Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, Vol 10(3), Sep 2023, 127-150; doi:10.1037/tam0000197
Charles Manson gained notoriety and infamy for orchestrating the “Tate–LaBianca” murders of seven individuals in August 1969. In 1971, he received the death penalty for his involvement in these killings. The death penalty was invalidated in 1972 by the U.S. Supreme Court. He served out his life sentence until his death in November 2017 in the California Department of Corrections at the age of 83. During the course of his confinement, Manson was evaluated many times by psychiatrists and psychologists. His diagnoses ranged from various personality disorders to schizophrenia, undifferentiated type. In August 1997, Manson was transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison to serve a Secure Housing Unit (SHU) term for a serious rule infraction. A comprehensive psychological evaluation was conducted there using the following instruments: the Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised (WAIS-R) Similarities and Vocabulary subtests, the Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence, Version 2 (TONI-2), the Wide Range Achievement Test–Revised (WRAT-R) Reading subtest, and the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R). This 1997 evaluation and related test results only became publicly available after Manson’s death in 2017. Therefore, this study contains the first publication of psychological test data from Charles Manson. Noted assessment professionals recently rescored and interpreted the MMPI-2 and Rorschach (i.e., R-PAS). The results are presented and discussed in the context of his personality, noted psychopathology, the question of psychosis, and the threat of current extremist ideology referred to as “accelerationism.” (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)