By C1 Staff
MORGANTOWN — A West Virginia psychologist spoke out regarding the recent upstate New York prison escape, saying that he felt both inmates were psychopaths.
Dr. Jeff Hammond, a member and past president of the West Virginia Psychological Association and retiree from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, said he hadn’t treated either of the escapees but recognized certain personality traits in both, according to Metro News.
“These psychopathic personality types operate in a very predatory fashion and their goal, their mission, is to get their own immediate needs met, really, without much care or consideration of what happens in between,” Hammond said.
“What we’re talking about is a personality trait, rather than something that’s fleeting or comes and goes. It’s kind of a long-standing personality trait. The essence of it is a lack of empathy, an inability to feel what others may feel.”
Investigators said that the inmates made Joyce Mitchell, the prison staff member charged with helping the inmates escape, feel “special.”
“Ordinarily, the person would have a very poor self-concept. They wouldn’t think of themselves as able to attract people, able to be very competent in their world without someone else’s propping them up,” he said.
Hammond was quick to note that Mitchell’s behavior is not typical of all corrections officers. “Most correctional workers train very hard and do very well dealing with a difficult group, a very difficult population,” he said.