Pathology of Lying, accusation, and swindling Part 3

[19] ''Ein forensisch interessanter Fall. Pseudologia phantastica.'' Allg. Zeitschrift f. Psych. LV, p. 88.

The author considered this not a pure case of simulation; the patient was an abnormal being, none of his keepers thought him normal. His entire appearance, his excited way of speaking, his gestures and play of features were all striking to a high degree.

His method of going about begging was unreasonable; he gained so little by it. His tendency to untruthfulness stood out everywhere. He imitated the pious as he chattered without aim.

The man had lived himself into the role of a cloister brother so completely that he was not clearly conscious of the deceit. The author thinks the case presents some paranoiac features with a pathological tendency towards lying. Thus this pathological liar presents the phenomenon of a mixture of lies and delusions.

From the Zurich clinic of Forel several cases of pathological swindling have been reported at length.[20] It must be confessed that the success of much of the misrepresentation cited in these case histories seems to be as largely due to the naivete of the country folk as to the efforts of the swindlers themselves. Two of the cases were clearly insane and were detained for long periods in asylums after their study in the clinic. But even so, it is to be noted that one of these when absenting himself from inst.i.tutional care succeeded in going on with his swindling operations. The third case was regarded as that of an aberrational individual with special tendency towards lying and swindling, but the opinion rendered did not end in the man being held as insane. He was simply regarded as a delinquent, and after serving his sentence he went his old way. These cases are interesting to one who would learn the extent to which swindling among a simple minded population can be carried on.

[20] ''Gerichtlich-psychiatrische Gutachten aus d. Klinik von Prof. Forel in Zurich; f. Aerzte u. Juristen, herausgegeb. von Dr. Th. Koelle.'' Stuttgart, Encke, 1902.

From French sources we have not been able to collect such a wealth of material as we found in German literature. One study by Belletrud and Mercier[21] compares favorably in elaborate working out of details with the work of German authors. A Corsican boy, from childhood moody, fond of adventure, inclined to deception, had attempted suicide several times before he was twenty years old. He was married at that time and went to France, where he was employed in several towns. His life following this included an immense amount of lying and swindling.

He had a mania for buying costly antique furniture and jewelry which he obtained on credit. He frequently disappeared from localities where he was wanted on criminal charges, and changed his name. He wandered through Italy, Tunis, and South America.

Returning to France he was taken into custody and mental troubles were noted. He showed delirium of persecution and was removed to a hospital for the insane. Experts studied him for a year before they could decide whether he was insane or merely simulating insanity. Finally they thought he was not simulating. A few months later he escaped, went to Belgium, Italy, Corsica.

Turning up at a town in France under an a.s.sumed name, he was arrested again and elaborately examined. At this time he had frequent attacks of unconsciousness and frothing at the mouth.

At times he was melancholy. Summarizing the case, the authors say that the psychic peculiarities of the patient were congenital, and included habitual instability of character with defective development of the ethical sentiments, and tendency to deceit and swindling. Epilepsy here is, of course, the central cause of mental and moral deterioration.

[21] ''Un cas de mythomanie; escroquerie et simulation chez un epileptique.'' L'Encephale, June 1910, p. 677.

From a pedagogical point of view Rouma[22] tells of the marvelous stories of a five-year-old boy in the Froebel school at Charleroi. His stories were generally suggested by something told by the teacher or other pupils. He referred their anecdotes to himself or other members of his family and greatly enlarged upon them. He also made elaborate childish drawings and gave long accounts of what they meant. Going into the question of heredity Rouma found this boy's mother very nervous; the father was a good man. She had worked steadily at the machine before his birth. Two of their children died with convulsions; of the two living, one was well behaved, but weakly. Rouma's case had stigmata of degeneracy in ears, palate, and jaw. Tested by the Binet system, he did three out of five of the tests for five years satisfactorily. He was easily fatigued, refused at times to respond, said he had been forbidden to reply, said he would be whipped if he did. In school he was always poor at manual work, wanted to be moving about, to go out of cla.s.ses on errands, was always calling notice to himself in a good or bad way. He paid very little attention to his lessons, played alone or with younger children, leading them often into mischief. It was found that he got much of his material for stories from his older brother who told him of robbers and accidents. From his good father he got the form of his tales, because the father was wont to tell him stories with a moral.

[22] ''Un cas de mythomanie.'' Arch. de Psych. 1908, pp.

259-282.

In summary, Rouma stated that this child possessed senses acute beyond the average, and was of very unstable temperament, refusing regular work, not submitting to rules, rebelling at abstractions. There were evidences of degeneracy on the mother's side.

Remedies in education for such children are: Suppress food for imagination, such as came from the stories of father and brother.

Direct perceptions to accurate work. Systematize education of attention, exercise the senses, use manual work, such as modeling and gardening. Give lessons in observation in the cla.s.s room and on promenades.

