CHAPTER 5

第 5 章

The Coldest Heart

最冷的心

ENTERING A MAXIMUM-SECURITY prison is always daunting: after the extensive identity check at the gate, you have to hand over your keys, wallet, phone, and anything else that could possibly be stolen or used as a weapon. Everything that identifies you, except your clothing, is confiscated. One of the first locked doors you pass through is marked by a sign saying, in effect, that if you are taken hostage past this point, you’re on your own. The policy is ostensibly to prevent visitors from pretending to be held captive by prisoners and enabling their escape, but it also immediately instills an unsettling feeling. There are at least three or four double sets of thick metal doors, with many layers of human and electronic security between them, which slam solidly behind you before you can meet with the kind of prisoner I had been brought in to examine. Leon, at age sixteen, had sadistically murdered two teenage girls, and then raped their dead bodies.

進(jìn)入最高安全級(jí)別的監(jiān)獄總是讓人望而生畏：在門(mén)口進(jìn)行全面的身份檢查后，您必須交出鑰匙、錢(qián)包、手機(jī)以及任何可能被盜或用作武器的其他物品。除了你的衣服，所有能識(shí)別你身份的東西都會(huì)被沒(méi)收。你穿過(guò)的第一扇鎖著的門(mén)之一有一個(gè)標(biāo)志，實(shí)際上，如果你在這之后被劫持為人質(zhì)，你就只能靠你自己了。該政策表面上是為了防止游客假裝被囚犯俘虜并使其逃脫，但它也立即灌輸了一種不安的感覺(jué)。至少有三四對(duì)厚重的金屬門(mén)，門(mén)之間有多層人類和電子安全裝置，在你見(jiàn)到我被帶進(jìn)來(lái)檢查的那種囚犯之前，它們?cè)谀闵砗笈榈匾宦曣P(guān)上了。

Virginia and Laura demonstrated one way that neglect in early childhood can disrupt the development of the areas in the brain that control empathy and the ability to engage in healthy relationships—a loss that often leaves people awkward, lonely, and socially inept. Emotional deprivation in the first years of life, however, can also predispose people to malice or misanthropy. In the mother’s and the daughter’s cases, fortunately, despite their underdeveloped capacity for empathy, both became highly moral people; their early childhood experiences had left them emotionally crippled and often oblivious to social cues, but not filled with rage and hatred. Leon’s story illustrates a much more dangerous—and fortunately, less common—potential outcome. Leon would teach me more about how much damage parental neglect—even unintentional neglect—can inflict, and how modern Western culture can erode the extended family networks that have traditionally protected many children from it.

弗吉尼亞和勞拉展示了一種方式，即童年早期的忽視會(huì)破壞大腦中控制同理心和建立健康人際關(guān)系能力的區(qū)域的發(fā)育——這種缺失往往會(huì)讓人們感到尷尬、孤獨(dú)和社交無(wú)能。然而，生命最初幾年的情感剝奪也可能使人們傾向于惡意或厭惡人類。幸運(yùn)的是，在母親和女兒的案例中，盡管她們的同理心能力不發(fā)達(dá)，但她們都成為了道德高尚的人；他們的童年經(jīng)歷使他們情緒低落，常常對(duì)社交暗示視而不見(jiàn)，但并沒(méi)有充滿憤怒和仇恨。Leon 的故事說(shuō)明了一個(gè)更危險(xiǎn)——幸運(yùn)的是，不太常見(jiàn)——的潛在結(jié)果。萊昂會(huì)教我更多關(guān)于父母忽視——即使是無(wú)意的忽視——會(huì)造成多大的傷害，

Leon had been convicted of a capital offense and faced the death penalty. His defense had hired me to testify during the sentencing phase of his trial. This hearing determines whether there are “mitigating” factors, such as a history of mental health problems or abuse, that should be weighed when sentencing decisions are made. My testimony would help the court decide between life without parole and the ultimate punishment.

萊昂被判死刑，將面臨死刑。他的辯護(hù)律師聘請(qǐng)我在審判的量刑階段作證。該聽(tīng)證會(huì)確定是否存在“減輕”因素，例如精神健康問(wèn)題或虐待史，在做出量刑決定時(shí)應(yīng)權(quán)衡這些因素。我的證詞將幫助法庭在不得假釋的終身監(jiān)禁和最終懲罰之間作出決定。

I VISITED THE PRISON ON A PERFECT Spring day, the kind of clear day that makes most people happy to be alive. The cheery sound of chirping birds and the warmth of the sun seemed almost inappropriate as I stood in front of the massive gray building. It was five stories tall and made of cement block. It had too-few barred windows and a tiny green one-room guardhouse with a red door attached to one wall, which looked incongruously small compared to the imposing bulk of the prison. The grounds were surrounded by a twenty-foot wire fence with three coils of barbwire at the top. I was the only person outside. A few old cars were parked in the lot.

我在一個(gè)完美的春日參觀了監(jiān)獄，那種晴朗的日子讓大多數(shù)人都樂(lè)于活著。當(dāng)我站在巨大的灰色建筑前時(shí)，歡快的鳥(niǎo)叫聲和溫暖的陽(yáng)光似乎幾乎不相稱。它有五層樓高，由水泥塊砌成。它的鐵欄桿窗戶太少了，還有一個(gè)很小的綠色單間警衛(wèi)室，一面墻上有一扇紅色的門(mén)，與監(jiān)獄宏偉的建筑相比，它顯得小得不協(xié)調(diào)。場(chǎng)地周圍環(huán)繞著二十英尺高的鐵絲網(wǎng)，頂部有三圈帶刺鐵絲網(wǎng)。我是外面唯一的人。停車場(chǎng)里停著幾輛舊車。

I approached the red door, my heart beating fast, my palms sweating. I had to tell myself to calm down. The whole place seemed fenced by tension. I walked in through a double door, passed through a metal detector, was summarily frisked and then taken into the compound by a guard who seemed as caged and resentful as a prisoner.

我走近那扇紅色的門(mén)，心跳加速，手心冒汗。我不得不告訴自己要冷靜。整個(gè)地方似乎都籠罩在緊張之中。我走進(jìn)一扇雙門(mén)，通過(guò)一個(gè)金屬探測(cè)器，被立即搜身，然后被一個(gè)看起來(lái)像囚犯一樣被關(guān)在籠子里、充滿怨恨的守衛(wèi)帶進(jìn)了大院。

“You a psychologist?” she asked, looking me over disapprovingly.

“你是心理學(xué)家？” 她問(wèn)，不以為然地打量著我。

“No. I’m a psychiatrist.”

“不。我是一名心理醫(yī)生?！?/p>

“OK, whatever. You could spend a lifetime here.” She laughed disdainfully. I forced a smile. “Here’s the rules. You must read this.” She handed me a one-page document and continued, “No contraband. No weapons. You may not bring gifts or take anything out of the prison.” Her tone and attitude told me she had no use for me. Maybe she was angry that she had to spend this perfect day in prison. Maybe she was resentful because she thought that mental health professionals working with the justice system mainly help criminals escape responsibility for their actions.

