pathology of lying-第44章

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Thus；　out　of　the　19　cases　there　are　only　three　or　four　which　do　not　come　of　stock　showing　striking　defects。　　Now；　as　we　go　on　to　show　later　that　unfortunate　conditions　or　experiences　were　often　causal　factors；　the　total　findings　seem　to　show　clearly　that　these　latter　influences　generally　bore　their　unfortunate　fruition　upon　inherited　instability。

The　heredity　in　the　border…line　cases　is；　as　might　be　expected；　even　worse。　　These　facts　are　easily　discerned　in　their　respective　case　histories。

The　question　of　inheritance　of　similar　mental　traits　is；　of　course；　important。　　We　have　found　absolutely　no　proof　of　the　trait　of　pathological　lying；　as　such；　being　inherited。　　The　reader　will　note　with　interest　particularly　the　facts　in　Cases　2　and　4；　where　we　at　first　thought　we　had　to　deal　with　inheritance；　but　later　found　there　was　no　blood　relationship　between　the　supposed　parent　and　child。　　In　those　instances　the　lying　of　the　younger　individual　was　much　more　likely　to　be　the　result　of　psychic　contagion；　and　this　also　may　be　largely　the　explanation　of　Cases　6　and　8；　where　an　older　relative　was　well　known　to　be　a　prevaricator。　　The　bad　inheritance　in　these　cases　then　turns　out　to　be；　corroborating　what　we　found　in　studying　the　general　problem　of　criminality；＇25＇　a　matter　of　coming　from　stock　that　shows　defects　in　various　ways…all　making；　however；　in　the　offspring　for　moral　instability。


＇25＇‘‘Inheritance　as　a　Factor　in　Criminality。　　A　Study　of　a　Thousand　Cases　of　Young　Repeated　Offenders。''　　Edith　R。　Spaulding　and　William　Healy。　　pp。　24。　　Bulletin　of　the　American　Academy　of　Medicine；　Vol。　XV。　February　1914。



Developmental　Physical　Conditions。　　Inquiry　into　our　19　mentally　normal　cases　gave　the　following　findings：　　Antenatal　conditions　were　defective　in　2　cases　on　account　of　syphilis　and　in　one　case　from　advanced　age　of　the　mother。　　The　accident　during　pregnancy　to　the　mother　in　one　case；　the　severe　mental　shock　in　another；　and　the　effect　of　illegitimacy　in　still　another　we　can　not　evaluate。　　In　2　cases　there　were　operative　births　with；　however；　no　bad　results　known。　　One　was　a　twin。　　Early　severe　disease　of　the　nervous　system　was　experienced　by　one；　and　convulsions　during　infancy　by　two　others。　　Another　suffered　from　some　unknown　very　severe　early　illness；　and　one　from　prolonged　digestive　disturbance　in　infancy。　　Three　had　in　early　childhood　several　severe　illnesses；　one　had　a　long　attack　of　‘‘chorea。''　　Two　suffered　from　general　nervousness；　incited　in　one　case　by　the　excessive　use　of　tea　and　in　the　other　by　a　similar　use　of　coffee。　　One　was　an　habitual　masturbator　from　childhood。　　Difficult　menstruation　was　reported　in　only　one　case。　　In　5　cases　there　was　a　quite　normal　early　developmental　period；　according　to　reliable　accounts。　　In　3　cases　the　early　developmental　histories　are　completely　unknown；　and　in　3　others　uncertain。　　The　data　of　developmental　history　in　the　border…line　types　may　be　easily　noted　in　the　case　histories。

Previous　Ailments。　　Ailments　suffered　from　in　our　19　cases　after　the　early　developmental　period　amount　to　very　little。　　The　several　gynecological　troubles　have　been　mentioned　above　under　the　head　of　Physical　Conditions。　　In　one　other　case　there　had　been　urethritis　previously。　　Head　injuries；　which　play　such　a　significant　part　in　the　study　of　criminalistics；　find　no　place　in　our　mentally　normal　series；　but　should　always　be　kept　in　mind　in　considering　the　border…line　types。　　Epilepsy　as　a　possible　factor　in　criminalistic　problem　cases　is　to　be　remembered。

