Savage Spawn (10 page)

From the parents' account during history taking, this kid sounded like a little monster. Yet when I met him, Bobby was pleasant, cooperative, and extremely responsive to praise. Furthermore, his behavior at the special school he attended was not reported to be troublesome. This led me to suspect that the ways his parents dealt with his behavior—notably, giving him attention when he was disruptive—might be a factor.

Fortunately, Bobby's parents were highly motivated and devoid of the ambivalence I've discussed previously. Their son's behavior had driven them—almost literally—to their wits' end.

I developed rapport with Bobby quite easily using play therapy and was able to work with the entire family. The details of the treatment plan can be found in a previously published technical article, but the general approach was nothing revolutionary: helping the parents develop behavior goals and then showing them how to reward good behavior while ignoring and/or punishing bad behavior (72). They were quite successful at following through, and within weeks Bobby's behavior had improved dramatically. Tantrums had decreased to a third of the previous rate, the destructive behavior had disappeared, and Bobby was sleeping through the night and feeding himself, though he continued to be a picky eater (probably related to appetite loss from the Ritalin). Furthermore, some behaviors we hadn't yet targeted had also improved: Bobby was talking more, initiating conversations, and speaking in longer sentences. His speech was also clearer, and his father was amazed that he could now carry on a conversation with his son. This probably occurred because high-rate disruption can be thought of as “behavioral garbage,” hogging so much time that it often suppresses speech (73).

Within weeks, Bobby's parents were able to eliminate the evening dose of Ritalin and to go away on vacation by themselves, leaving Bobby with a baby-sitter. She reported the boy had been just fine.

The one behavior that didn't change early on was inappropriate masturbation. I showed the parents how to use a mild punishment technique called time-out (having Bobby sit in a corner for several minutes) each time he masturbated publicly. Within a month, this problem was reduced to 25 percent of its former frequency.

A follow-up four months later showed stability in Bobby's gains. Bobby was now sleeping so soundly that his mother sometimes had to wake him up in the morning.

I am no miracle worker. The psychological literature is full of thousands of success stories accomplished by the systematic, humane application of behavioral principles to problem behaviors. I believe that if we catch antisocial kids early enough, they too will be amenable to behavioral treatment. We need to approach psychopathy with rational optimism and intellectual strength, confident in the knowledge that no society is more capable than ours and that we are doing the right thing.

Andrew Golden, Mitchell Johnson, Kipland Kinkel, and others like them have wrought suffering beyond description. But if widespread revulsion at the horrors perpetrated by these young criminals leads us to correct choices, perhaps they have taught us valuable lessons without intending to.

If we remain clearheaded, do what needs to be done, and are successful in preventing other tragedies, a bit of solace may yet be drawn from Jonesboro, Springfield, and so many other American killing fields.

To my young patients, who taught me
so much about the resilience of
the human spirit

         

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