“好吧，隨你便。你可以在這里度過(guò)一生。” 她不屑一笑。我勉強(qiáng)笑了笑?！斑@里是規(guī)則。你必須讀這個(gè)?！?她遞給我一份單頁(yè)文件，繼續(xù)說(shuō)：“沒(méi)有違禁品。無(wú)武器。你不能帶禮物或帶任何東西離開(kāi)監(jiān)獄?！?她的語(yǔ)氣和態(tài)度告訴我她對(duì)我毫無(wú)用處。也許她很生氣，因?yàn)樗坏貌辉诒O(jiān)獄里度過(guò)這完美的一天。也許她很生氣，因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為與司法系統(tǒng)合作的精神衛(wèi)生專業(yè)人員主要是幫助罪犯逃避對(duì)他們行為的責(zé)任。

“OK,” I said, trying to be respectful. But I could tell she had already made up her mind about me. It’s no wonder that she was hostile, though. Our brains adapt to our environments, and this place wasn’t likely to elicit kindness or trust.

“好吧，”我說(shuō)，試圖表現(xiàn)出尊重。但我可以看出她已經(jīng)對(duì)我下定決心了。不過(guò)，難怪她有敵意。我們的大腦適應(yīng)我們的環(huán)境，這個(gè)地方不太可能引起善意或信任。

THE INTERVIEW ROOM WAS SMALL with a single metal table and two chairs. The floor was a tiled institutional gray with green speckles and the walls were painted cinderblock. Leon was brought in by two male guards. He looked small and childlike as he faced me, wearing an orange jumpsuit, his arms and legs shackled and chained to each other. He was thin and short for his age. He didn’t look lethal. Sure, his stance was aggressive, and I could see that he already had jailhouse tattoos, his forearm branded with a crooked “X.” But the toughness came across as phony and artificial, like an undersized tomcat with his hair on end, trying to appear larger than he actually was. It was almost impossible to believe that this now eighteen-year-old boy/man had brutally murdered two people.

面試室很小，只有一張金屬桌子和兩把椅子。地板是灰色的瓷磚，上面有綠色斑點(diǎn)，墻壁是粉刷的煤渣磚。萊昂被兩名男警衛(wèi)帶進(jìn)來(lái)。當(dāng)他面對(duì)我時(shí)，他看起來(lái)又小又孩子氣，穿著橙色的連身褲，他的胳膊和腿被銬在一起。就他的年齡而言，他又瘦又矮。他看起來(lái)并不致命。當(dāng)然，他的姿勢(shì)很有侵略性，而且我看得出來(lái)他身上已經(jīng)有監(jiān)獄紋身，他的前臂上刻著一個(gè)歪歪扭扭的“X”。但這種強(qiáng)硬給人的印象是虛偽和做作的，就像一只體型過(guò)小的公貓，頭發(fā)豎起來(lái)，試圖讓自己看起來(lái)比實(shí)際大一些。幾乎無(wú)法相信這個(gè)現(xiàn)在十八歲的男孩/男人殘忍地殺害了兩個(gè)人。

He’d seen his two young victims in an elevator in the high-rise building where he lived. Although it was only three or four in the afternoon, he’d already been drinking beer. He had crudely propositioned the teenagers. When the girls—not surprisingly—rejected him, he’d followed them into an apartment and, apparently after a physical confrontation, stabbed both of them to death with a table knife. Cherise was twelve and her friend Lucy was thirteen. Both were barely pubescent. The attack had happened so fast and Leon was so much larger than his victims that neither girl had been able to defend herself. He’d managed to quickly restrain Cherise with a belt. After that, while Lucy tried to fight him off, he killed her and then, either to avoid leaving a witness, or still in a rage, slaughtered the bound girl as well. He then raped both bodies. His anger still not sated, he’d kicked and stomped them.

他在他居住的高層建筑的電梯里看到了他的兩個(gè)年輕受害者。雖然才下午三四點(diǎn)，但他已經(jīng)開(kāi)始喝啤酒了。他粗魯?shù)叵蚯嗌倌晏岢隽私ㄗh。當(dāng)女孩們——毫不奇怪——拒絕他時(shí)，他跟著她們進(jìn)了一間公寓，顯然是在肢體沖突之后，他用餐刀將她們兩人刺死。Cherise 十二歲，她的朋友 Lucy 十三歲。兩人都還沒(méi)有青春期。襲擊發(fā)生得如此之快，萊昂比他的受害者大得多，以至于兩個(gè)女孩都無(wú)法自衛(wèi)。他設(shè)法迅速用皮帶束縛了 Cherise。在那之后，當(dāng)露西試圖擊退他時(shí)，他殺了她，然后，為了避免留下目擊者，或者仍然盛怒，連同被綁的女孩一起殺了。然后他強(qiáng)奸了兩具尸體。

Though he had often been in trouble with the law, Leon’s records didn’t indicate that he was capable of anything like this level of violence. His parents were hard-working, married legal immigrants, solid citizens without criminal histories. His family had never been involved with child protective services; there was no history of abuse, nor foster care placements, nor any other obvious red flags for attachment problems. Yet all of his records suggested that he was a master at manipulating people around him and, more ominously, that he was completely devoid of emotional connection to others. He was often described as having little to no empathy: remorseless, callous, indifferent to most of the “consequences” set up in school or in juvenile justice programs.

盡管他經(jīng)常觸犯法律，但萊昂的記錄并未表明他有能力做出這種程度的暴力行為。他的父母是勤勞的已婚合法移民，是沒(méi)有犯罪記錄的可靠公民。他的家人從未參與過(guò)兒童保護(hù)服務(wù)；沒(méi)有虐待史，也沒(méi)有寄養(yǎng)安置，也沒(méi)有任何其他明顯的依戀問(wèn)題危險(xiǎn)信號(hào)。然而，他的所有記錄都表明他是操縱周圍人的大師，更糟糕的是，他與他人完全沒(méi)有情感聯(lián)系。他經(jīng)常被描述為幾乎沒(méi)有同情心：冷酷無(wú)情，冷酷無(wú)情，對(duì)學(xué)?；蛏倌晁痉?xiàng)目中設(shè)置的大多數(shù)“后果”漠不關(guān)心。

Seeing him now, looking so small in his shackles in this terrible prison, I almost felt sorry for him. But then we began to talk.

現(xiàn)在看到他，在這個(gè)可怕的監(jiān)獄里戴著枷鎖顯得那么渺小，我?guī)缀鯙樗械诫y過(guò)。但后來(lái)我們開(kāi)始交談。

“You the doctor?” he asked, looking me over, clearly disappointed.

“你是醫(yī)生？” 他問(wèn)，看著我，顯然很失望。

“Yep.”

“是的。”

“I told her I wanted a lady shrink,” he sneered. He pushed his chair away from the table and kicked it. I asked him whether he’d discussed my visit with his lawyer and understood its purpose.

“我告訴她我想要一位女士心理醫(yī)生，”他冷笑道。他把椅子從桌子旁推開(kāi)，踢了踢它。我問(wèn)他是否與他的律師討論過(guò)我的訪問(wèn)并了解其目的。

He nodded, trying to act tough and indifferent, but I knew he had to be scared. He probably would never admit it or even understand it, but inside he was always on guard, always vigilant and always studying the people around him. Trying to work out who could help him and who could hurt him. What is this person’s weak point, what does he want, what does he fear?