Habits。　　We　have　already　mentioned　the　effect　upon　nervous　conditions　of　excessive　tea　and　coffee　in　two　of　our　cases。　　Masturbation；　including　its　indirect　effect；　particularly　upon　the　psyche；　appears　to　be　a　very　important　feature　of　these　cases。　　We　should　be　far　from　considering　that　we　have　full　data　on　all　of　our　cases　and　yet　this　stands　out　most　strongly。　　We　have　had　positive　reports　from　relatives　or　from　the　individual　showing　this　certainly　to　be　a　factor　in　7　out　of　the　19　cases。　　This　is　a　very　large　finding；　when　it　is　considered　that　the　data　are　frequently　unobtainable。　　Of　course　we　are　not　speaking　here　of　masturbation　per　se；　but　only　of　the　fact　of　its　ascertained　relationship　to　the　pathological　lying。　　This　is　only　part　of　the　whole　matter　of　sex　experience　which；　we　find　upon　gathering　our　material　together；　plays　such　an　enormous　role。

Age　of　Onset。　　It　is　very　easy　to　see　that　the　tendency　to　pathological　lying　begins　in　the　early　formative　years。　　Common…sense　observation　of　general　character　building　would　tend　to　make　us　readily　believe　that　if　an　individual　got　through　the　formative　years　of　life　with　a　normal　hold　upon　veracity　he　would　never　become　a　pathological　liar。　　We　can　see　definite　beginnings　at　certain　critically　formative　periods；　as　in　Case　6　and　perhaps　in　Case　3；　but　our　material　shows　that　most　cases　demonstrate　more　gradually　insidious　beginnings。　　（Case　21　is　in　this　respect　in　a　class　by　itself。）　　As　we　stated　in　our　introduction；　it　is　clear　from　the　previous　studies　of　older　individuals　that　the　nature　of　the　beginnings　were　not　learned　because　it　was　too　late。　　Our　material　offers　unusual　opportunities　in　this　direction　and　shows　the　fact　of　genesis　in　childhood　most　clearly。　　For　specific　and　often　most　interesting　details　we　refer　the　reader　to　our　various　case　histories。

Sex。　　Our　findings　show　only　1　male　out　of　19　mentally　normal　cases。　　A　general　observation　by　practical　students　of　conduct；　namely；　that　females　tend　to　deviate　from　the　truth　more　readily　than　males；　is　more　than　thoroughly　borne　out　here。　　There　are　certainly　several　social　and　psychological　reasons　for　this；　but　they　need　not　be　gone　into　here。　　If　our　figures　seem　not　to　be　corroborated　by　the　findings　of　previous　students　it　is　only　because　the　figures　are　not　comparable　the　latter　have　mixed　the　mentally　abnormal　with　the　pathological　liars　proper。　　It　will　be　noted　that　in　our　examples　of　border…line　cases　5　out　of　the　8　are　males。　　Cases　of　pathological　swindling　by　mentally　abnormal　individuals；　such　as　we　have　avoided；　make　up　much　of　the　foreign　literature。　　We　can　easily　see　that　the　social　opportunities　for　swindling　are　vastly　greater　for　males　than　those　offered　to　the　opposite　sex。　　Sex　differences；　as　in　many　instances；　must　not　be　taken　here　too　seriously　because　social　environment；　differing　so　greatly　for　the　sexes；　is　largely　responsible　for　the　behavior　which　we　superficially　judge　to　be　entirely　the　expression　of　innate　characteristics。

Environment。　　We　are　far　from　feeling　that　a　mere　enumeration　of　material　environmental　conditions　tells　the　story　of　environmental　influences　important　for　our　present　subject。　　The　psyche　is　frequently　most　profoundly　affected　by　environmental　conditions　which　even　a　trained　observer　would　not　detect。　　But　conditions　in　the　total　number　of　unselected　cases　show　something；　and；　for　whatever　it　is　worth；　we　offer　the　following　enumeration　of　environment　in　our　19　normal　cases；　who　with　much　more　reason　might　be　expected　to　be　largely　influenced　by　surroundings　than　our　group　of　border…line　cases。


Reasonably　good　home　from　birth　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。5　　Defective　home　conditions　through　poverty　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。2　　Very　ignorant　parents　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。2　　Immoralities　in　home　life　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。6　　Marked　defect　in　parental　control　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。6　　Very　erratic　home　conditions…parent　abnormal。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。　。1


