Images courtesy of Saratoga Historical Museum
Author Adrienne Morris
The Writing Life at Middlemay Farm
About
When not writing novels, you can find me knee-deep in farm muck.
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Author Adrienne Morris 
11 responses to “Do Criminals Look Like Criminals?”
Where did you get these documents, Adrienne? They are incredible!
Luanne
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Hi Luanne,
The Saratoga Historical Museum–thank you for reminding me to give them credit!
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So amazing!
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Most of these don’t look like criminals, though I’ve seen several who could be nothing else. Fodder for a writer’s characterizations they were.
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A few look like caught criminals–sad.
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We always seem to think we can pick them out of a crowd, but far from it!!
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I guess for me I immediately thought they looked like criminals because of the mugshots 🙂 One or two looked scary in a demented way, but the others looked like rather average, unhappy people. I was surprised at some other ages.
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It is all a matter of perception – if you know they are criminals your judge alters your view of them – if you are unaware you view them differently. This is proved time and again when a rapist or murderer is caught and his neighbors / friends are shocked – the usual line “I had no idea, he was so shy & quiet!” A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
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Looks can be deceiving. So many people are surprised when they later find out that folks in their neighborhood are wanted for commission of a violent crime (‘He seemed so quiet and nice.’) Often, evil disguises itself in a pretty package (ever read ‘The Bad Seed’ or ‘East of Eden’?).
I enjoyed looking at the photos above. While one or two of those shown looked quite evil, several looked sad, depressed or confused.
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The devil was a beautiful angel.
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How true! I’d forgotten that!
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