The Mind Of A Murderer

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Frank Timmons

Background:

Frank was born in 1964 in a large metropolitan city, as the second-youngest of 13 children. His parents were Billy, a car dealer lot attendant, and Loretta, a maid, both of whom later divorced. Though Billy was strict, the household was, according to one of Frank’s siblings, peaceful. Other siblings say that Billy was verbally abusive and that alcoholism ran in the family. Loretta died when Frank was 12. She was described as not being an active parent to her youngest children, leaving their upbringing largely to the older siblings, one sister in particular, Margaret. Questions were raised by other siblings regarding Margaret’s overall stability, as well as the possibility of sexual abuse perpetrated by her. Margaret had difficulty maintaining stable relationships and employment, was reported to have made a number of suicide attempts, and may have followed in her father’s footsteps with regard to verbal abuse and alcoholism. In high school, Frank was good at sports and played football for the school team, but did not graduate because of insufficient credits. Some sibling reports indicate that Frank did not earn enough school credits to graduate because of efforts to make money for the family. The family income came primary from DES subsidies and food stamps. Though well-liked by his teammates, Frank had a reputation for excessive roughness with opposing teams. During his senior year, Frank and a brother were arrested for raping a young woman, but no charges were pursued. He was charged with trespassing a few years later and with driving under the influence the following year.

In his late 20s, he was charged with abducting a woman, brutally raping and bludgeoning her. He claimed that she willingly had oral sex with him and that the rape and assault was the work of two other men. Frank was sentenced to 15 years for the abduction and 21 years for a robbery. After serving 13 years in prison as a model inmate, he was paroled and moved into a house not far from the four-mile crime area with his wife, Jenny Nelson. Though his neighbors all knew that he had served time in jail, he was so well-liked that they could look past it. He got a job as a construction worker. The year after his parole, the Serial Murderer crimes began.

In the first crime attributed to the Serial Murderer, the perpetrator forced three teenage girls behind a church and molested two of them. He is believed to have committed his first murder a month later. Over the course of the following 11 months, he committed several robberies, sexual assaults, and a total of eight additional murders. His friends and family have strongly defended him, insisting that the police have arrested the wrong man; some have even gone so far as to accuse them of framing Frank for the crimes. His wife has since been running a website maintaining his innocence.

 

Evidence:

● Surviving witnesses described a “light-skinned black man,” often wearing various disguises, such as a Halloween mask, as well as attempting to impersonate a homeless man or drug addict.

● The murders were particularly brutal, with the killer often shooting the victims in the head. In addition, there were reports of the suspect sexually assaulting females as young as 12 years old at gunpoint within a four-mile radius.

● Police say that the shell casings found at each of the crime scenes all came from the same gun.

● At the time of the murders, Frank Timmons was on community supervision (parole) with the Department of Corrections. Parole officers provided information to the Police Department task force suggesting that Frank Timmons matched the sketch of the serial murderer. Parole officers searched Frank Timmons residence and found a ski mask and a realistic “toy” handgun. Police used this information to obtain a search warrant for Frank’s residence and found additional items that linked Frank to crimes committed by the Serial Murderer.

● The crimes were distinguished by having no apparent motive. Timmons targets were women. When he killed, the victims were typically snatched from a public corner, taken to some secluded nearby place and shot in the head with a medium or large caliber weapon. Timmons used some kind of disguise and/or ruse while committing some crimes, such as wearing a Halloween mask to conceal his identity, approaching his victims asking for a ride or even pretending to be a homeless man or a drug addict.

● Frank Timmons was arrested in connection to the sexual assault of two sisters, an attack which was tied to the Serial Murderer investigation. The sisters, one of whom was visibly pregnant, were assaulted in a city park. Frank was linked to the attack by DNA evidence collected shortly following the crime.