他點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，試圖表現(xiàn)得強(qiáng)硬和冷漠，但我知道他一定是害怕了。他可能永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)承認(rèn)，甚至不會(huì)理解，但他的內(nèi)心時(shí)刻提防著，時(shí)刻警惕著，時(shí)刻審視著身邊的人。試圖找出誰(shuí)可以幫助他，誰(shuí)可以傷害他。這個(gè)人的弱點(diǎn)是什么，他想要什么，他害怕什么？

From the moment I came in I could see that he was studying me, too. Probing for weakness, seeking ways to manipulate me. He was smart enough to know the stereotype of the liberal, bleeding-heart shrink. He had successfully read his lead attorney. She felt sorry for him now; he had convinced her he was the one who’d been wronged. Those girls had invited him into the apartment. They promised to have sex with him. Things got rough and it was an accident. He tripped over their bodies; that’s how he got blood on his boots. He never intended to hurt them. And now he set out to persuade me, too, that he was a misunderstood victim of two teen vixens who had teased and tempted him.

從我進(jìn)來(lái)的那一刻起，我就可以看出他也在研究我。探索弱點(diǎn)，尋找操縱我的方法。他很聰明，知道自由主義、心痛的精神病患者的刻板印象。他已經(jīng)成功地閱讀了他的首席律師。她現(xiàn)在為他感到難過(guò)。他讓她相信他是被冤枉的人。那些女孩邀請(qǐng)他進(jìn)了公寓。他們答應(yīng)與他發(fā)生性關(guān)系。事情變得艱難，這是一個(gè)意外。他絆倒了他們的身體；他的靴子就是這樣沾上鮮血的。他從沒(méi)想過(guò)要傷害他們?，F(xiàn)在他也開(kāi)始說(shuō)服我，他是兩個(gè)戲弄和引誘他的青少年潑婦的誤解受害者。

“Tell me about yourself.” I started with open questions, trying to see where he would go.

“說(shuō)說(shuō)你自己。” 我從開(kāi)放性問(wèn)題開(kāi)始，試圖看看他會(huì)去哪里。

“What do you mean? Is that some kind of shrink trick?” he asked, suspicious.

“你是什么意思？那是某種縮小技巧嗎？他疑惑地問(wèn)道。

“No. I just figured you are the best person to tell me about you. I’ve read a whole lot of other people’s opinions. Teachers, therapists, probation officers, the press. They all have opinions. So I want to know yours.”

“不。我只是覺(jué)得你是向我介紹你的最佳人選。我讀了很多其他人的意見(jiàn)。教師、治療師、緩刑官、新聞界。他們都有意見(jiàn)。所以我想知道你的?！?/p>

“What do you want to know?”

“你想知道什么？”

“What do you want to tell me?” The dance continued. We circled around each other. It was a game I knew well. He was pretty good. But I was used to this.

“你想告訴我什么？” 舞蹈繼續(xù)。我們圍著對(duì)方轉(zhuǎn)了一圈。這是一個(gè)我很熟悉的游戲。他很好。但我已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了。

“Well. Let’s start with right now. What it is like living in prison?”

“出色地。讓我們從現(xiàn)在開(kāi)始。住在監(jiān)獄里是什么感覺(jué)？”

“It’s boring. It’s not so bad. Not too much to do.”

“這很無(wú)聊。也不是那么壞。沒(méi)有太多的事情要做?！?/p>

“Tell me your schedule.” And so it started. He slowly began to loosen up as he described the routines of the prison and his earlier experiences in the juvenile justice system. I let him talk and then after a few hours, we took a break so he could smoke a cigarette. When I came back, it was time to get to the point. “Tell me what happened with those girls.”

“告訴我你的日程安排?！?就這樣開(kāi)始了。當(dāng)他描述監(jiān)獄的日常事務(wù)和他早年在少年司法系統(tǒng)中的經(jīng)歷時(shí)，他慢慢開(kāi)始放松。我讓他說(shuō)話，幾個(gè)小時(shí)后，我們休息一下，讓他抽根煙?；貋?lái)的時(shí)候，是時(shí)候進(jìn)入正題了。“告訴我那些女孩發(fā)生了什么事?！?/p>

“It was no big deal really. I was just hanging out and these two girls came by. We started talking and they invited me up to their apartment to fool around. Then when they got me up there, they changed their minds. It pissed me off.” This was different from his original statement and from other accounts he’d given. It seemed that the more time that passed since the crime, the less violent he made the story. Each time he told it, he was less and less responsible for what had happened; he, rather than the girls, increasingly became the victim.

“這真的沒(méi)什么大不了的。我剛出去玩，這兩個(gè)女孩就過(guò)來(lái)了。我們開(kāi)始交談，他們邀請(qǐng)我去他們的公寓閑逛。然后當(dāng)他們把我?guī)У侥抢飼r(shí)，他們改變了主意。這讓我很生氣?！?這與他最初的陳述和他提供的其他陳述不同。似乎犯罪發(fā)生后時(shí)間越長(zhǎng)，他編造的故事就越不暴力。每次他說(shuō)出來(lái)，他對(duì)所發(fā)生的事情的責(zé)任就越來(lái)越少；他，而不是女孩，越來(lái)越成為受害者。

“It was an accident. I just wanted to scare them. Stupid bitches wouldn’t shut up,” he went on. My stomach churned. Don’t react. Be still. If he senses how horrified and disgusted you feel, he won’t be honest. He will edit. Stay calm. I nodded.

“這是一次意外。我只是想嚇唬他們。愚蠢的母狗不會(huì)閉嘴，”他繼續(xù)說(shuō)道。我的胃在翻騰。不要反應(yīng)。不要?jiǎng)?。如果他感覺(jué)到你感到多么恐懼和厭惡，他就不會(huì)誠(chéng)實(shí)。他會(huì)編輯。保持冷靜。我點(diǎn)了頭。

“They were loud?” I asked as neutrally as I could manage.

“他們很大聲？” 我盡可能中立地問(wèn)。

“Yes. I told them I wouldn’t hurt them if they would just shut up.” He was giving me a short, sanitized version of the murders. He left out the rape. He left out how he’d brutally kicked the girls.

“是的。我告訴他們，只要他們閉嘴，我就不會(huì)傷害他們?！?他給了我一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)短的、凈化版的謀殺案。他遺漏了強(qiáng)奸案。他遺漏了他是如何殘忍地踢女孩的。

I asked whether their screams had enraged him, if that was why he’d kicked the bodies. The autopsy report showed that the thirteen-year-old had been kicked in the face and stomped on the neck and chest.

我問(wèn)他們的尖叫聲是否激怒了他，這是否就是他踢尸體的原因。尸檢報(bào)告顯示，這名 13 歲的少年面部被踢，頸部和胸部被踩踏。

“Well, I didn’t really kick them. I just tripped. I had been drinking some. So, you know,” he said, hoping I would fill in the blanks. He looked up to see if I had bought his lies. There was little emotion on his face or in his voice. He described the murders as if he were giving a geography report in school. The only trace of emotion was the disdain he expressed that his victims had “made him” kill them, furious with them for fighting back, for resisting.

