“Definitely SPOOKY”: Dahmer’s MCMI Questionaire

Jeffrey Dahmer first met clinical psychologist Dr. Evelyn Rosen in the Spring of 1987 – after a charge of Disorderly Conduct landed him in her office.

Dahmer had been caught with his pants around his thighs on the bank of the Kinnickinnic River the year before. The boys who reported him told police he’d been masturbating, although Dahmer denied this, claiming he had “needed to go” after drinking and had no idea he was being watched.

“He did not view his exhibitionistic behaviour as inherently wrong or bad,” noted caseworker Phyllis Carson. “He related that these acts were “uncontrolled” without further elaborating on this concept, [and that he] first must have a “few beers” before [he] behaves¹ in impulsive behaviour.”² Carson also noted Dahmer’s “introversive behaviour, social isolation, and poor judgement and functioning.“

Initially charged with Lewd and Lascivious Behaviour and Indecent Exposure, the charge against Dahmer was reduced, and he was sentenced to a year’s probation under the condition that he undergo psychological counselling for sexual deviance and impulse control.

Though his year-long sessions with Dr. Rosen – which coincided with the murder of his second victim, Steve Tuomi – were marked by his refusal to open up, his habit of turning his back to her, and Rosen’s informal assessment that he was “definitely spooky³“, Dahmer was initially asked to complete the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and indicate whether he found each self-descriptive statement true or false.

How truthfully Dahmer marked certain statements is debatable, but the overall results reflected his stubborn recalcitrance (“I always follow my own ideas rather than do what others expect of me“, “I’ll make a sharp and critical remark to someone if they deserve it“), internal isolation and inner turmoil (“A long time ago, I decided it’s best to have little to do with people“, “I keep having strange thoughts that I wish I could get rid of“), familial strife (“There have been periods when my drinking habits caused problems within my family“, “My parents always disagreed with eachother”), and self-servingness (“I don’t blame anyone who takes advantage of someone who deserves it“, “I have always “tested” people to find out how much they can be trusted“).

While some of these answers appear in Brian Masters’ ‘The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer’ – and a copy more recently fell onto the oddities market – the full questionaire can be found below. Circled answers are those which caught Rosen’s attention – although, as Masters’ noted, “there is no evidence that anyone questioned Dahmer closely about these.. Since he was hugely uncooperative, it may well be that opportunities for searching enquiry did not arise.“

^{🔎 Click to zoom / download}

Sources: Official case documents, The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer by Brian Masters (1993)

Footnotes:

1. (sic.) ↩︎
2. This assessment was echoed by Dr. Rosen, who later wrote: “Jeff is not psychotic, but not much is needed to push him, and alcohol serves this purpose.” ↩︎
3. Rosen’s handwritten notes capitalise ‘SPOOKY’ and sign it with an exclamation point. She also belived Dahmer was “a Schizoid Personality Disorder who may show marked paranoid tendencies.” ↩︎