Madame LaLaurie

Madame LaLaurie Paulette Fullington Psy 303: Abnormal Psychology Professor Cheri Hansen January 31 !011

Madame LaLaurie

"n A#ril 11 1$3% a fire ra&aged 'oyal (treet in )e* "rleans Louisiana re&ealing an abominable and horrifying secret to the to*n+ ,he fe* records that can be found mention o&er and o&er ho* gruesome the circumstances in *hich they found at least se&en sla&es belonging to the LaLaurie family+ -n the *ords of the re#orter .(e&en sla&es more or less horribly mutilated *ere seen sus#ended by the nec/ *ith their limbs a##arently stretched and torn from one e0tremity to the other+ Language is #o*erless and inade1uate to gi&e a #ro#er conce#tion of the horror234,he )e* "rleans 5ee %61161$3%7+3 Although it8s usually better to summari9e than to 1uote you chose a 1uote that is 1uite #o*erful: it immediately alerts the reader to the im#ortance of the to#ic+ ,his is *hat - mean *hen - say to only 1uote material that is *orthy+ -8d agree that this one is *orthy+ ;sually a #age number is needed for a 1uotation: -8m not sure if that is a&ailable from 1$3%+ -f you 1uote from a *eb site cite the #aragra#h number+ ,he end 1uotation mar/ goes before the citation+ - *ould cite that as a source *ith no author if there is none+ 4-8ll #ost an announcement later today *ith a lin/ to a &ery hel#ful source for 1uotations and references+7 <hat /ind of #erson could commit such horrendous acts= <hy *ould they do this to another human being= <as there e&idence of an A0is -- #ersonality disorder in the carnage they *rought u#on another human being= ,he #erson to *hom these atrocious crimes are attributed to is a *oman Madame >el#hine LaLaurie+ ,here are only a fe* things that are *ell /no*n about her mostly basic information+ (he had three husbands: >r+ LaLaurie *as the third the #re&ious t*o ha&ing died+ (he *as born in 1??@ and died during 1$%!+ ,he house she resided in *as /no*n as *as she for s#ectacular social engagements and for being the center of high society in not only )e* "rleans but throughout most of Louisiana 4***+nola+com incorrect citation: Castellanos 1AB1

Madame LaLaurie

##+ B0CB1 only cite #age numbers for citations7+ A lot of myth and urban legend s#rang u# around Madame LaLaurie and her crimes but *hat is consistent is the story of the se&en sla&es that *ere found+ A torturous de&ice called a Dcarcarn8 -n APA style only use 1uotation mar/s for actual 1uotations *hich must be cited *ith #age number+ Eou can use italics for em#hasis+ *as #laced on the nec/s of at least one sla&e according to the records: a Dcarcarn8 is a *ide collar made of iron *hich ty#ically has shar# edges and *as used for restraining sla&es usually to a #ost 4Castellanos 1AB1 #+ @%7+ Fe* accounts remain of her nature the accounts of the crime ta/ing #recedence o&er records of the *oman herself+ Ho*e&er the little information that remains contends that to society she #resented as a #ious /ind *oman *ho *as generous to the #oor and the sic/ as *ell as *ith the .large retinue of familiar ser&ants3 4Castellanos 1AB1 #+ B17+ F&en Castellanos finds it hard to reconcile the t*o sides of her nature as *ell as the barbaric beha&ior she e0hibited 41AB1 #+ B0CB17+ >uring her lifetime #sychology *as still in its infancy so a modern diagnosis *ould not ha&e been found in her time+ ;nfortunately there are not really enough inCde#th records to ma/e a true full #sychological diagnosis semicolon ho*e&er based on the information a&ailable from sources other than Madame LaLaurie it is #ossible that she suffered from A0is -- #ersonality disorders namely Antisocial Personality and #ossibly )arcissistic Personality disorders+ -n order to classify for Antisocial Personality >isorder 4AP>7 under the criteria of >(M -G ,' the #atient in this case >el#hine LaLaurie comma must meet the follo*ing: these criteria should be summari9ed in your o*n *ords rather than co#ied &erbatim+

