From the teaching to the research, the field of psychiatry is ever-evolving, according to Ann Burgess, professor of nursing at Boston College’s Connell School of Nursing (CSON).
“I think [psychiatry] changed a lot in terms of the education in itself,” Burgess said. “It has been wonderful to see that in not only the training but the history and the neurobiology.”
Burgess and other experts in psychiatry and forensics spoke at Boston College on Oct. 28, discussing the complex minds of criminal offenders as part of a panel through CSON’s Pinnacle Lecture Series.
An author and lifelong pioneer in the treatment of trauma and abuse, Burgess drew on her work with past victims, discussing the Melissa Ackerman case, where she used coloring materials to help a seven-year-old witness describe her sister’s kidnapping.
“It was a case where they had to fly me in,” Burgess said. “And I was amazed, because they’re all these big FBI agents. They all have kids, and it was like, they don’t know how to talk to a seven-year-old. But, I [gave her the materials] and had her go through, and she just kept drawing, paper after paper, and she put the whole story together.”
Aside from publishing multiple books on criminal psychiatry, Burgess was featured in the Hulu Docuseries Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer. She discussed her role in criminal trials and the challenges of getting a jury to understand the breadth of psychological and sociological factors that can impact an offender.
“That’s something that people don’t really understand well—trauma and growing up and having terrible things going on in the family dynamics,” Burgess said. “Is that going to make a difference to the jury? It’s only 12 people that pick the fate of one person.”
Victor Petreca, director of the Center for Police Training in Crisis Intervention and assistant professor in CSON, discussed tackling difficult conversations with empathy.
“I always say to my students, it’s very difficult to hate someone that you get to know,” Petreca said. “If you look at someone and all you see is a rapist, gang member, wife-beater, then in my head … we might as well lock them up forever. What’s the point of rehabilitation or correction?”
Petreca suggested that it is unproductive for society to make clear-cut moral judgments or reduce someone to their mental illness.
“It is strangely comforting to think that someone [who] could do something bad is either evil or mentally ill,” Petreca said. “Because if this person that did this horrible thing has a mental illness, as a nurse, I can treat them for that. But the unseen part is that we all have to realize that we are capable [of doing] horrible things.”
Jeff Wood, Program Manager at Protection Strategies Incorporated and retired personal security specialist and supervisory special agent in the FBI, gave insight into the causes of recurring gang violence, which now makes up 48 percent of all violent crimes in the United States.
“[These gang members] have been raised up,” Wood said. “Today, we are talking about fourth, fifth, sixth generation gang members. They’ve known nothing but growing up in a gang family and being recruited.”
As a retired special agent, Wood has extensive experience interviewing suspects. He stressed the importance of building rapport with a suspect during the interrogation process.
“If you don’t have rapport, it’s hard to correct them on those lies and convince them to tell the truth,” Wood said. “You have to learn to lower the crime, place blame on the victim to make [the offender] feel like you’re almost on their side … And you may be seething inside, but once you get that confession, now it doesn’t matter.”
The speakers closed the panel by emphasizing the importance of prioritizing mental health.
“It boils down to getting to know yourself,” Petreca stated. “You need to have the humility of recognizing when something’s hard and not being ashamed to look for help.”
