Thursday, January 07, 2016
A Stretch Inside Not Only Protects Society: For Perps It May Be Best Shot At Coming Right
Posted by Peter Quennell
Video 1: Very good analysis by psychologist Dr Drew Pinsky on Tuesday 5 January 2016
As we posted Ethan Couch killed four and maimed a fifth for life while drunk-driving in Texas two years ago.
He is now in a Mexico City lockup for illegal immigrants seeking to avoid extradition to the US where he has violated his highly controversial probation. Many or most think this was a travesty for the families of the victims. The judge retired early. Justice was not seen to be done.
Now he is reported to have run up a $1000 tab at a Mexican strip club which his mother paid. That $1000 apparently went in part toward drinks. He had skipped out of the US mid-December because he was videoed at a party with drinks.
Sources say Ethan Couch and his mother Tonya went to a strip club called Harem in Puerto Vallarta on the night of Dec. 23. According to club employees, the pair had drinks before Tonya Couch left the club. Ethan stayed at the club and employees told ABC News that he went off to a VIP room with two women who worked at Harem. Hotel and club employees said Couch was extremely drunk.
Few if any other criminal psychologists ever came out in support of Couch’s defense’s psychologist who convinced the judge two years ago that the affluence of the family was somehow a primary cause.
In the past few days there have been various psychology panels on cable TV discussing the case. Articles too.
From them Ethan Couch did not exactly get a lot of love. A term inside to remove him from his family and choke off his dependencies is what the psychologists incline towards, as Dr Drew in the top video highly recommends.
Video 2: Dr Drew two years ago (this video was previously at the top)
Comments
UPDATE The video of the panel two days ago is posted now
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I have a clip from CNN yesterday on the recorder. Dr Drew describes Tonya Couch as a quite typical enabler - as so often, she had some violence in her past.
Drew said a main reason to put Couch away is he wont ever change with that kind of mom around. Knox seems to have come off drugs hard when she was locked up. We know some of the Perugia cops think Knox was still on a bad high when she melted down 5-6 Nov.
This will come as no surprise to SeekingUnderstanding who has looked at the Knox psychology more knowledgeably than anyone we know and thinks there is no other way if Knox etc etc are ever to expect closure. Scroll down:
http://www.truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/C444/
[on video 2] Well said to Dr Drew!
How very refreshing to hear such unequivocal clarity!
“It’s ridiculous…a travesty”. Quite agree.
I note he emphasised that causation is not </i> justification </i>. This is very important.
Because we are beginning to understand what causes certain behaviours more precisely now, never for one moment does this detract from the important issue of taking responsibility for one’s own actions (and indeed thoughts).
Self-responsibility is the essence of a grown-up person who contributes rather than is a burden to their society. I think he emphasises it because we are probably going to hear more of these weasel-y defenses!
Regarding the use of drink, drugs and indeed sex in addictive behaviours…I was taught in psychology that the hierarchy of needs has to be applied. True remedial action and any therapy cannot seriously begin until the drink/drugs/addictive agent has been completely dealt with first.
So “spoiled brat” is the diagnosis here.
Lets consider Knox whose parents also divorced. For years she was smothered by her mother, coldly ignored by her father, and taunted by her stepfather after he came along.
The first minute she could, she takes off from home - twice.
Once when she left high-school, and once when in 2011 she came back home. She takes to drugs, gets in a mess, needs help, which she receives in spades, maybe to protect the dad’s back.
Now she has the family wrapped around her little finger, and still working for her vindication day and night.
Spoiled brat now, if not previously. She’d be doing all of them a favor, not least herself, back in the tank. The grossly irresponsible Curt Knox also, as the one who lit the fuse on all this.
What a splendid fellow and clear thinker Dr Drew is. I’m guessing he doesn’t get much work as a defence specialist!
I’m heartily sick of apologists attempting to get psychopaths off the hook because they weren’t cuddled enough as children. I’m being slightly facetious but you get the gist.
Sam Harris has some interesting things to say about free will and whether we actually have such a thing as human beings. I subscribe to much of it but, regardless of whether you truly had free will in your actions, I’m very much of the view that once you have committed a heinous act, society has every right to expect your removal from the mainstream to protect the vast majority who manage to behave.
There may be exceptions and exceptional circumstances but these must necessarily be very few and very far between I reckon.
Knox certainly isn’t one that any excuses whatsoever could be made for. She’s a 24 carat horror show.
It’s interesting that Knox incessantly blabs on and on about her family and the rest of her enablers.
She has no need to worry - they will sort out whatever mess she has created.
She’s not alone even when she is alone…
Hope she does have something to worry about - the Guede interview scheduled for late January seems to fit that bill. Another great bit of news for 2016!
Sorry, so excited at Guede breaking silence that forgot to credit Sallyoo on PMF for giving that information.
Thanks YorkshireLass (and Sallyoo)
The excellent Liz Houle has a report and Guede’s appearance will be on January 21.
http://www.examiner.com/article/rudy-guede-speaks-for-first-time-about-amanda-knox-case
The title of this post says it all. Guede is serving his time, has had time to reflect on the circumstances which took him to jail and is ‘coming right’. I sincerely hope that this brings the Kercher family the answers they so deserve and need.
When I first mentioned this upcoming interview the info came from a blog I don’t know, so I sort of added ‘allegedly’. But it is definitely going to happen, although the press reports (in La Nazione) are not encouraging about revelations - they think he’ll skip over the Nov 1 2007 happenings.
Nevertheless, I (personally) do believe in rehabilitation, and if all Guede says is that he has used his prison time to repent and get educated, then I’ll not be disappointed.
Ethan Couch, after a silly legal fight in Mecico and a month locked up, is being brought back to face the music.
His mother seems to be facing stiffer charges than he is.
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