“好吧，我真的沒(méi)有踢他們。我剛剛絆倒了。我一直在喝一些。所以，你知道的，”他說(shuō)，希望我能填補(bǔ)空白。他抬頭看看我是否相信他的謊言。他的臉上或聲音中幾乎沒(méi)有情緒。他描述謀殺案時(shí)就像在學(xué)校做地理報(bào)告一樣。唯一的情緒痕跡是他對(duì)受害者“讓他”殺死他們表示的蔑視，對(duì)他們的反擊和反抗感到憤怒。

His coldness was breathtaking. This was a predator, someone whose only concern for other people was what he could get from them, what he could make them do, and how they could serve his selfish ends. He could not even put on a compassionate performance for a shrink hired by his defense, someone looking for the smallest glimmer of goodness or promise in him.

他的冷漠令人窒息。這是一個(gè)掠奪者，他對(duì)其他人唯一關(guān)心的是他能從他們那里得到什么，他能讓他們做什么，以及他們?nèi)绾螢樗淖运侥康姆?wù)。他甚至無(wú)法為他的辯護(hù)律師雇用的心理醫(yī)生表現(xiàn)出富有同情心的表現(xiàn)，有人在他身上尋找最細(xì)微的善良或希望。

It wasn’t that he didn’t know that he should try to appear remorseful. He simply wasn’t capable of taking into account the feelings of others in any way other than to take advantage of them. He could not feel compassion for others, so he couldn’t fake it very well, either. Leon was not unintelligent. In fact, his IQ was significantly above average in some ways. However, it was uneven. While his verbal IQ was in the low to normal range, his performance score, which measures things like the ability to properly sequence a series of pictures and manipulate objects in space, was quite high. He scored especially well in his ability to read social situations and understand other people’s intentions.

他并不是不知道自己應(yīng)該表現(xiàn)出悔恨的樣子。除了利用他人的優(yōu)勢(shì)，他根本無(wú)法以任何方式考慮他人的感受。他無(wú)法對(duì)他人產(chǎn)生同情心，所以他也無(wú)法假裝得很好。萊昂并非不聰明。事實(shí)上，他的智商在某些方面明顯高于平均水平。然而，這是不平衡的。雖然他的語(yǔ)言智商處于低至正常范圍內(nèi)，但他的表現(xiàn)得分卻相當(dāng)高，表現(xiàn)得分衡量的是正確排列一系列圖片和操縱空間物體的能力。他在閱讀社會(huì)情況和理解他人意圖的能力方面得分特別高。

This split between verbal and performance scores is often seen in abused or traumatized children and can indicate that the developmental needs of certain brain regions, particularly those cortical areas involved in modulating the lower, more reactive regions have been not been met. In the general population about 5 percent of people show this pattern, but in prisons and juvenile treatment centers that proportion rises to over 35 percent. It reflects the use-dependent development of the brain: with more developmental chaos and threat the brain’s stress response systems and those areas of the brain responsible for reading threat-related social cues will grow, while less affection and nurturing will result in underdevelopment of the systems that code for compassion and self-control. These test results were the first clues that something had probably gone wrong in his early childhood.

這種語(yǔ)言和表現(xiàn)分?jǐn)?shù)之間的差異經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在受虐待或受創(chuàng)傷的兒童身上，這可能表明某些大腦區(qū)域的發(fā)育需求，特別是那些參與調(diào)節(jié)較低、反應(yīng)性更強(qiáng)的區(qū)域的皮質(zhì)區(qū)域沒(méi)有得到滿足。在一般人群中，大約 5% 的人表現(xiàn)出這種模式，但在監(jiān)獄和少年治療中心，這一比例上升到 35% 以上。它反映了大腦依賴于使用的發(fā)展：隨著更多的發(fā)展混亂和威脅，大腦的壓力反應(yīng)系統(tǒng)和負(fù)責(zé)閱讀與威脅相關(guān)的社交線索的大腦區(qū)域?qū)?huì)增長(zhǎng)，而更少的情感和養(yǎng)育將導(dǎo)致大腦的不發(fā)達(dá)為同情心和自我控制編碼的系統(tǒng)。

I tried to figure out what might have happened from our interview, but didn’t get very far. Most people don’t remember much from the developmentally critical years of birth through kindergarten, anyway. There was evidence indicating he had been troubled from very early on, however. His records showed reports of aggressive behavior dating back to his preschool years. From our conversation I could also tell that he’d had few friends or lasting relationships with anyone outside his family. His charts showed a history of bullying and of petty crimes like shoplifting and other thefts, but he had never been to an adult prison before now. His run-ins with the law as an adolescent had mainly resulted in probation; he hadn’t even spent much time in juvenile detention, despite having committed some serious assaults.

我試圖從我們的采訪中弄清楚可能發(fā)生了什么，但沒(méi)有走得太遠(yuǎn)。無(wú)論如何，大多數(shù)人對(duì)從出生到幼兒園的發(fā)育關(guān)鍵期記憶不多。然而，有證據(jù)表明他從很早的時(shí)候就受到了困擾。他的記錄顯示，有關(guān)攻擊性行為的報(bào)告可以追溯到他學(xué)齡前時(shí)期。從我們的談話中，我還可以看出他幾乎沒(méi)有朋友，也沒(méi)有與家人以外的任何人建立持久的關(guān)系。他的病歷顯示有欺凌史和入店行竊和其他盜竊等輕微犯罪的歷史，但他之前從未去過(guò)成人監(jiān)獄。他在青少年時(shí)期觸犯法律主要導(dǎo)致緩刑。盡管他犯下了一些嚴(yán)重的攻擊行為，但他甚至沒(méi)有在少年拘留所度過(guò)太多時(shí)間。

I did discover, however, that he’d committed, or been suspected of committing, several major offenses for which he had not been charged or convicted because there was not enough evidence to make the charges stick. For example, he’d once been found in possession of a stolen bicycle. The bike’s teenage owner had been beaten so severely that he’d wound up in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. But there were no witnesses to the assault—or none that would come forward—so Leon was only charged with possession of stolen property. Over the course of several evaluation visits he eventually bragged about previous sexual assaults to me, with the same cold disdain with which he’d discussed the murders.

然而，我確實(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)他犯下了或被懷疑犯下了幾項(xiàng)重大罪行，但由于沒(méi)有足夠的證據(jù)使指控成立，他沒(méi)有被指控或定罪。例如，他曾經(jīng)被發(fā)現(xiàn)擁有一輛偷來(lái)的自行車。這輛自行車的少年主人被毆打得很厲害，以致他在醫(yī)院里受了生命危險(xiǎn)。但是沒(méi)有人目擊襲擊——或者沒(méi)有人愿意挺身而出——所以萊昂只被指控持有被盜財(cái)產(chǎn)。在幾次評(píng)估訪問(wèn)的過(guò)程中，他最終向我吹噓以前的性侵犯，與他討論謀殺案時(shí)一樣冷漠。

Looking for any sign of remorse, I finally asked what should have been an easy question.