What People Are Saying:

Current friend:

He is the nicest guy I have ever met and I have no clue why you think he did these things. As far as I know, he’s never been in any trouble, goes to Mass each week, and loves his life. Are you sure we are talking about the same guy? He’s too smart to get himself into trouble and I can’t see him doing anything like this. Maybe you should spend your time looking for the real killer because he wouldn’t dream of this.

Current coworker:

He kind of keeps to himself at work. He is always early and stays late, probably to impress the boss. I’ve heard he has some problems with his girlfriend—they fight a lot. They take separate vacations to get away from each other and are in couples counseling. But, he is a private guy, does his work, and goes home. I wish I could tell you more.

Next door neighbor:

I see him in the mornings when he goes to work. He waves but never wants to talk. When they moved here, I tried inviting them over, but he would always decline so I stopped asking. He sometimes works odd hours, I think, mainly when there is no one else home. Seems to keep busy. Respectful but quiet.

I. Summary

a. Summarize the case provided. In your summary, include key facts and demographic information.

b. Develop an initial hypothesis about the potential motivation to commit the crime. As you consider the motivation, identify the type of crime that was committed.

II. Crime Assessment

a. Compare data and evidence of similar crimes.

b. Identify patterns found in similar crimes.

c. Make inferences about motivation of the identified individual based on case evidence and comparison to similar crimes.

Compassion Fatigue And Corrections Fatigue Analysis

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Write a 350- to 700-word paper analyzing compassion fatigue and corrections fatigue. Include the following:

· Describe the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and corrections fatigue.

· Describe the effects of compassion fatigue and corrections fatigue on people working in the field of corrections.

· Describe strategies for overcoming compassion fatigue and corrections fatigue.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Running on Empty: Compassion Fatigue in Health Professionals

By Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed., CCC. Compassion Fatigue Specialist (Published in Rehab & Community Care Medicine, Spring 2007) “The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet” (Remen, 1996) What is compassion fatigue? Our primary task as helping professionals is first and foremost to meet the physical and/or emotional needs of our clients and patients. This can be an immensely rewarding experience, and the daily contact with patients is what keeps many of us working in this field. It is a Calling, a highly specialized type of work that is unlike any other profession. However, this highly specialised rewarding profession can also look like this: Increasingly stressful work environments, heavy case loads and dwindling resources, cynicism and negativity from co- workers, low job satisfaction and, for some, the risk of being physically assaulted by patients. Compassion Fatigue has been described as the “cost of caring” for others in emotional and physical pain. (Figley, 1982) It is characterized by deep physical and emotional exhaustion and a pronounced change in the helper’s ability to feel empathy for their patients, their loved ones and their co-workers. It is marked by increased cynicism at work, a loss of enjoyment of our career, and eventually can transform into depression, secondary traumatic stress and stress-related illnesses. The most insidious aspect of compassion fatigue is that it attacks the very core of what brought us into this work: our empathy and compassion for others. Who does it affect? Compassion fatigue is an occupational hazard, which means that almost everyone who cares about their patients/clients will eventually develop a certain amount of it, to varying degrees of severity. Statistics Canada recently published their first ever National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses (2005) which found that “close to one-fifth of nurses reported that their mental health had made their workload difficult to handle during the previous month.” In the year before the survey, over 50% of nurses had taken time off work because of a physical

 

 

 

Running on Empty p.2

illness, and 10% had been away for mental health reasons. Eight out of ten nurses accessed their EAP (employee assistance program) which is over twice as high as EAP use by the total employed population. In addition, nurses reported on the job violence and were found “more likely to experience on the job violence than all other professions.” (ONA, 2006) A study of Cancer Care Workers in Ontario carried out in 2000 also found high levels of burnout and stress among oncology workers and discovered that a significant number of them were considering leaving the field: 50% of physicians and 1/3 of other cancer care professionals had high levels of emotional exhaustion and low levels of personal accomplishment. (Grunfeld 2000) Similar findings have been found among other helping professionals such as child protection workers, law enforcement, counselors and prison guards. (Figley, 2006) Signs and Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue Each individual will have their own warning signs that indicate that they are moving into the danger zone of compassion fatigue. These will include some of the following:

• Exhaustion • Reduced ability to feel sympathy and empathy • Anger and irritability • Increased use of alcohol and drugs • Dread of working with certain clients/patients • Diminished sense of enjoyment of career • Disruption to world view, Heightened anxiety or irrational fears • Intrusive imagery or dissociation • Hypersensitivity or Insensitivity to emotional material • Difficulty separating work life from personal life • Absenteeism – missing work, taking many sick days • Impaired ability to make decisions and care for clients/patients • Problems with intimacy and in personal relationships

Drs Figley and Stamm have developed a Compassion Fatigue self-test called the ProQuol that can be taken online to assess one’s own level of CF. It is considered the most effective screening tool to date: www.isu.edu/~bhstamm/tests.htm. You can also access a very easy self-scoring excel version of it by emailing me at: thingy@aweber.com. I affectionately renamed the ProQuol “thingy” as I found the original name rather unwieldy. Learning to recognise one’s own symptoms of compassion fatigue has a two-fold purpose: firstly, it can serve as an important “check-in” process for a helper who has been feeling unhappy and dissatisfied, but did not have the words to explain what was happening to them, and secondly, it can allow them to develop a warning system for themselves. Say, for example, that a helper was to learn to identify their compassion fatigue symptoms on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the worst they have ever felt about their work/compassion and 1 being the best they have ever felt) and they learned to identify what an 8 or a 9 looks like for them (ie: “ when I’m getting up to an 8, I notice it because I don’t return phone calls, think

 

 

 

Running on Empty p.3

about calling in sick a lot and can’t watch any violence on tv” or “I know that I’m moving towards a 7 when I turn down my best friend’s invitation to go out for dinner because I’m too drained to talk to someone else, and when I stop exercising.” Being able to recognize that one’s level of compassion fatigue is creeping up to the red zone is the most effective way to implement strategies immediately before things get worse. Contributing Factors As a Compassion Fatigue Specialist, I offer training, counselling and consultation to helpers across the country. During these workshops, I have heard the stories of hundreds of resilient therapists, nurses, midwives, personal support workers, correctional workers, ministers, physicians, psychologists, social workers and students in these professions. What we have discovered through these conversations is that compassion fatigue exists on a continuum, meaning that at various times in our careers, we may be more immune to its damaging effects and at other times feel very beaten down by it. Within an agency, there will be, at any one time, helpers who are feeling well and fulfilled in their work, a majority of people feeling some symptoms and a few people feeling like there is no other answer available to them but to leave the profession. Many factors contribute to this continuum: personal circumstances and the helper’s work situation. Current life circumstance The helper’s current life circumstance, their history, coping style and personality style all affect how compassion fatigue works its way through. In addition to working in a challenging profession, most helpers have other life stressors to deal with. Many are in the “sandwich generation” meaning that they take care of both young children and aging parents. Helpers are not immune to pain in their own lives and in fact some studies show that they are more vulnerable to life changes such as divorce and difficulties such as addictions than people who do less stressful work. Working conditions Helpers participating in compassion fatigue sessions will often say “I don’t have any problems with my clients/patients, in fact, I love my client work, it’s everything around it at work that is grinding me down.” It is clear that clients and their stories are not always the main source of stress for helpers -it’s also the paperwork, the new computerized time tracking system they have to learn, and, let’s not forget, the 10th “restructuring/merging with the agency next door/new executive director/best practice remodel that an agency is going through for the 4th time in 10 years. Moreover, helpers often do work that other people don’t want to hear about, or spend their time caring for people who are not valued or understood in our society, (for example, individuals who are homeless, abused, incarcerated or chronically ill). The working environment is often stressful and fraught with workplace negativity as a result of individual compassion fatigue and unhappiness. What can be done to prevent Compassion Fatigue? Compassion Fatigue is a treatable problem providing we recognise the signs and symptoms early and that the level of intervention is appropriate to the level of compassion fatigue