Meunier[23] tells of three girls in a well known Parisian school who indulged in wonderful tales. The first, in the intermediate grade, told stories of the illness of her father to account for her not having her lessons. The second, 11 years old, said that her mother was dying; she came bringing this news to the teachers at two different periods of her school life. She was a calm, thoughtful, a.n.a.lytical child with no reason for lying. Family history negative. The third, 13 years old, told of an imaginary uncle who was going to collect funds for needy children; she kept up the deceit for two months. She was an anemic, nervous, hysterical child with a nervous mother. Meunier calls these cases of systematized deliriums. The development of such delirium annihilates, so to speak, the entire personality of the subject, and his entire mental life is invaded by abnormal extra and introspection--the delirium commands and systematizes all acquired impressions. There is a veritable splitting of the personality in which the new ''ego'' is developed at the expense of the normal ''ego'' that now only appears at intervals.

[23] ''Remarks on Three Cases of Morbid Lying.'' Journal of Mental Pathology, 1904, pp. 140-142.

CHAPTER III

CASES OF PATHOLOGICAL LYING AND SWINDLING

In the group of twelve cases making up this chapter we have limited ourselves to a simple type in order to demonstrate most clearly the cla.s.sical characteristics of pathological liars. How pathological lying verges into swindling may be readily seen in several of the following cases, e.g., Cases 3, 8, 10, 12, although only two, Cases 3 and 12, have had time as yet to show marked development of the swindling tendency. For the purpose of aiding in the demonstration of the evolution of lying into swindling, and also to bring out the fact that facility in language may be the determining influence towards pathological lying and swindling, we have included Case 12, which otherwise possibly might be considered under our head of border-line mental types.

In any attempt to distinguish between pathological accusers and liars, cases overlapping into both groups are found--so some of the material in this chapter may be fairly considered as belonging partially to the next chapter.

In discussing the possibility of betterment, a fact which we as well as others have observed, consideration of Cases 1, 4, and 7 is suggested.

CASE 1

Summary: A girl of 16 applied for help, telling an elaborate tale of family tragedy which proved to be totally untrue. It was so well done that it deceived the most experienced. Shrewd detective work cleared the mystery. It was found that the girl was a chronic falsifier and had immediately preceding this episode become delinquent in other ways. Given firm treatment in an inst.i.tution and later by her family, who knew well her peculiarities, this girl in the course of four years apparently has lost her previous extreme tendency to falsification.

Hazel M. at 16 years of age created a mild sensation by a story of woe which brought immediate offers of aid for the alleged distress. One morning she appeared at a social center and stated she had come from a hospital where her brother, a young army man, had just died. She gave a remarkably correct, detailed, medical account of his suffering and death. In response to inquiry she told of a year's training as a nurse; that was how she knew about such subjects. In company with a social worker she went directly back to the hospital to make arrangements for what she requested, namely, a proper burial. At the hospital office it was said that no such person had died there, and after she had for a time insisted on it she finally said she must have been dreaming.

Although she had wept on the shoulder of a listener as she first told her story, she now gave it up without any show of emotion.

We were asked to study the case.

Hazel sketched to us a well-balanced story of her family life; one which it was impossible to break down. It involved experiences at army posts--she stated her only relatives were brothers in the army--and her recent work as a ''practical nurse.'' She finally led on to the death of her brother, as in the tale previously told. When asked how she accounted for the fact that no such person was found in the hospital, she answered, ''Well, I either must have been crazy or something is the matter, and I don't think my mind is that bad.'' The girl evidently was suffering from loss of sleep; her case was not further investigated until after a long rest.

The next day Hazel started in by saying, ''It's enough to convince anybody that I was not in the hospital when Mrs. B. and I went there and found out that they said I had not been there.

Truthfully I don't know where I was. If I was not there I must have been some place or I must have been in a trance.'' The long stories told in the next few days need not be gone into. They contained descriptions of life with her family in several towns when she was a child, of her graduation from the high school in Des Moines, and of her experience as a nurse in Cincinnati and Chicago. Our cross-examination disclosed that she knew a good many facts about obstetrics, in which she said she had had training, and about the cities where she said she had lived. For instance, she gave a description of the Cliff House at San Francisco, the seals on the rocks there, the high school in Des Moines, and so on. She also knew about life at army posts. The point that made us skeptical was when in mentioning the names of railroads she placed the wrong towns upon them. For instance, she told us her brother worked on the L. S. & M. S. at Kenosha.

Hazel's stories were successfully maintained for several days until a shrewd detective, who got her to tell some street numbers in Chicago, ferreted out her family. She had persistently denied the existence of any of them in Chicago, and, indeed, stated that her father and mother had died years previously. One of the most convincing things about her was her poise; she displayed an att.i.tude of sincerity combined with a show of deep surprise when her word was questioned. For example, the moment before her mother was brought in to see her, she was asked what she would say if anyone a.s.serted that her mother was in the next room. Her instantaneous, emphatic response was, ''She would have to rise out of her grave to be there.''

We soon learned that not a single detail the girl had given about her family was true. She was born and brought up in Chicago and had never been outside of the city. She had never studied nursing nor had she ever nursed anybody. In public school she had reached eighth grade.

