I came across an article on the web @ http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti199.pdf or http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:F6y ... =clnk&cd=1
From t r e n d s & i s s u e s
No. 199
The Psychology of Fraud
Grace Duffield and Peter Grabosky
in crime and criminal justice
March 2001
Grace Duffield is a psychologistwith the Australian SecurityIntelligence Organization.
Dr Peter Grabosky is DeputyDirector of the Australian Insituteof Criminology.
The reason I'm posting this is I see personality traits in common with a particular leader on the Mormon church who I won't name. It gives good insight into personalty type and motivational factors common to most con artists.
Because it's rather long I've reduced it to key points.
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Psychological Factors in Fraud
At first glance, a psychological explanation for fraud would appear simple—greed and
dishonesty. Such an explanation is, however, overly simplistic.
Explanations based on financial strain feature in almost every type of fraudulent activity.
Financial strain may also arise from the threat of loss of something currently owned. The threat of loss here is not only of material wealth but also of power,status and pride.
Another aspect of motivation that may apply to some or all types of fraud is ego/power. This can relate to power over people as well as power over situations. In terms of the former, the sensation of power over another individual or individuals seems to be a strong motivating force for some fraud offenders to the point that it becomes an end in itself. As one
confidence man put it: For myself, I love to make people do what I want them to, I love
command. I love to rule people. That’s why I’m a con artist.
(quoted in Blum 1972, p. 46)
In manipulating and making fools of their victims, some fraud perpetrators seem to take a
contemptuous delight in the act itself rather than simply the outcome. As Stotland (1977)
points out: …sometimes individuals’ motivation for crime may have originally been relative
deprivation, greed, threat to continued goal attainment and so forth. However, as they found
themselves successful at this crime, they began to gain some secondary delight in the knowledge that they are fooling the world, that they are showing their superiority to others. (pp. 186–7)
Similar to the sense of superiority over others is the gratification obtained from mastery of a situation. This may be particularly prevalent in more complex, long-term fraud…
It also reflects the professional pride of the confidence artist. The following quotation illustrates the thrill of the chase.
"Half of being a con man is the challenge. When I score, I get more kick out of that than
anything; to score is the biggest kick of my whole life. "(quoted in Blum 1972, p. 44)
Stotland (1977) calls this motivation “ego challenge” (p. 188) and it relates to the sense of mastery and excitement in meeting and overcoming challenges. As he points out, some fraud perpetrators work very hard at their trade, so they are not in it for an “easy buck”.
Another general psychological aspect of fraud is the process of rationalisation which reduces the offender’s inhibition. Such attempts at prospective excuse have been termed “techniques of neutralisation” (Sykes & Matza 1957).
Motivation is what drives the act of fraud, while neutralisation paves the way by nullifying
internal moral objections.
Regardless of the type of fraud, most offenders seem to seek to justify or rationalise their activity. In doing so they will use “vocabularies of adjustment” (Cressey 1953, 1986; Krambia-
Kapardis 2001) that manufacture rationale and extenuating circumstances and remove the
perception of criminality from the act (at least from the point of view of the perpetrator).
Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders
.. narcissistic personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, a need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. Individuals with this disorder believe that they are superior, unique and “chosen”, and they are likely to have inflated views of their own accomplishments and abilities.
They focus on how well they are doing in comparison with others, and this can take the form of an excessive need for attention and admiration.
A sense of entitlement is evident and they expect to be given whatever they want regardless of the imposition it places on others.
They demand unquestioning loyalty and are incredulous or infuriated when it is not forthcoming. They are likely to respond angrily to criticism (DSM-IV Task Force
1994, pp. 658–9).
Perhaps most relevant to fraud offences is the tendency of the narcissistic personality to usurp special privileges and extra resources that they feel they have an entitlement
to, over and above ordinary people.
Due to their ambition, confidence and ruthlessness in dealing with others, the narcissistic personality may be a high achiever in their chosen field of endeavour.
However, it can be argued that the presence of narcissistic personality traits increases the risk of fraud on the part of an individual through the attitudes they manifest, their leadership
style and the environment that they seek out.
The direct person-to-person deception of another individual can involve utter ruthlessness.
Offenders of this type may manifest a number of traits including lack of affection or empathy, lack of remorse and a general lack of conventional conscience. Such individuals are also likely to enjoy acting, as acting skills are advantageous, if not essential, to the deception inherent in face-to-face fraud.
Beyond this, skills in salesmanship and sociability are also helpful to the “con artist”.
One notes that some of the same qualities that facilitate fraud are also integral to successful
commercial activity of a legitimate nature.
What Blum uncovered in his sample is a strong thread of antisocial personality disorder.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, antisocial personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of the rights of, others. This basically refers to a lack of social conscience and conventional morality. These personalities
frequently deceive, exploit and manipulate others in order to achieve personal gain (for
example, money, sex or power). A pattern of impulsivity is often apparent in all aspects of their lives and there is a special attraction to risk-taking, thrill- seeking and gambling. These
individuals show no genuine remorse for their actions. The superficial justifications that they
offer for having hurt others resemble the neutralisations that were discussed earlier. They
blame their victims for being stupid or deserving of their fate, they minimise the harmful
consequences of their actions or they may simply display an arrogant indifference. They are also likely to believe that it is a “dog-eat-dog” world and everyone is out for number one
(DSM-IV Task Force 1994,