"There's a very specific formula for creating a monster. It starts with chronic, unrelenting abuse. There's got to be societal notification and then passing on. The child eventually believes that what's being done is societally sanctioned. And after a while, empathy – which we have to learn, we're not born with it – cracks and dies. He feels only his own pain. There's your predatory sociopath." That's why Vachss posed for a recent publicity photo cradling his pit bull puppy. "You know what pit bulls are capable of, right?" he asks, referring to the animal's notorious killer reputation. "But they're also capable of being the most wonderful, sweet pets in the world, depending on how you raise them. That's all our children.""
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Novelists from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesShort story writers from the United StatesLawyers from the United StatesPeople from New York City
Original Language: English
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Sources
Unleashing the Criminal Mind," San Francisco Examiner, July 12, 1990.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrew_Vachss
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Andrew Vachss
Andrew Henry Vachss (October 19, 1942 – December 27, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths.
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