For all you aficionados of charts systems, penal codes and forensic psychiatry, I give you the Evil Ranking System (ERS). It's based on a scale created by Dr. Michael Welner, of New York University and forensic psychiatrist with New York University, originally referred to as the Depravity Scale.
In the first study, Dr. Michael Stone of Columbia University examined the biographies of more than 500 killers in New York's Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Centre and developed a 22-level "graduations of evil" list." After years of study, we have learned to recognize the traits of these people: what they do and why they do it," he said. "It is time to give them the proper appellation - evil."
Stone is also quoted as saying: "the bulk of evil on a world scale is committed by ideologues and their followers." Wars and persecutions, from the Spanish Inquisition to the fighting in Bosnia, show people are capable of "bottomless cruelty to those outside the tribe, especially in times of hardship and hunger," he said.
It is commonly used to compare the evil in murder cases, to more precisely sentence criminals.
Radar Online has taken the scale and applied to celebrities.
Scott Manning has meticulously computed the worst dictators of all time. That's a fun list.
And the Discovery Channel has taken both the scale and Dr. Stone and made a show out of them: Most Evil.
Crime Library has a profile on Dr. Welner as well as in depth studies of cases both men have studied and testified for during the judiciary process. Dr. Katherine Ramsland has a three part series in which she dissects evil on all it's different levels.
3 comments:
REad the comments after the original article (which was posted on the egregious right-wing loony site freerepublic.com). One actually states that Ted Kennedy is worse than Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
Chilling.
I became intrigued with the concept of evil, psychopathy, and criminal behavior while doing research for a college course in abnormal psychology. Since then, I have learned quite a bit about what makes someone evil. I admire the work of Dr. Michael Stone, Dr. Robert Hare, and others who have brought to the forefront the idea that evil people do, indeed, exist among us. I have made it my purpose to learn as much as I can about this, because I believe that knowledge is power. What is especially scary to me is the idea that these people, for the most part, blend into our society so seamlessly that unless we arm ourselves with knowledge, scepticism, and prudence, we can easily be fooled.
I agree with Dr. Stone in his assertion that the most evil is committed by fanatical idealogues and their followers.
This is true whether the ideology is religion or politics; lately the line between the two has begun to blur, which is especially scary.
Nevertheless, it pays to be aware that evil exists. To deny this is virtual suicide.
If you want a full list of the Levels of Evil, check out this link:
http://forensiccrimescene.com/how-evil-are-you-the-scale-of-evil-for-killers/
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