 

 

 

Running on Empty p.4

present in the helper. There are strategies and solutions both at the personal and at the organizational level. Organizational Strategies There are many simple and effective strategies that helpers can implement to protect themselves from compassion fatigue. First, by openly discussing and recognizing compassion fatigue in the workplace, helpers can normalise this problem for one another. They can also work towards developing a supportive work environment that will encourage proper debriefing, regular breaks, mental health days, peer support, assessing and changing workloads, improved access to further professional development and regular check-in times where staff can safely discuss the impact of the work on their personal and professional lives. Research has shown that working part time, or only seeing clients or patients part time and doing other activities the rest of the workday can be a very effective method to prevent compassion fatigue. Personal Improved self-care is the cornerstone of compassion fatigue prevention. This may seem obvious, but most helpers tend to put their needs last and feel guilty for taking extra time out of their busy schedules to exercise, meditate or have a massage. On the personal front, helpers need to carefully and honestly assess their life situation: Is there a balance between nourishing and depleting activities in their lives? Do they have access to regular exercise, non-work interests, personal debriefing? Are they caregivers to everyone or have they shut down and cannot give any more when they go home? Are they relying on alcohol, food, gambling, shopping to de-stress? Helpers must recognise that theirs is highly specialised work and their home lives must reflect this. Developing a Compassion Fatigue Prevention Toolkit for yourself In our workshops, we encourage helpers to design a prevention toolkit that will reflect their own reality and that will integrate their life circumstances and work challenges. This is a very individual process – your self care strategies may not work for your neighbour and vice versa. Here are some key questions to ask yourself to start the process: What would go in that toolkit? What are my warning signs – on a scale of 1 to 10, what is a 4 for me, what is a 9? Schedule a regular check in, every week – how am I doing? What things do I have control over? What things do I not have control over? What stress relief strategies do I enjoy? (taking a bath, sleeping well or going for a massage) What stress reduction strategies work for me? Stress reduction means cutting back on things in our lives that are stressful (switching to part time work, changing jobs, rejigging your caseload, etc.) What stress resiliency strategies can I use? Stress resiliency are relaxation methods that we develop and practice regularly, such as meditation, yoga or breathing exercises.

 

 

 

Running on Empty p.5

What if those strategies aren’t enough? Compassion Fatigue can lead to very serious problems such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. When this happens you deserve to have help. Talk to your physician about options such as counselling. In addition to the strategies described above, there are effective treatment modalities available to helpers with more severe compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue counselling needs to focus on a combination of screening for and treating depression and secondary traumatic stress as well as developing an early detection system to prevent relapse. The focus is also on assessing work/life balance and developing strategies to deal with difficult case loads and repeated exposure to traumatic material. We recommend reading Charles Figley, Beth Stamm and Saakvitne’s books for more information on this. When looking for a counsellor, be sure to ask them if they are familiar with treating compassion fatigue. What if I think that someone close to me is suffering from cf? A helpful strategy is right in the name, have compassion! No one likes to feel blamed, unfortunately one negative effect of the work that has been done in this area is that some helpers have felt blamed for their compassion fatigue. They have received a strong message from their workplace, “if you feel burnt out, it means you are not taking good enough care of yourself”. This can further silence people in pain and ignores a key contributing factor that most individual helpers have no or little control over (caseloads etc). Be kind and supportive and start small, it can be hard to hear that something you have been trying to hide is obvious to others. Talking about the effects of the work can be helpful and a good entry point. Conclusion Developing compassion fatigue is a gradual, cumulative process and so is healing from its effects. A few people can be fully restored by taking a holiday or going for a massage but most of us need to make life changes and put our own health and wellness at the top of the priority list. The Author Françoise Mathieu is a Certified Mental Health Counsellor and Compassion Fatigue Specialist. She works individually with clients in private practice and offers workshops and consultation to agencies on topics related to compassion fatigue, wellness and self care. Contact information: Françoise: whp@cogeco.ca 613 547 3247 www.compasionfatigue.ca Mailing address: 837 Princess Street, suite 300, Kingston, On. K7L 1G8 Sources:

