Doctor Tkachenko: A maniac can be cured

In the Middle Ages, such perverts were burned at the stake. But they appeared with fatal regularity in all countries, at all times and under all regimes. Is modern science able to explain the appearance of maniacs and offer a system of measures to protect against their aggression? The head of the laboratory of forensic sexology of the State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry named after Serbsky, Doctor of Medical Sciences Andrei Tkachenko, answers the questions of the Interlocutor correspondent.


“They are so relieved of tension.”

— Andrei Anatolyevich, it is believed that a maniac is usually a henpecked husband, raised by a strict, despotic mother, who unconsciously takes revenge on all women in the world.
— Unfortunately, this statement has become stereotypical. Although in many cases it is indeed true (Chikatilo is proof of this), it is a mistake to make such generalizations. Among the maniacs there are many simply lonely men leading a secluded lifestyle, limited in their sexual relationships and experiencing difficulties with their gender identification. Only one thing is certain - it is a disease.
- And what about its carriers who kill normal healthy people? Do you think they did the right thing by shooting Chikatilo?
— This question for a forensic doctor is incorrect. We only decide whether the person was sane at the time of committing the crime and could control his actions. Chikatilo was declared fully sane.
- But then we reach a dead end: based on your conclusions, the maniac is declared sane - and the court imposes punishment on him, not treatment.
“This does not mean that the behavior of maniacs cannot be based on a mental disorder. You won’t deny that a person suffering from alcoholism understands the consequences of drinking another bottle. However, he cannot stop drinking. But the results of sexual desire disorder are so terrible that society refuses to see the problem of mental illness. The criminals themselves often realize that they are sick. Moreover, they are not looking for the next victim in order to get sexual satisfaction. Rather, to free yourself from the enormous internal tension, from the discomfort that the disease brings with it.
— So maniacs have biological disorders?
— In our latest studies in people with sexual pathology, we identified dysfunction of the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for a person’s ability to empathize. Moreover, this affects not only the maniac’s perception of another person, but also his awareness of his own “I”. He sometimes does not even distinguish between animate and inanimate objects. Continues to “communicate” with the corpse, for example...
— Is it known where it begins?
— Features of behavior can be seen at a fairly early age. Future serial killers and maniacs are, as a rule, quiet, gray boys who do not pay attention to themselves. They are often the most diligent, disciplined and obedient. Their troubles are outwardly invisible. All vivid impressions, all problems go inside, into the world of fantasy. Often these are children humiliated by adults and peers, deprived of love and affection. Not to mention those who have experienced sexual violence and abuse. As they grow up, they tend to reproduce the behavior they have seen from adults. Signs that warn teachers and parents may include cruelty towards animals and children, secrecy, reluctance to make confidential contact...

“If Carroll hadn’t had his inclinations, we wouldn’t have seen Alice.”

— It turns out that you can record biological pathologies in children and protect yourself from future monsters?
— What is important is not so much the fact of the presence of biological anomalies, but how they are refracted in a particular individual. Let's say we establish pathology in hundreds of children, but it will turn only one of them into an antisocial creature. Where are the guarantees that a child will not sublimate his aggression when he grows up, say, into active political activity or will not switch his fantasies into artistic creativity? After all, if Lewis Carroll did not have “special” sexual inclinations, we would never have read Alice in Wonderland. I won’t answer which ones exactly, so as not to cast a shadow on a completely worthy person.
- So what should society do?
— Deviations in the sphere of intergender relations largely depend on how rigidly society forms the so-called sex-role stereotypes. The two most aggressive cultures in this regard are ours and North American. Russia traditionally prefers tough behaviors - “a real man”, “a strong hand”, etc. Explanations for this can be sought in history and customs. It's about the same in America. It is no coincidence that the largest number of such crimes is registered in the USA. The child is given such a narrow corridor of compliance with the accepted standard that the boy, who by nature has more of a feminine element, cannot meet these requirements, the ideal “I” that is formed in his consciousness. The stronger the gap, the more actively the child begins to fill the “voids” with aggression. Sooner or later this aggression will find a way out.