Madame LaLaurie

A+ ,here is a #er&asi&e #attern of disregard for and &iolation of the rights of others occurring since age 1@ years as indicated by three 4or more7 of the follo*ing: 1+ Failure to conform to social norms *ith res#ect to la*ful beha&iors as indicated by re#eatedly #erforming acts that are grounds for arrest !+ >eceitfulness as indicated by re#eated lying use of aliases or conning others for #ersonal #rofit or #leasure 3+ -m#ulsi&ity or failure to #lan ahead %+ -rritability and aggressi&eness as indicated by re#eated #hysical fights or assaults @+ 'ec/less disregard for safety of self or others B+ Consistent irres#onsibility as indicated by re#eated failure to sustain consistent *or/ beha&ior or honor financial obligations ?+ Lac/ of remorse as indicated by being indifferent to or rationali9ing ha&ing hurt mistreated or stolen from another 5+ ,he indi&idual is at least age 1$ years+ C+ ,here is e&idence of Conduct >isorder *ith onset before age 1@ years+ >+ ,he occurrence of antisocial beha&ior is not e0clusi&ely during the course of (chi9o#hrenia or a Manic F#isode 4>(M -G ,'+ !000+ #+ ?0B7+ -t is my belief that Madame LaLaurie e0hibited the first second fourth fifth and se&enth criteria as e&idenced by her unla*ful torture of the sla&es the fact that she tried to co&er it u#

Madame LaLaurie

again the torture for fourth and fifth and the fact that she seemed unremorseful *hen lea&ing treating it #ossibly as an act of necessity to sa&ing her life+ Furthermore - feel there is a high li/elihood that there *as a #ossibly comorbid diagnosis of )arcissistic Personality >isorder 4)P>7+ ,his *ould ha&e been much more effecti&e if you had stated the s#ecific criteria and #ro&ided e&idence for each one by name rather than referring to them by number+ -s there any e&idence of these acti&ities beginning at age 1@= ,he )P> for bre&ity8s sa/e - *ill not list here other than the ones that - feel a##ly to Madame LaLaurie+ ,here must be fi&e criteria met for a diagnosis of )P>+ Madame LaLaurie seems to #resent the follo*ing: .grandiose sense of selfCim#ortance: belie&es that he or she is Ds#ecial8 and uni1ue and can only be understood by or should associate *ith other s#ecial or highCstatus #eo#le: re1uires e0cessi&e admiration: has a sense of entitlement: is inter#ersonally e0#loitati&e: lac/s em#athy: and sho*s arrogant haughty beha&iors or attitudes 4>(M -G ,'+ !000+ #+ ?1?7+3 Again summari9e this don8t 1uote Madame LaLaurie *as a high society host *hile #ious 4at least out*ardly7 she did not as a rule associate *ith those beneath her station any more than she *ould ha&e had to+ ,he high society #arties and balls she thre* *ould ha&e added to her feeling of selfCim#ortance+ (he a##ears to ha&e felt that she had the right to treat those humans in her care as she *ished and sho*ed little em#athy for their suffering+ 5y the definition of e&ilness #ut forth by Huiles Morera Correa and Leyens 4!0107 Madame >el#hine LaLaurie *as e&il 4##+ ?$AC?A17+ Ho*e&er *ith no #ersonal letters or Iournals of Madame LaLaurie or about her early years from another source it is merely conIecture based on the little information that is a&ailable+

Madame LaLaurie

,here is no concrete moti&e for her beha&ior in any of the a&ailable sources nothing of the story in her o*n *ords+ <e ha&e only the incident that brought her malada#ti&e beha&ior to light but feel that gi&en *hat *e ha&e Madame LaLaurie #resents strongly *ith a comorbid #resentation of Antisocial and )arcissistic Personality >isorders+

'eferences American Psychiatric Association+ 4!0007+ Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4%th Fdition7+ Arlington Girgina: American Psychiatric Association+

Madame LaLaurie

Castellanos H+ C+ A+M+ LL+5+ 41A0@7+ New Orleans as it was: Episodes of Louisiana life+ 4!nd Fdition+ re#rinted &ersion 1AB17+ )e* "rleans Louisiana: ,he L+ Jraham Co+ Ltd+ K )e* "rleans)et LLC+ 41AAA7+ Following evils footsteps: The search for the truth about Mme. LaLaurie and the horror on o!al "treet+ 'etrie&ed from htt#:66***+nola+com6lalaurie6history6intro+html+ K ;se the title in #lace of author *hen there is no author: use a shortened &ersion of the title in the citation+ Huiles M+ Morera M+ Correa A+ L Leyens J++ 4!0107+ <hat do #eo#le mean *hen s#ea/ing of e&ilness= The "panish #ournal of $s!cholog! 134!7 ?$$CA?+ 'etrie&ed January 30 !011 from ProHuest Health and Medical Com#lete+ 4>ocument ->: !!00$!BBA17+ Anonymous+ 41$3% A#ril 117+ ,he fire on 'oyal (treet+ The New Orleans %ee+ 4,ranscri#t7+ 'etrie&ed from htt#:66***+nola+com6lalaurie6archi&es6fire1+html "nly use Anonymous as the author if the source s#ecifically states that the author is anonymous+