from
getting adequately close to Dr. Quinlan and, indeed,
any other individual with whom he comes in contact.
Hence, he resents his father a great deal. Hence, his
capacity for normal relations with other individuals is
diminished. Hence, he resents feeling powerless and not
being able to control his own life. Hence, when Michael
wants to act out in protest of his figurative lack of
control in life, he does so by becoming, quite
literally, out of control.
We know from subsequent incidents that Michael,
especially while under the influence of drugs and
alcohol, will go to reckless and self-destructive
lengths. Case in point number one is Michael's arrest
in Windham, New York, on March 5, 1978. From a Thomas
Sheridan memo on the incident: Through the
influence of heavy drinking or smoking pot or a
combination of both, Michael panicked and became
involved in a drunken driving and reckless driving
incident... On that occasion, he was driving--without
a license--the Skakel family jeep station wagon and
he was accompanied by a young woman named Debbie
Diehl, who is approximately 21 years of age. She and
her family have been friends of the Skakel's
[Skakels'] at Windham for several
years and she has the reputation of being a little
bit of a swinger. In any event, after a wild chase by
the town police, Michael ended up crashing the car
into a telephone pole. The car is practically a total
wreck. Michael and his passenger escaped
unscathed.
Dr. Quinlan says Michael's impulse
control is "marginally adequate." I say, it is even
less so.
Sheridan continues: The facts relating to the
pleading and disposition of those charges in Windham
are not pertinent to this memo. Suffice it to say
that an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal has
been obtained upon the condition that Michael attend
the Elan school at Poland Springs in Maine for at
least six months. What should be noted, however, is
the fact that in my interviewing of Michael on that
occasion, he was obviously a disturbed person and
hooked on either booze or pot. He showed little or no
remorse for having nearly killed the companion in his
car and when confronted with the potential problem of
a subsequent conviction for drunken driving, his only
comment was, "Next time I won't get
caught."
So once again, after Michael acts out by wreaking
havoc, the influence of his father manages the
situation by imposing order (and damage control) from
above. Let's not kid ourselves. Just about any other
kid racing away from police, while drunk, and
crashing into public property, would have gotten far
worse than an adjournment in contemplation of
dismissal. Dismiss those charges? Simply
incredible-simply Skakel. Michael, of course, must
then bend to the consequences of how someone else is
handling his actions--once again reaffirming his
mindset of helpless dependency. In any event,
approximately a week later, Michael was in effect
taken into custody (after a wild chase) by the staff
from Elan and he is a resident there to this
day. Simply put, all the wild chases in the
world will not pull this young man away from his
arrested state of development.
Dr. Quinlan adds: Under conditions of
increasing depression or with an increase in
overt
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