Early　Mental　Experiences。　　As　will　have　been　observed　by　the　reader　in　going　over　the　case　histories；　the　early　mental　experiences　of　many　of　our　group　of　mentally　normal　pathological　liars　have　been　shockingly　bad。　　Full　appreciation　of　this　can　only　be　gained　through　perusal　of　the　text；　but　here　we　may　call　attention　to　the　fact　that　no　less　than　8　of　the　19　have　had　very　early　untoward　sex　experiences；　that　5　were　markedly　under　the　influence　of　bad　companions；　including　even　the　influence　in　one　or　two　cases　of　vicious　grown　people。　　The　sex　experiences　we　have　just　enumerated　were　received　through　otherswe　are　not　here　speaking　of　masturbation；　which　is　discussed　above。

Psychic　Contagion。　　Direct　contagion　of　the　tendency　to　lie　seems　more　than　likely　to　take　place；　at　least　during　the　more　plastic　periods　of　life。　　It　may　be　that　this　only　develops　when　there　is　some　sort　of　predisposition　to　instability；　our　related　findings　on　defective　heredity　would　seem　to　indicate　the　fact。　　It　should　be　noted　that　in　5　instances　out　of　our　19　mentally　normal　（Cases　2；　4；　6；　8；　20）　some　other　member　of　the　household；　we　learned　from　reliable　sources；　was　known　as　a　chronic　prevaricator。

Mental　Conflicts。　　The　fact　that　several　of　our　cases　started　lying　from　the　time　when　there　occurred　some　experience　accompanied　by　a　deep　emotional　context；　and　that　this　experience　and　the　emotion　was　repressed；　seems　to　point　clearly　to　the　part　which　repressed　mental　life　may　play　in　the　genesis。　　That　as　children　they　kept　to　themselves　secrets　of　grave　import　and　dwelled　long　on　them；　shows　in　a　large　number　of　our　cases。　　Anything　deeply　upsetting；　such　as　the　discovery　of　the　facts　of　sex　life　or　questions　about　family　relationships；　are　the　incidents　which　cause　the　trouble。　　For　students　of　modern　psychology　nothing　more　need　be　said　on　this　pointthe　concrete　issues　are　perceivable　in　the　case　histories。　

Adolescence。　　Quite　apart　from　the　age　of　onset；　we　may　consider　the　physical　and　psychical　instabilities　of　adolescence　as　effective　causes　of　pathological　lying。　　Of　course　it　is　equally　true　that　many　other　tendencies　to　peculiarity　are　accentuated　at　this　period。　　It　has　been　suggested　that　cases　which　have　their　origin　largely　in　the　unstable　reactions　of　adolescence　have　much　the　better　prognosis；　but　it　seems　that　not　enough　evidence　has　been　accumulated　as　yet　to　justify　us　in　this　conclusion；　which；　we　acknowledge；　may　prove　to　be　true。

Irritative　Conditions。　　In　the　same　way　the　various　types　of　irritative　conditions；　physical　and　mental；　may　be　considered　as　exciting　moments。　　Individuals　with　a　tendency　to　pathological　lying　will　no　doubt　show　aggravation　of　the　phenomenon　at　periods　of　particular　stress。　　We　have　heard　it　suggested　in　several　cases　by　relatives　that　the　menstrual　period；　for　instance；　brings　about　an　access　of　tendency　to　prevarication。　　We　would　grant　the　point　without　conceding　this　exciting　factor　to　be　a　fundamental　cause。　　（Case　21；　we　may　say　again；　illustrates　a　special　fact。）　　The　periodicity　which　Stemmermann　makes　much　of　may　merely　mean　succumbing　during　a　period　of　physiologic　stress。　　Social　stress　also　may　be　met　by　pathological　lying；　in　the　same　way　that　the　individual　who　finds　himself　in　a　tight　place　may　attempt　to　get　out　of　it　by　running　away。　　We　have　already　spoken　of　the　likeness　of　social　and　physical　stress　as　showing　when　the　weak　individual　is　brought　to　bay。　　That　pathological　lying　does　not　run　an　even　course；　but　shows　remarkable　fluctuations　with　powerful　exacerbations；　is　undoubtedly　to　be　explained　by　changes　of　inner　and　outer　stress。　

Habit　Formation。　　The　influence　of　habit　in　causing　chronicity　must　always　be　de