The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

Talk back: Letter to the Editor (Pregnant woman attacked)

Dear Editor, I am writing to ask that you make a correction to the article on “Pregnant Woman attacked in unborn baby kidnapping attempt” on Feb. 25, 2005.

I believe that I was misquoted or my statements were taken out of context. It seemed to one reader that I stated that people who have been sexually abused do not develop a conscience when, in fact, I recall stating that many psychopaths do not develop a conscience – that’s part of the definition of a psychopath.

Also, I said that most serial killers are males, not males are usually serial killers.

Finally, I did not make the statement that serial killers are “inhumane or just unthoughtful by wanting to cut a baby out of its mother’s womb”. Instead, I described the type of person who would fit the profile of someone who would mutilate another person (usually a serial killer).

I want to make sure that this correction is made, because again, I think it came across to some readers (or at least one that I heard from ) that I implied that children who are sexually abused do not develop a conscience, when I never made those comments. When responding to the question as to possible reasons for why the woman attacked the pregnant woman- my response was that I can only speculate, because it is a really unusual case.

In the past, many of the cases involving mutilation of victims (such as those in which body parts have been cut out) have been committed by serial killers, most of whom have been male. Often times serial killers have been labeled as psychopaths, who by definition, have not developed a conscience. Also some of the psychopaths have reported having a history of abuse as a child.

Karen Tinsley
Assistant Professor of Psychology

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