“我爸管不住我，我母亲是个酒鬼，所以是他独自把我们抚养长大的。4岁时我把我们家的房子烧成了灰——我不喜欢我哥哥的毛绒玩具，于是我就点火把它给烧了。之后一年，我在我爸的脸上揍了一拳。五年级时，我把一张桌子扔向了我的老师。12岁时我就离家出走了。我爸把所有的办法都试过了，他带我去看了几位心理医生。他们诊断说我有间歇性暴躁症，所以就给我开了药，但是药物对我仍然没有什么帮助。没有人能够控制我，在我发怒时他们不得不把我绑住。我爸从来没能成功让我明白他讲的道理，因为只要他提高嗓门，我就会暴怒。他也试过奖励我，会说些类似于：‘只要你在学校里表现好，我就会带你去看球赛。’这样的话。他会开车跟着校巴以确保我不会逃课，但我还是会从后门口逃走。我的两个兄弟们从都没闯过祸。只有我，我受到过好多次袭击指控，我总是打架，从没变过。我会觉得自己的头马上要爆炸了，我会眼冒金星，狂暴起来。我爸大约每个月来看我一次，而我们便会谈论这件事，就好像我们现在谈话这样。他总是问我同一个问题：‘还有其他什么我本来能做的事吗？’我告诉他说：‘没有了。能做的一切你都做过了。’”
（黑泽尔顿联邦惩教所，西弗吉尼亚州）

“My dad couldn’t handle me. My mother was an alcoholic so he raised us on his own. I burned our house to the ground when I was four years old.——I didn’t like my brother’s stuffed animal, so I set it on fire. The next year I punched my dad in the face. I threw a desk at my teacher in fifth grade. I ran away when I was twelve. My dad tried everything. He took me to psychologists. They diagnosed me with Intermittent Explosive Disorder, so they put me on medication. But it didn’t help much. Nobody could control me. They’d actually have to hold me down when I went into a rage. Dad could never get a point across because if he raised his voice, I’d explode. He’d try to give me incentives. He’d say things like: ‘If you do good in school, I’ll bring you to a ball game.’ He’d follow the school bus to make sure I didn’t skip, but then I’d just run out the back exit. Neither of my brothers ever got in trouble. It was just me. I’ve gotten multiple assault charges. I fight. That’s what I do. I feel like my head is going to burst and I see stars and I snap. My dad comes to visit about once a month, and we talk things over, just like we’re doing now. And he asks me all the time, ‘What else could I have done?’ I tell him: ‘Nothing. You did everything you could.’”
(Federal Correctional Complex: Hazelton, West Virginia)