尋找任何悔恨的跡象，我終于問(wèn)了一個(gè)應(yīng)該很簡(jiǎn)單的問(wèn)題。

“Now that you look back on all this, what would you have done differently?” I said, expecting him to at least mouth some platitudes about controlling his anger, about not harming people.

“現(xiàn)在你回顧這一切，你會(huì)做些什么不同的事情？” 我說(shuō)，希望他至少能說(shuō)出一些關(guān)于控制憤怒、不傷害他人的陳詞濫調(diào)。

He seemed to think for a minute, then responded, “I don’t know. Maybe throw away those boots?”

他似乎想了想，然后回答說(shuō)：“我不知道。也許扔掉那些靴子？”

“Throw away the boots?”

“把靴子扔掉？”

“Yeah. It was the boot prints and the blood on the boots that got me.”

“是的。是靴子的印記和靴子上的血讓我著迷?！?/p>

MANY PSYCHIATRISTS WOULD HAVE left the prison believing that Leon was the archetypal “bad seed,” a genetic freak of nature, a demonic child incapable of empathy. And there are genetic predispositions that appear to affect the brain’s systems involved in empathy. My research, however, has led me to believe that behavior as extreme as Leon’s is rare among people who have not suffered certain forms of early emotional and/or physical deprivation.

許多精神病學(xué)家離開(kāi)監(jiān)獄時(shí)會(huì)相信萊昂是典型的“壞種子”，是自然界的遺傳怪胎，是一個(gè)沒(méi)有同情心的惡魔般的孩子。還有一些遺傳傾向似乎會(huì)影響與同理心有關(guān)的大腦系統(tǒng)。然而，我的研究讓我相信，在沒(méi)有遭受過(guò)某種形式的早期情感和/或身體剝奪的人中，像萊昂這樣極端的行為是罕見(jiàn)的。

Furthermore, if Leon had the genetic makeup that increased the risk of sociopathic behavior—if such genes even exist—his family history should have revealed other relatives, such as a parent, a grandparent, maybe an uncle, with similar, even if less extreme, problems. Perhaps a history of multiple arrests, for example. But there was none. Also, Leon had been turned in to the police by his own brother, a brother who seemed to be everything that Leon was not.

此外，如果萊昂的基因構(gòu)成會(huì)增加反社會(huì)行為的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)——如果這種基因存在的話——他的家族史應(yīng)該會(huì)顯示其他親屬，如父母、祖父母，也許是叔叔，也有類似的，即使不那么極端， 問(wèn)題。例如，也許有多次被捕的歷史。但是沒(méi)有。此外，Leon 被他自己的兄弟告發(fā)給了警察，這個(gè)兄弟似乎是 Leon 所不具備的一切。

Frank,* Leon’s brother, like his parents and other relatives, was gainfully employed. He was a successful plumber, married, a dutiful father of two who was respected in the community. The day of the crime, he’d come home to find Leon, still wearing his blood-encrusted boots, watching TV in his living room. On the news was an urgent bulletin about the recent discovery of the violated bodies of two young girls in Leon’s building. Sneaking occasional glances at the boots, Frank waited until Leon left, then called the police to report his suspicions about his brother’s connection to the crime.

弗蘭克*萊昂的兄弟和他的父母及其他親戚一樣，有一份有報(bào)酬的工作。他是一位成功的水管工，已婚，是兩個(gè)孩子的盡職父親，在社區(qū)中受到尊重。案發(fā)當(dāng)天，他回到家，發(fā)現(xiàn)萊昂仍然穿著沾滿鮮血的靴子，在客廳里看電視。新聞是關(guān)于最近在萊昂大樓內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)兩名年輕女孩被侵犯的尸體的緊急公告。弗蘭克偶爾偷偷看一眼靴子，一直等到里昂離開(kāi)，然后打電話給警察報(bào)告他懷疑他哥哥與犯罪有關(guān)。

Siblings share at least 50 percent of their genes. While Frank could have been genetically blessed with a far greater capacity for empathy than Leon, it was unlikely that this alone accounted for their very different temperaments and life paths. Yet as far as I knew, Leon and Frank had shared the same home and parents, so Leon’s environment didn’t appear to be a likely culprit either. I would only discover what I now believe to be at the root of Leon’s problems after I met with Frank and his parents, Maria* and Alan.* In our first meeting they were all in obvious distress over the situation.

兄弟姐妹至少有 50% 的基因是相同的。雖然弗蘭克在基因上可能比萊昂擁有更強(qiáng)大的同理心，但不可能僅憑這一點(diǎn)就可以解釋他們截然不同的性情和人生道路。但據(jù)我所知，Leon 和 Frank 有同一個(gè)家和父母，所以 Leon 的環(huán)境似乎也不是罪魁禍?zhǔn)?。在我與弗蘭克和他的父母瑪麗亞*和艾倫*會(huì)面后，我才發(fā)現(xiàn)我現(xiàn)在認(rèn)為是萊昂?jiǎn)栴}的根源。在我們的第一次會(huì)面中，他們都對(duì)這種情況感到明顯的痛苦。

MARIA WAS SMALL AND CONSERVATIVELY dressed, wearing a cardigan buttoned all the way up. She sat erect, knees together, with both hands on the handbag in her lap. Alan wore dark green work clothes; his name was sewn into a white oval over his pocket. Frank was wearing a button-down, collared blue shirt and khaki pants. Maria looked sad and fragile, Alan seemed ashamed, and Frank seemed angry. I greeted each of them with a handshake and tried to establish eye contact.

瑪麗亞身材嬌小，衣著保守，穿著一件紐扣一直扣在上面的開(kāi)衫。她坐直身體，雙膝并攏，雙手放在膝上的手提包上。艾倫穿著深綠色的工作服；他的名字被縫在他口袋上的一個(gè)白色橢圓形里。弗蘭克穿著一件紐扣領(lǐng)藍(lán)色襯衫和卡其色褲子?，旣悂喛雌饋?lái)悲傷而脆弱，艾倫似乎很羞愧，而弗蘭克似乎很生氣。我與他們每個(gè)人握手打招呼，并試圖建立眼神交流。

“I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances,” I said, carefully watching them. I wanted to see how they related to others, whether they showed an ability to empathize, whether there were any hints of pathological or odd behavior that might not have shown up in Leon’s medical records and family history. But they responded appropriately. They were distressed, guilty, concerned, everything you would expect from family members who’d discovered that one of their own had committed an unspeakable crime.

“很抱歉我們不得不在這種情況下見(jiàn)面，”我說(shuō)，仔細(xì)地看著他們。我想看看他們與他人的關(guān)系如何，他們是否表現(xiàn)出同理心，是否有任何病態(tài)或奇怪行為的跡象，這些跡象可能不會(huì)出現(xiàn)在萊昂的病歷和家族史中。但他們的反應(yīng)恰到好處。他們感到痛苦、內(nèi)疚、擔(dān)心，當(dāng)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的一個(gè)人犯下了無(wú)法形容的罪行時(shí)，你會(huì)從家庭成員那里得到的一切。

“As you know, your son’s attorney has asked me to evaluate him for the sentencing phase of the trial. I’ve met with Leon now twice. I wanted to spend some time with you to get a better understanding of how he was when he was younger.” The parents listened, but neither would look me in the eye. Frank stared at me, however, defensive and protective of his parents. “We are all trying to understand why he did this,” I concluded. The parents looked at me and nodded; the father’s eyes filled with tears. Their grief filled the room; Frank finally looked away from me, blinking back tears of his own.