 

 

 

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Figley, C.R. (Ed.). (1995) Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Grunfeld, E. (2000) Cancer care workers in Ontario: prevalence of burnout, job stress and job satisfaction: CMAJ. July 25; 163(2): 166–169. McCann, I.L.; & Pearlman, L.A. (1990). Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3: 131 – 149. Statistics Canada (2005) National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses. Stamm, B.H. (Ed.). (1999). Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators, 2nd Edition. Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press. Recommended Self-Care books for Helpers: Borysenko, J. (2003) Inner peace for busy people: 52 simple strategies for transforming your life. Fanning, P. & Mitchener, H. (2001) The 50 best ways to simplify your life Jeffers, S. (1987) Feel the fear and do it anyway. O’Hanlon, B. (1999) Do one thing different: 10 simple ways to change your life. Posen, D. (2003) Little book of stress relief. Richardson, C. (1998) Take time for your life. SARK, (2004) Making your creative dreams real: a plan for procrastinators, perfectionists, busy people, avoiders, and people who would rather sleep all day. © Workshops for the Helping Professions, 2007

Patty Plaintiff’s Really Bad Week Due Week 7 Worth 280 Points

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In this assignment, you’ll need to decide  whether Patty Plaintiff has any legal claims arising from a series of  unfortunate events.  After reading the scenario, answer the questions  that follow, making sure to fully explain the basis of your decision.

Patty Plaintiff is shopping at her  favorite store, Cash-Mart. She is looking for a new laptop, but she  can’t find one she likes. Then, realizing that she is going to be late  for an appointment, she attempts to leave the store, walking very fast.  However, before she can leave, she is stopped by a security guard who  accuses her of shoplifting. Patty, who has taken nothing, denies any  wrong doing. The officer insists and takes Patty to a small room in the  back of the store. The guard tells Patty that if she attempts to leave  the room she will be arrested and sent to jail. At this point, the guard  leaves the room. Patty is scared and waits in the room for over an hour  until the manager comes in and apologizes and tells Patty that she is  free to go.

About this same time, Gerry Golfer is  hitting golf balls in his backyard. Gerry decides to break out his new  driver and hits a golf ball out of his backyard into the Cash-Mart  parking lot. The golf ball hits Patty Plaintiff on the head and knocks  her unconscious just as she is leaving the store.

Five days later, after recovering from her  injuries, Patty returns to work. Unfortunately, she used her company  e-mail to send her mom a personal email about her injury despite being  aware that company policy prohibits use of company e-mail for personal  communication. Patty’s supervisor, Barry Bossley, discovers Patty’s  violation and Patty is reprimanded. When Patty goes home she uses her  personal computer to post disparaging comments about her boss and her  company on social media. The next day Patty is fired from her job.

In 4-6 pages answer the following questions raised in the scenario:

  1. What are the possible tort claims that Patty can make against  Cash-Mart? Discuss the elements of the claim and how those elements  relate to the facts in the scenario.
  2. Was Gerry negligent when he hit the golf ball that injured Patty?  Discuss the elements of negligence and use facts from the scenario to  support your decision.
  3. Does Patty have a right to privacy when using her company’s e-mail system?
  4. Can Patty be legally fired from her job for making negative comments about her boss and her company on social media?
  5. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
    • Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
    • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment,  the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the  date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
    • References are not required. If you include references /  citations, include a separate references page. Any / all citations must  follow APA format. Reference page(s) are not included in the required  page length.

Click here for the grading rubric.

Analyze The Case Study

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Analyze the case study The Expansion of Human Services in Allegheny County, 1968-95, pages 145 – 164 of the text. Your written assignment analysis essay must address the following questions:

 

• Explain how the case study offered support for or against the: (a) the rational model; (b) the political model; and (c) the policy process model.