“Chikatilo was an excellent speaker”

— And where the norms of upbringing are softer, there are fewer sexual deviations?
- Without a doubt. In Europe, even banal rapes are committed much less. Another thing is that sadism as a mental deviation is well “assimilated” in totalitarian societies and finds outlet in other forms: paramilitary associations, militarization of education, and so on.
Maniacs are people who have most caricaturedly adopted the norms of society. They stupidly follow generally accepted patterns. Chikatilo’s “obedience,” for example, reached the point of curiosity. During the Soviet period, he pinned the name of the leader of the local communist party on each country in the political atlas, because he was firmly confident in the world revolution and that he would live under communism. Every morning he got up before dark, hurried to the newspaper stand and bought all the periodicals. He organized political information events at his factory. They say that at the same time he changed greatly: from a squeezed, modest creature he turned into an orator with a burning gaze.
And the sexual maniac Asratyan, after the first attacks on women that he committed in his youth, was declared insane and underwent treatment. After which he made several more attacks. This time the court found him sane, he was convicted and served his sentence. He passed the examination for the third time after several murders. He told the doctors: “I went through all your systems, the zone - so what? You know that I have a pathology, and I was still left alone with her. I understand that I am to blame, but I have dreams... I cannot get rid of them. Where should I go when I leave the zone?”
- This once again proves that for our safety it would be more logical to recognize maniacs as dangerous as, say, patients with tuberculosis, and isolate them from society...
“If a person is potentially dangerous and may commit a repeat crime, of course, he needs to be isolated. But the question of whether he should remain in “places not so remote” or undergo compulsory treatment depends on the court’s decision. Law enforcement agencies, our center, exist precisely to protect the lives and rights of ordinary people. But I would caution against labeling someone who has committed a sexual offense for life. We should always strive to return a person to normal life - examples of the cure of such cases exist.

“In the hospital, maniacs are hard-working and careful”

- Is it really possible to cure such people?
— Treatment methods exist, but they are still not in demand. In psychiatric hospitals, as a rule, the entire department relies on maniacs: they are hard-working and very neat. But the attitude towards them is wary. The whole world is moving towards creating specialized centers that have all the necessary psychophysiological equipment. Qualified personnel are selected, including psychiatrists, psychologists, and sex therapists... Moreover, they also help victims who are going through extreme stress and also need psychocorrection. Understanding the “pairedness” of the problem led to the creation of special programs when maniacs meet their victims and for the first time see in front of them not an “object of desire”, but a specific person who has suffered. The victims manage to get rid (at least they achieve this) from fear. We tried to implement programs for psychocorrection of disorders in one of the Moscow psychiatric clinics. It’s a pity that due to lack of funds we were unable to complete the project.
- But this kind of convicts can go “hunting” again?
- Undoubtedly. Where there is pathology, there is an almost one hundred percent chance of relapse. Help is needed for a person to cope with his urges. At first, as a rule, he is aware of his deviations, a struggle of motives arises in his mind, but he cannot cope with himself; therapy is needed. If you don't help, the person gradually gets used to these impulses and eventually commits another crime. It is necessary to treat and study these people for our safety. And this requires serious government support.
Alexander Marinin.


PS Recently, a 45-year-old man, whose name has not yet been named, was detained in Chelyabinsk on charges of molesting children. The police have been looking for this maniac since 1996. They even gave him a nickname - Dentist. A man entered an elevator with boys and girls aged 6 to 12 years old, pressed the “stop” button and gave the child an injection in the gum. Having committed depraved acts, the criminal used pliers to pull out the victim’s teeth. And in the next issue of Sobesednik, read the investigation of our correspondent from Yaroslavl: an HIV-infected student, suspended for robbery, “switched” to raping schoolgirls...