“如你所知，你兒子的律師要求我在審判的量刑階段對(duì)他進(jìn)行評(píng)估。我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)和萊昂見(jiàn)過(guò)兩次面了。我想多陪陪你，了解一下他年輕時(shí)的樣子?！?父母聽(tīng)了，但都沒(méi)有看我的眼睛。然而，弗蘭克盯著我，為他的父母辯護(hù)和保護(hù)?！拔覀兌荚谠噲D理解他為什么這樣做，”我總結(jié)道。父母看著我點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭；父親的眼里充滿了淚水。他們的悲傷充滿了房間；弗蘭克終于把目光從我身上移開(kāi)，眨著眼睛忍住自己的眼淚。

I could see that these parents had spent hours wracked with sadness, confusion, and guilt as they searched for the “why.” Why had our son done this? Why had he turned out this way? What did we do wrong? Are we bad parents? Was he born bad? They spoke with total bewilderment about Leon, telling me that they’d done their best, worked hard, given him what they could. They’d taken him to church, they told me, they’d done everything the teachers and schools and counselors had asked. I heard their recriminations: Maybe we should have been stricter. Maybe we should have been less strict. Maybe I should have sent him to live with my mother when he first got in trouble. They struggled to get through every day, tired from their grief, from sleepless nights, and from pretending that they didn’t see the stares and disapproving looks from their neighbors and coworkers.

我可以看出，這些父母在尋找“原因”時(shí)，已經(jīng)被悲傷、困惑和內(nèi)疚折磨了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)。為什么我們的兒子要這樣做？他怎么會(huì)變成這個(gè)樣子？我們做錯(cuò)了什么？我們是壞父母嗎？他生來(lái)就不好嗎？他們對(duì)萊昂充滿了困惑，告訴我他們已經(jīng)盡力而為，努力工作，給了他力所能及的一切。他們帶他去教堂，他們告訴我，他們做了老師、學(xué)校和輔導(dǎo)員要求的一切。我聽(tīng)到了他們的指責(zé)：也許我們應(yīng)該更嚴(yán)格一些。也許我們應(yīng)該不那么嚴(yán)格。也許我應(yīng)該在他第一次遇到麻煩時(shí)把他送去和我母親住在一起。他們每天都在努力度過(guò)，因悲傷而疲倦，因不眠之夜而疲憊不堪，

“Let’s start at the beginning. Tell me about how you two met,” I said. Alan spoke first, beginning to smile slightly as he thought of his own childhood and his courtship. Alan and Maria had met as young children. They both lived in large extended families in the same small, rural community. They attended the same school, prayed in the same church, and lived in the same neighborhood. They were economically poor, but wealthy in family. They grew up surrounded by cousins, aunties, uncles, and grandparents. Everyone knew everyone else’s business, but that meant everyone cared, too. In Alan and Maria’s hometown children were never far from the watchful eyes of one relative or another.

“讓我們從頭開(kāi)始。告訴我你們兩個(gè)是怎么認(rèn)識(shí)的，”我說(shuō)。艾倫先開(kāi)口，想起自己的童年和求愛(ài)經(jīng)歷，他開(kāi)始微微微笑。艾倫和瑪麗亞小時(shí)候就認(rèn)識(shí)了。他們都住在同一個(gè)農(nóng)村小社區(qū)的大家庭中。他們上同一所學(xué)校，在同一個(gè)教堂祈禱，住在同一個(gè)街區(qū)。他們經(jīng)濟(jì)貧窮，但家庭富裕。他們?cè)诒碛H、阿姨、叔叔和祖父母的包圍下長(zhǎng)大。每個(gè)人都知道其他人的事，但這意味著每個(gè)人也都關(guān)心。在艾倫和瑪麗亞的家鄉(xiāng)，孩子們從不遠(yuǎn)離一個(gè)或另一個(gè)親戚的注視目光。

Maria dropped out of high school at fifteen, becoming a maid at a local hotel. Alan stayed on until graduation, then started work at a nearby factory. They got married when he was twenty and she was eighteen. He did well at the factory and made a good living. Soon Maria got pregnant.

瑪麗亞十五歲從高中輟學(xué)，成為當(dāng)?shù)匾患衣灭^的女傭。艾倫一直待到畢業(yè)，然后開(kāi)始在附近的一家工廠工作。他二十歲，她十八歲時(shí)，他們結(jié)婚了。他在工廠里干得不錯(cuò)，過(guò)著不錯(cuò)的生活。不久，瑪麗亞懷孕了。

This pregnancy was a joyous event for both extended families. Maria was pampered, and she was able to quit work to stay home with their child. The young family lived in the basement apartment of a building owned by an uncle. Her parents lived next door; his family, one block over. As they discussed this time in their lives, they smiled at each other. Alan did most of the talking, while Maria nodded her agreement. Frank listened intently as if he had never heard about his parents’ early life. At moments the family almost seemed to forget what had brought them here.

這次懷孕對(duì)兩個(gè)大家庭來(lái)說(shuō)都是一件喜事。瑪麗亞被寵壞了，她可以辭掉工作留在家里帶孩子。這個(gè)年輕的家庭住在一個(gè)叔叔擁有的建筑物的地下室公寓里。她的父母住在隔壁；他的家人，一個(gè)街區(qū)。當(dāng)他們討論生命中的這段時(shí)間時(shí)，他們相視一笑。艾倫做了大部分談話，而瑪麗亞點(diǎn)頭表示同意。弗蘭克專注地聽(tīng)著，好像他從未聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)他父母的早年生活。有那么一刻，這家人似乎忘記了是什么把他們帶到這里來(lái)的。

As Alan dominated the conversation, I would occasionally try to direct a question to Maria, but most of the time she would just smile at me politely and then look to her husband who would then answer instead. In time it became clear that Maria, though kindhearted and polite, was mentally impaired. She didn’t seem to understand many of my questions. Finally, I asked her, “Did you like school?” Alan looked at me and said quietly, “She is not good at those things. She is maybe a little slow in that way.” She looked at me sheepishly and I nodded and smiled back. Both her husband and her son were clearly protective of her.