• Which elements of the three-stage Cobb and Elder model on agenda setting could you identify in the case study?

• Explain how Kingdon’s “three streams” model of the policy process sheds light on how human service policy developed in Allegheny County.

• Your paper must be written at the graduate level and cited properly according to APA style guidelines.

 

Your narrative should go beyond the obvious and be written at a graduate level. Your paper should be no less than 1,200 words and no more than 2,500 words. Any sources including but not limited to journals, magazine, and/or books must be properly cited using the APA style. Click here to view the scoring rubric for the assignment.

Case Study Analysis Grading Rubric

Criteria

Ratings

Not Achieved Novice Basic Proficient Exceptional

0 1 2 3 4

Provided a brief

background description

of the situation that is

being examined.

Did not provide a brief background description of the situation that is being examined.

Provided a brief summary that did not adequately describe the depth of the situation.

Provided a brief background description of the situation that is being examined.

Provided a brief background description of the situation that is being examined and framed the key issues.

Provided a brief background description of the situation that is being examined and framed the key issues in relation to the participants and stakeholders involved.

Identified possible

contributory factors or

root causes of the

problems.

 

Did not Identify the possible contributory factors or root causes.

Identified some of the possible contributory factors, but missed the most obvious or critical ones.

Identified possible contributory factors or root causes of the problems.

Identified possible contributory factors or root causes of the problems consistent with the key issues previously identified.

Identified many contributory factors or root causes of the problems consistent with the key issues previously identified, and noted the interdependencies between those factors.

Analyzed contributory

factors and determined

lessons learned and best

practices.

 

Did not analyze any contributory factors.

Analyzed some

contributory

factors, but did not

determine lessons

learned or best

practices.

 

Analyzed contributory factors and determined lessons learned and best practices.

Analyzed contributory factors and determined lessons learned and best practices. Considered one or more possible outcomes.

Analyzed a number of

contributory factors. Used an

analytical approach that

considers either risk analysis,

cost-benefit analysis, or SWOT

analysis (strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats).

Offered

recommendations or

practical courses of

action based on the

conclusions of the

analysis.

 

Did not offer any recommendations or practical courses of action based on the conclusions of the analysis.

Offered recommendations that were not practical, or were not in alignment with the factors in the case study.

Offered recommendations or practical courses of action based on the conclusions of the analysis.

Offered

recommendations or

practical courses of

action based on the

conclusions of the

analysis. Considered

possible barriers to

implementation and

ways to overcome

them.

Offered recommendations or

practical courses of action based

on the conclusions of the

analysis. Considered possible

barriers to implementation and

ways to overcome them.

Considered the potential

ramifications associated with

the recommended courses of

action.

Continued below… Continued below… Continued below… Continued below… Continued below… Continued below…

 

 

Submitted a well written product using proper terminology, grammar, and sentence structure.

Submitted a very poor written product that does not meet the minimum standards of a college scholastic work.

Submitted a poorly written product containing numerous grammatical errors, poor syntax, and inappropriate terminology.

Submitted a well written product using proper terminology, grammar, and sentence structure.

Submitted a well written product using proper terminology, grammar, and sentence structure with no, or very few errors.

Submitted an outstanding written product using proper terminology, grammar, and sentence structure with no errors. Avoided very long paragraphs and were logically divided. The syntax and tone of the narrative was consistent throughout the work.

Total Points =

Total Maximum Points = 20

 

 

Conversion Table (from 20 point scale to a 25 point scale)

Rubric Score Percentage Gradebook Score

20 100 50

19 95 48

18 90 45

17 85 43

16 80 40

15 75 38

14 70 35

13 65 33

12 60 30

11 55 28

10 50 25

9 45 23

8 40 20

7 35 18

6 30 15

5 25 13

4 20 10

3 15 8

2 10 5

1 5 1

0 0 0