other Violent Offenders: 2. The Limits Of Credulity

Abstract

This article presents a categorization of pathways to violence and homicide, including serial killing, in terms of personal construct theory. Violent offenders’ reactions to their offences are considered in relation to the degree of consistency between their actions and their construing of the self and the world. Implications for the assessment and treatment of people who have committed acts of homicide or violence are discussed; and the extent to which it is possible and desirable to adopt a credulous approach with such individuals is explored, including consideration of the truth of offenders’ accounts, the therapeutic relationship, and moral relativism.

Acknowledgments

This article is based on an invited address to the 15th International Congress of Personal Construct Psychology, Huddersfield, 2003.