由于 Alan 主導(dǎo)了談話，我偶爾會(huì)嘗試直接向 Maria 提問(wèn)，但大多數(shù)時(shí)候她只是禮貌地對(duì)我微笑，然后看向她的丈夫，而她的丈夫隨后會(huì)回答。隨著時(shí)間的推移，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)瑪麗亞雖然心地善良、彬彬有禮，但卻患有精神疾病。她似乎不明白我的許多問(wèn)題。最后，我問(wèn)她：“你喜歡上學(xué)嗎？” 艾倫看著我，平靜地說(shuō)：“她不擅長(zhǎng)那些事情。她在這方面可能有點(diǎn)慢?！?她不好意思地看著我，我點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，回以微笑。她的丈夫和兒子顯然都在保護(hù)她。

Alan went on, describing the birth of their first son, Frank. After Maria came home from the hospital, the grandmothers, aunties, and older cousins spent hours with the young mother and her new child. Both mother and baby were immersed in the attention and love of their extended families. When Maria felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for this dependent little being, there was always an aunt or a cousin or her own mother around to help. When his cries drove her crazy, she could always get a break by asking a family member to babysit. But then Alan lost his job. He looked diligently for new work, but the factory had closed and decent jobs for people without a college education became nearly impossible to find. After six months of unemployment he managed to get another factory job, but it was in a city, one hundred miles away. He felt he had no choice but to take it.

艾倫繼續(xù)描述他們第一個(gè)兒子弗蘭克的出生?，旣悂啅尼t(yī)院回家后，祖母、阿姨和表姐們花了幾個(gè)小時(shí)陪伴這位年輕的母親和她剛出生的孩子。媽媽和寶寶都沉浸在大家庭的關(guān)注和愛(ài)中。當(dāng)瑪麗亞對(duì)照顧這個(gè)依賴他人的小生命的責(zé)任感到不知所措時(shí)，總會(huì)有阿姨、表親或她自己的母親在身邊幫忙。當(dāng)他的哭聲把她逼瘋時(shí)，她總是可以通過(guò)請(qǐng)家人照看孩子來(lái)緩解一下。但后來(lái)艾倫丟了工作。他努力尋找新工作，但工廠已經(jīng)關(guān)閉，沒(méi)有大學(xué)學(xué)歷的人幾乎找不到體面的工作。失業(yè)六個(gè)月后，他設(shè)法找到了另一份工廠工作，但那是在一百英里外的一個(gè)城市。

The family, with now three-year-old Frank, relocated to an apartment complex in the city. The only place they could afford was in a devastated inner-city neighborhood plagued with high rates of violent crime and drug use. Few people worked and few had roots in the area. As is often the case in this country, extended families were scattered, not living close together as they had back home. Most of the households with children were headed by single mothers.

這家人和現(xiàn)在三歲的弗蘭克一起搬到了城里的一個(gè)公寓大樓。他們唯一能負(fù)擔(dān)得起的地方是一個(gè)滿目瘡痍的市中心社區(qū)，這里暴力犯罪率和吸毒率很高。很少有人工作，也很少有人在該地區(qū)扎根。就像這個(gè)國(guó)家的情況一樣，大家庭分散在一起，不像在家鄉(xiāng)那樣住得很近。大多數(shù)有孩子的家庭都是單身母親當(dāng)家。

Soon Maria became pregnant with Leon. This pregnancy, however, was very different from her first one. Maria was now alone all day long in a small apartment with a toddler as her only companion. She was bewildered by her new life—and lonely. She didn’t know anyone and didn’t know how to reach out to her neighbors. Alan worked long hours, and when he came home he was exhausted. Maria’s three-year-old son became her best friend. They spent hours together. They would walk to a nearby park, take the bus to the free museums in the city, and participate in a mother’s drop-in program at a church. Maria developed a routine in which she would leave the apartment early in the morning and stay out all day, picking up groceries just before she returned home. The routine was comforting. She created a repetitive pattern of activity and the familiar faces she saw each day were some tiny connection to others, reminding her of the familiarity of the world she left behind. Still, she missed her family. She missed her neighborhood. She missed the group of experienced women who had helped her raise her first baby.

不久，瑪麗亞懷上了萊昂。然而，這次懷孕與她的第一次懷孕大不相同?，旣悂啲F(xiàn)在整天獨(dú)自一人在一間小公寓里，只有一個(gè)蹣跚學(xué)步的孩子是她唯一的伙伴。她對(duì)自己的新生活感到困惑——而且很孤獨(dú)。她不認(rèn)識(shí)任何人，也不知道如何與鄰居聯(lián)系。艾倫工作了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，回到家時(shí)他已經(jīng)筋疲力盡了?，旣悂喨龤q的兒子成了她最好的朋友。他們?cè)谝黄鸲冗^(guò)了幾個(gè)小時(shí)。他們會(huì)步行到附近的公園，乘公共汽車去城里的免費(fèi)博物館，并參加教堂的母親臨時(shí)探訪計(jì)劃?，旣悂嗮B(yǎng)成了一種習(xí)慣，她會(huì)在清晨離開(kāi)公寓，整天待在外面，在回家前去買雜貨。例行公事令人欣慰。她創(chuàng)造了一種重復(fù)的活動(dòng)模式，她每天看到的熟悉的面孔與其他人有某種微小的聯(lián)系，提醒她對(duì)她離開(kāi)的世界的熟悉。盡管如此，她還是想念她的家人。她想念她的鄰居。她想念幫助她撫養(yǎng)第一個(gè)孩子的那群有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的婦女。

Then, Leon was born. Maria was now overwhelmed by the inevitable neediness of a newborn. She never had to raise a baby alone before. It became clear to me that the family had understood Maria’s limitations and, when needed, had stepped in to provide a loving, predictable, and safe environment for Frank. But when Leon was born this relational safety net was absent. I was starting to see why Leon and Frank had turned out so differently.

然后，萊昂出生了?，旣悂啲F(xiàn)在被新生兒不可避免的需要所淹沒(méi)。她以前從未需要獨(dú)自撫養(yǎng)孩子。我很清楚，家人已經(jīng)理解瑪麗亞的局限性，并在需要時(shí)介入，為弗蘭克提供一個(gè)充滿愛(ài)意、可預(yù)測(cè)和安全的環(huán)境。但是當(dāng)萊昂出生時(shí)，這種關(guān)系安全網(wǎng)并不存在。我開(kāi)始明白為什么萊昂和弗蘭克的結(jié)果如此不同。

“He was such a fussy baby. He cried,” Maria told me, describing Leon.

“他真是個(gè)挑剔的孩子。他哭了，”瑪麗亞在描述萊昂時(shí)告訴我。

She smiled. I smiled back.

她笑了。我回以微笑。

“And how would you calm him down?”

“那你怎么讓他平靜下來(lái)？”

“I tried to feed him. Sometimes he would take the bottle and stop.”

“我試著喂他。有時(shí)他會(huì)拿起瓶子停下來(lái)?！?/p>

“Anything else?”

“還要?jiǎng)e的嗎？”

“Sometimes he would not stop. So we would go on our walk.”

“有時(shí)他不會(huì)停下來(lái)。所以我們會(huì)繼續(xù)我們的步行。”

“We?”

“我們？”

“Me and Frank.”

“我和弗蘭克?！?/p>

“Ah.”

“啊?！?/p>

“Did anyone ever come to help you take care of Leon?”

“有沒(méi)有人來(lái)幫你照顧里昂？”

“No. We would wake up and feed him and then go for our walk.”

“不。我們會(huì)醒來(lái)喂他，然后出去散步。”

“Was this like the walks you took before Leon was born?”