Hazel came of an intelligent family and we were able to get a good account of the family and developmental history. Heredity seems completely negative as far as any nervous or mental abnormalities are concerned. She is one of seven children, four of whom are living, three having died in infancy. The father had just recently died of tuberculosis. There has been no trouble with the other children of any significance for us. Pregnancy with Hazel was healthy, but the mother suffered a considerable shock when she stood on a pa.s.senger boat by the side of a man who jumped overboard and committed suicide. The birth was difficult.

The child weighed 12 lbs. Instruments were used; it was a breech presentation. At 2 years of age Hazel was very ill with gastritis and what was said to be spinal meningitis. She had some convulsions then. Had both walked and talked when she was about 16 months of age. During childhood she had a severe strabismus and at 8 years of age was operated upon for it.

Vision has always been practically nil in one eye. Several diseases of childhood she had in mild form. After she was 2 years of age she had no more convulsions, or spasms, or attacks of any kind. From the standpoint of general nervousness Hazel was said to be one of the calmest in the family, although she was accustomed to drink five or six cups of coffee a day.

Menstruation at 13 years, no irregularity.

On examination we found a very well nourished and well developed young woman of slouchy att.i.tude and normal expression. Vision very defective in one eye and 10/20, even with gla.s.ses, in the other. Slight strabismus. General strength good. Examination otherwise negative except for the fact that she had been infected with the diplococcus of Neisser.

Mental tests proved her to have quite normal ability. Neither special ability nor disabilities of significance were discovered.

For present discussion it is of interest to note that in the ''Aussage'' Test she gave a functional account, enumerating 16 items, 2 of which were incorrect, and accepted none of the suggestions which were offered.

The mother and sister brought out the facts that Hazel had been giving an a.s.sumed name recently and lying about her age. She had alleged that she was married. In the last year she had run away from home on several occasions. At one time had written to her mother about her happy married life. One letter reads, ''Dearest Mother:--I can picture your dear face when you receive my letter.

I know you have your doubts about the matter, the same as I had the first few days. But mama, you know I love him and I have the satisfaction of being a married woman before Annie is.'' In the letter she describes the appearance of her imaginary husband, tells about her new dress and gloves and ''the prettiest little wedding ring that was ever made.'' In another letter she says, ''It is just one o'clock A.M. and Jack has just gone to sleep and so I stole a little time to write,'' etc. (It was later shown by the stationery used, and by the girl's final confession, that these letters were written in the rest room of a department store.)

Hazel's lying began, it seems, when she was a little girl. She would come home from school and out of whole cloth relate incidents which occurred on the way home. One of her earliest efforts was about being chased by a white horse. The mother states that for years she has had to check Hazel because she recognized her remarkable tendencies in this direction. The father's death was somewhat of a shock and it seems that after this the girl's other delinquencies began. Prior to the time she first went away from home she had some sort of hysterical spells when she said she could see her father lying in his coffin before her in the room. Her behavior became quite outrageous with some young man in her own household at just about this time. Not that she was immoral, although she once suddenly blurted out in the parlor a grave self-accusation: ''Now, John, mother thinks you must be careful. You know I am a prost.i.tute.'' When we first saw her she had been away from home four times, on this last occasion for three weeks. Before she went she had said she wanted to kill herself. Mother had notified the police but no trace of her was found.

From Hazel's own story told at this time and even after she became more stable it seems very likely that her bad tendencies began with her acquaintance with a certain rather notorious woman. Her mother came to believe that this was undoubtedly the fact. Our inquiry into beginnings brought to light the fact that Hazel while a school girl for long a.s.sociated with this woman who taught her about s.e.x immoralities. ''I don't believe my mother knows what this Mrs. R. did to me or she would have her arrested.

She started me on all this. When I was about 11 years old I first knew of those things. The first I ever heard was from that woman's daughter. I never said anything to my mother. I was always ashamed of myself to say anything about it. After I got to working with factory girls I heard a lot about it.'' The mother told us later that she thought it probable from what she now knew that this Mrs. R. may have been largely responsible for Hazel's tendency to delinquency. Hazel kept this a.s.sociation of several years' standing quite to herself. The mother remembers now how Hazel once stayed for hours after school and told a story in explanation that they felt sure was untrue. The teachers used to tell the mother that Hazel seemed as if she couldn't pay attention to her school work. One teacher reported to us that she remembers Hazel as a girl who seemed peculiar and hysterical.

The other girls called her queer and used to steer clear of her.

The mother reports Hazel as being for several years impulsive, erratic, talkative, untidy, and rather dishonest in other small ways besides lying--all this in spite of vigorous home discipline. The girl at one time under the influence of revival meetings left the religious faith of her parents. However, they thought if any form of religion would make her better it would be all right.

At our last interview with Hazel before she was sent away, an interview which she prefaced by saying, ''I want to apologize for everything I did,'' the girl showed herself unable to avoid prevarications. Coming back, for instance, to the subject of her schooling she tells us how she won a graduating medal. This her mother said was untrue.