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The Criminal Mind

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The Criminal Mind

By: Dr Duncan Harding
Narrated by: Dr Duncan Harding
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

WHAT MAKES A MURDERER? Unraveling the Dark Psychology Behind Britain’s Most Notorious Killers From Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr Duncan Harding

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 2025
A young girl burns down the family home
A man doesn’t remember killing his wife

A teenager’s visions and voices lead to murder

One question binds these and many others from the casebook of Britain’s leading forensic psychiatrist: Why? What drives a person to commit seemingly inexplicable crimes?

Dr Duncan Harding is the person the police and the courts turn to for answers – to establish a defendant’s mental state and motivation: their fitness to stand trial.

It is a career that has brought him face to face with psychopaths, taken him to the limits of human compassion and to the darkest corners of his own troubled past.

This then is a journey deep into the criminal mind . . .

'Grips you from the start like a bestselling novel then takes you on an extraordinary journey … Riveting’ JOHN HUMPHRYS

'Incisive, informative and occasionally shocking, The Criminal Mind is an engrossing book’ DR RICHARD SHEPHERD, bestselling author of Unnatural Causes

'A penetrating insight into the darkest corners of the human mind. The most moving, surprising and compelling book you’ll read this year’ M.J. ARLIDGE, bestselling author of Eeny Meeny

©2024 Duncan Harding (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Law Murder Social Sciences True Crime Crime Exciting Inspiring Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

A penetrating insight into the darkest corners of the human mind. The most moving, surprising and compelling book you’ll read this year (M.J. ARLIDGE, AUTHOR OF EENY MEENY)
Grips you from the start like a bestselling novel then takes you on an extraordinary journey that reveals, based on the author’s own clinical experience, why some of us lead lives of love and some of hate. Riveting (JOHN HUMPHRYS)
A fantastic read … a very accessible window into the darker recesses of human behaviour … hard to put down (JUDGE DAVID WILLIAMS)
Not just another forensic psychiatrist’s casebook, but a moving account of how Duncan Harding became forensic psychiatrist (KEITH RIX, PROFESSOR IN FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY)
All stars
Most relevant  
Absolutely enthralling. Very well balanced and highly knowledgeable explanations of the workings of the minds children. Told in an empathetic and kind manner. I could listen to Dr Harding all day.

Enthralling well balanced and knowledgeable

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Fascinating insight into Dr Harding’s professional world and the route his life took, before arriving there. Deftly told, great reading performance - very easy to listen to, and some of it undoubtedly will stay with you afterwards.

Pause for thought on the outer edges of childhood mental illness

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Amazing touching story beautifully told, recommend to anyone. The Author makes you think, and takes you through his journey to the most dark chambers of human mind.

Everyone should read

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I really enjoyed the voice of the author who tells his story and elaborated on cases very well and naturally. It's made me want to listen again!

Very interesting book

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A personal and touching journey through adverse childhood experiences, careers in science research and medicine, child psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. Provides a glimpse into the world of children who commit serious crimes, but never forgets they are children. Unusually, this is read by the author and he does a fantastic job.

Brilliantly written and read

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This book is written by a learned forensic psychiatrist who stands up in courtrooms and serves as an expert witness in the worst kind of trials that hit the newspapers. Dr Harding, with a clarity and a kindness that I definitely wasn’t expecting, shares not only a lot about his comprehensive understanding of the criminal mind but also much of his own mind and his own personal journey.

The fact that this erudite doctor is prepared to be so disarmingly open is not only fascinating and refreshing but extremely unusual. The virtue of cognizant transparency is perhaps one of the most important messages in the book. What I take from it is that the more capable we are of looking at ourselves with honesty, insight and compassion the more able we are to empathise with others and the less likely we will be to unhinge…. in all sorts of ways from minor to unreachable.

Dr Harding unfashionably calls out the current preference of explaining away culpability by blaming everything on our backstories.
But while most of us would find it unacceptable to clump, metaphorically or literally, someone who got in our way over the head with a brick others bypass this reticence. Dr Harding’s job is to work out how much rational control an individual has over their actions. But instead of enclosing the criminal mind in an isolated box, Dr Harding calls us to question all forms of socially acceptable unkind and inappropriate behaviour; the scorn which masquerades as manners in a barrister, the sadism as legal protocol in a police officer, the lack of moral fortitude in the ever forgiving parent, the work load in the national health service which can barely spare time to give emotional support to a patient even if their injury is emotionally generated.
Dr Harding offers many thought provoking examples of our pernicious, hidden in full view collective social culpability.

This is a brilliant, most unsettling book which like bitter medicine has the power to heal.

Know thyself!

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If you enjoy these types of books you'll love this one. Pace is good, narration is good and the stories are just so interesting. I'm a social worker myself with an interesting in child psychology, listened in the car to and from visits!

Brilliant!

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the narration was perfect and the stories were gripping! I finished it very quickly, would love more books from dr harding

loved it

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This was narrated with huge passion by the person who actually lived through this book. Twas very thought provoking and I shall certainly look at children not doing the right thing in a more open minded and understanding way in future.

Outstanding

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Very enjoyable insight into the mind! Thought provoking, very interesting. Couldn't stop listening. Would definitely recommend

Thought provoking, very interesting. Couldn't stop listening

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