The 1976 Psychological Assessment of Ted Bundy

Development of the Violent Mind, Book 3

By: Al Carlisle PhD

Narrated by: Stephen Harmon

In March 1976, Ted Bundy was convicted of the aggravated kidnapping of a young woman near Salt Lake City, Utah. Bundy had not been accused or convicted of any violent crime except this one. No one knew then how many women Bundy had murdered, and many thought him incapable of doing so.

Dr. Al Carlisle was part of the 90-day diagnostic team at the Utah State Prison when Bundy was sent there after the trial. Dr. Carlisle s assignment was specific: Determine to the best of his ability, without being biased by any of the reports previously done, whether Ted Bundy had a violent personality. The judge would use this information in deciding whether Bundy should serve time or be released on probation.

In Violent Mind: The 1976 Psychological Evaluation of Ted Bundy, Dr. Carlisle takes the listener step by step through this previously-unpublished evaluation process, and shows how he concluded that Bundy had the capacity to commit aggravated kidnapping, and perhaps much worse.

Violent Mind contains never-before-seen interviews with Ted Bundy and those who knew him, including a letter Bundy wrote to Dr. Carlisle that has been locked away for more than 40 years.

©2017 Al Carlisle (P)2019 Genius Book Publishing

Extremely Well Done. It holds Your Attention!

A must read for anyone who is interested in Psychology or simply put the study of the human mind. I listened to this audiobook 2xs, it was so interesting to me because it was done on Ted Bundy. I often wonder in today’s day and age could he have been/received help from a child. You don’t hear about serial killers today, that’s why I wonder this answer. Well done Al Carlisle and narrator!

Got a lot out of it.

I think it’s beneficial for people to try to understand the psyches of criminals like Ted Bundy. I’m appreciative of the information, very much so.

Only reason not 5☆s: too short!

Very good but you realize how much you still don't know. it would have to be an entire doubling in length.

Good for what it is

Compared to most nonfiction books about Ted Bundy, this book is a little dry. It is based on a psychological assessment done on Bundy at a court's request. As far as a retelling of what is always an extremely dry and sometimes tedious writing form, this isn't bad. Readers who are very versed on Ted Bundy will probably want to listen to this for completeness, but there were only a few unknown details for me. One is that something happened to Bundy that changed his personality and social life radically after middle school, but before high school. The author suggests that it was learning that he was adopted, which would be earthshaking for anyone who had lived to that point believing that he had one back story and then discovered that it wasn't true. This is absolute speculation on my part, but I lean towards the idea that it wasn't an event but rather a few events. The transformation was so complete that I almost wonder if Ted hadn't killed (although one would think that would be discussed somewhere) or something involving sexuality that he found profoundly disturbing happened. A child simply doesn't go from being sociable, dating girls, and having multiple friends to being totally alone when not at school and having no interaction with females. Whether it was something that happened to him or something he did, it was also earthshaking. This period of time is also when boys begin to experience the flow of hormones that can drastically alter their personality expression as well- many teachers say today that the summer between 7th and 8th grade is when this happens, but in those days it likely happened a bit later- although that's absolutely not the case for all children, who can mature earlier or later depending on environmental and genetic factors.

Something surprised me about how I viewed Bundy while listening to this book, which is that I found myself feeling a measure of sympathy for him - at least in childhood. It seems like he was largely ignored throughout his life (at least after his mother moved away from his grandparents). He was an unwanted illegitimate child at a time when this was truly stigmatizing and it seems like his mother did her duty by him and was mostly kind to him but for the most part everyone just wanted him to be small and quiet. "An unfortunate situation, but we have to make the best of it" kind of attitude seemed to follow him. It was said several times that Ted was "just there". A good boy, but not interested or interesting in any way. After his mother married and began having children with her husband, Ted was just set aside and left to fend for himself emotionally as long as he didn't cause any trouble. He had no emotional relationship with his stepfather and no real attachment to his mother, either. This, to me, sounds like emotional neglect, which can be as brutal as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, although in a different way. This kind of neglect makes a child feel invisible, as if they are not even worth noticing. Some parents go through the motions of parenting and don't strike or criticize their kids, feeding and clothing them appropriately but that's it. These children are treated as well as a family pet owned by distant but not cruel people. All their needs are met except for their emotional ones, which leaves them with a desperate need to be seen. People who haven't been through this never seem to experience this to the same depth or profound intensity that children who were enotionally neglected do. As adults they're almost driven to scream to the world that they exist. In Bundy's case, it seems like he took the path of demanding absolute attention from a female. It's impossible, one would think, to have one's attention on anything else at all when one is being raped, tortured, and murdered. This doesn't in any way excuse the egregious behavior and actions of this serial killer or anyone who has experienced emotional neglect and goes on to violate the law in ways that hurt others. It was just something that really struck me and it may be why he never seemed to look the same in any pictures- he had no solid identity beneath all his seeming charm and projected confidence.

I don't for a moment believe that Bundy was open or honest in his testing or interviews and the author makes this clear. It's interesting to see how he tells on himself without being aware of it, though.

The narration of this book is, like the text, a little dry. The most jarring thing I found about it is its production quality (it's obviously an older recording) - there are odd pauses or gaps that are spots where the recording was edited, and badly. Sometimes it's apparent when the narrator took a break and began recording again. A few times I could hear when he moved further away from or closer to the microphone. It's nostalgic for me - we certainly didn't have sophisticated expectations back then.

In closing I wonder if Bundy lived today, if he would be as successful as a serial killer or as big of a deal as he was in the late 60s and 70s. We are a less trustful society and he would have to find a different way to get his victims. While a few still hitchhike, it's inconceivable that no matter how attractive he is that hitchhikers would be a primary way of getting hold of victims. We are more jaded now, less trusting, and entirely less susceptible to the kinds of ploys Bundy used. This is in large part to Bundy himself and others like him. In this way, he not only brutally raped and killed his victims, he helped to kill the beautiful joy and hopefulness of that era.

Something about this complex guy...

Something about this guy and his life and crime keeps me trying to figure him out. He's so complex. He was such a pathological liar that even after convicted and sent to prison experts still weren't sure he was telling the truth about what his background really was that made him turn out the way he did. Anne Rule worked with him at a rape line crises center, imaginge that, and she said he lied till the day he was put to death.

Great content. Poor performance

I just loved the content. Very thought provoking and intense. The performance suffers and is just annoying. The male reader uses a fake female voice for female parts and i just picture a man talking like a women. They should have used a woman for the female parts.

loved this

this is just fascinating as heck, and the author pretty much just kept to the fact.

Unexpectedly brilliant

So glad o chose this book. It gave a deeper understanding of Bundy’s persona and in the end some clarity of how serial killers develop their dark side. Highly recommended

Very well written!

One of my favorite Ted Bundy reads so far! I recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to learn more about him.

I am a True Crime student of sorts.

Since the advent of mass media and the availability of the myriad of channel selections, particularly true crime stations, that focus on specific serial killers, in this case Ted Bundy; I enjoy learning about various methods of Law Enforcement and the Criminal Justice System.
This book allowed me to learn a little about the 'why" serial murderers perpetrate these horrific crimes.This book allowed me to delve deeper into the case of Ted Bundy. I am glad I listened to it. The book allowed me to follow the case of Bundy, from Al Carlisle's expert evaluation and insight into one of the most prolific murder cases in history. I most definitely recommend this book to all true crime junkies, specifically the cases of Ted Bundy.