“這就像你在里昂出生前散步的樣子嗎？”

“Yes. We go to the park. Play for a while. Take the bus to the church and have lunch. Then go to the children’s museum. Take the bus to the market to buy food for dinner. And then go home.”

“是的。我們?nèi)ス珗@。玩一會(huì)兒。乘巴士前往教堂并享用午餐。然后去兒童博物館。乘公共汽車去市場(chǎng)買晚餐的食物。然后回家?！?/p>

“So you were gone most of the day.”

“所以你一天大部分時(shí)間都不在?！?/p>

“Yes.”

“是的。”

Little by little it became clear that from the time Leon was four weeks old, the mother had resumed her “walks” with her oldest son, by then a four-year-old. She left baby Leon alone in a dark apartment. My heart sank as I listened to the mother—innocent, yet ignorant of the crucial needs of an infant—describe her systematic neglect of her youngest son. It was hard to be critical: she had given her four-year-old loving and attentive care. But at the same time she had deprived her newborn of the experiences necessary for him to form and maintain healthy relationships.

漸漸地，從萊昂 4 周大的時(shí)候開(kāi)始，母親就開(kāi)始和她的大兒子一起“散步”了，那時(shí)他已經(jīng) 4 歲了。她把小萊昂獨(dú)自留在一間黑暗的公寓里。當(dāng)我聽(tīng)到母親——天真無(wú)邪，卻不知道嬰兒的關(guān)鍵需求——描述她對(duì)她最小的兒子的系統(tǒng)性忽視時(shí)，我的心沉了下去。很難批評(píng)：她給了她四歲的愛(ài)和細(xì)心的照顧。但與此同時(shí)，她剝奪了她的新生兒建立和維持健康關(guān)系所必需的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

“He stopped crying so much,” she said, indicating that she thought that her solution to the problem had worked.

“他不再那么哭了，”她說(shuō)，表明她認(rèn)為她解決問(wèn)題的方法奏效了。

But as he grew older, both parents related, Leon never responded to their parenting the same way that Frank did. Whenever they reprimanded Frank, he felt bad that he had disappointed his parents and he corrected his behaviors. When Frank was told that he’d done well, he smiled and it was easy to see that he found pleasing his parents to be rewarding. The little boy was always hugging someone, running up to Mom or Dad and wrapping his little arms around them.

但隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，父母雙方都有親戚關(guān)系，萊昂從未像弗蘭克那樣回應(yīng)他們的養(yǎng)育方式。每當(dāng)他們訓(xùn)斥弗蘭克時(shí)，他都覺(jué)得自己讓父母失望了，因此改正了自己的行為。當(dāng)弗蘭克被告知他做得很好時(shí)，他笑了，很容易看出他發(fā)現(xiàn)取悅父母是一種回報(bào)。這個(gè)小男孩總是在擁抱某人，跑到媽媽或爸爸身邊，用他的小胳膊摟住他們。

When Leon was scolded or punished, however, he showed no emotion. He didn’t seem to care that he’d let his parents down or hurt someone else emotionally or physically. He didn’t correct his behavior. When his parents or teachers were pleased with him and gave him positive attention, he seemed equally unaffected. He actively avoided being touched, or touching others.

然而，當(dāng)萊昂被責(zé)罵或受到懲罰時(shí)，他沒(méi)有表現(xiàn)出任何情緒。他似乎不在乎他會(huì)讓他的父母失望或在情感上或身體上傷害別人。他沒(méi)有改正自己的行為。當(dāng)他的父母或老師對(duì)他感到滿意并給予他積極的關(guān)注時(shí)，他似乎同樣不受影響。他主動(dòng)避免被觸摸，或觸摸他人。

Over time he learned to use flattery, flirtation, and other forms of manipulation to get what he wanted. If that did not work, he did what he wanted when he wanted anyway, and if he wasn’t given what he asked for, then he took it. If he got caught doing something wrong, he would lie, and if he got caught in a lie, he was indifferent to lectures and punishment. All he seemed to learn from punishment was how to improve his deception and better hide his bad behavior. Teachers, counselors, youth ministers, and coaches all said the same thing: Leon didn’t seem to care about anyone or anything but himself. The normal relational rewards and consequences—making your parents proud, making a friend happy, feeling upset if you hurt a loved one—did not matter to him.

隨著時(shí)間的推移，他學(xué)會(huì)了用奉承、調(diào)情和其他形式的操縱來(lái)獲得他想要的東西。如果那沒(méi)有用，他無(wú)論如何都會(huì)在他想做的時(shí)候做他想做的，如果他沒(méi)有得到他所要求的，那么他就會(huì)接受。如果他做錯(cuò)事被抓到，他就會(huì)說(shuō)謊，如果他說(shuō)謊被抓到，他對(duì)訓(xùn)斥和懲罰都無(wú)動(dòng)于衷。他似乎從懲罰中學(xué)到的只是如何改進(jìn)他的欺騙并更好地隱藏他的不良行為。老師、輔導(dǎo)員、青年部長(zhǎng)和教練都說(shuō)了同樣的話：萊昂似乎只關(guān)心他自己。正常的關(guān)系獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)和后果——讓你的父母感到驕傲，讓朋友開(kāi)心，如果你傷害了所愛(ài)的人會(huì)感到難過(guò)——對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)并不重要。

So he started to get in trouble, first at preschool, then kindergarten, then elementary school. At first it was little things: stealing candy, minor bullying, poking classmates with pencils, talking back to teachers, ignoring the rules. But by third grade he had been referred for mental health services. By fifth grade he was a regular in the juvenile justice system, brought up on charges of truancy, theft, and vandalism. This callous and criminal behavior qualified him for the diagnosis of “conduct disorder” by age ten.

于是他開(kāi)始惹麻煩，先是在學(xué)前班，然后是幼兒園，然后是小學(xué)。起初是一些小事：偷糖果、輕微欺凌、用鉛筆戳同學(xué)、頂撞老師、不遵守規(guī)則。但到了三年級(jí)，他被轉(zhuǎn)介接受心理健康服務(wù)。到五年級(jí)時(shí)，他已成為少年司法系統(tǒng)的常客，被指控逃學(xué)、盜竊和故意破壞公物。這種冷酷無(wú)情的犯罪行為使他在十歲時(shí)被診斷為“品行障礙”。

When Maria had taken Frank out for walks, Leon had wailed in his crib at first. But he’d soon learned that crying would bring no aid, so he stopped. He lay there, alone and uncared for, with no one to talk to him and no one to praise him for learning to turn over or crawl (and not much room to explore anyway). For most of the day he heard no language, saw no new sights, and received no attention.

當(dāng)瑪麗亞帶弗蘭克出去散步時(shí)，萊昂起初在他的嬰兒床上哭泣。但他很快就明白哭泣無(wú)濟(jì)于事，所以他停止了。他躺在那兒，一個(gè)人，沒(méi)人照顧，沒(méi)有人可以和他說(shuō)話，也沒(méi)有人稱贊他學(xué)會(huì)了翻身或爬行（而且沒(méi)有太多空間可以探索）。在一天的大部分時(shí)間里，他聽(tīng)不到任何語(yǔ)言，沒(méi)有看到新的景象，也沒(méi)有受到任何關(guān)注。