Joel Rifkin Case Analysis | Mental Health & Personality 

"The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth" - African proverb.

That bullying from his peers is heartbreaking. It has to stop.

A strange coincidence with the Seinfeld episode is that, when Elaine was trying to convince her boyfriend to change his name, she was looking through names of professional athletes, and one of her suggestions was O.J. This of course was several months before the Nicole Brown Simpson murder.

I love waking up in the morning to murder, mayhem, and a wry sense of humor. Thank you.

I went to a catholic school, and I cannot recall one incident of bullying. A friend tells me she can remember the principal Sister sitting us down on a day someone was absent, because we were "verging" on bullying the absent girl, and told us to knock it the hell off, and how would we feel. The nuns couldn't make us connect with all the other kids, but they sure stopped us from obviously excluding, let alone taunting, etc.

Hearing of his bullying and struggles in his youth broke my heart.

Always amazing to me how teachers are either oblivious or choose to not see when a student is being bullied.

That was some Carrie-level bullying.

Very thorough and logical discussion. I’d like to hear more about protective narcissism. Bullying indirectly led to the loss of 17 lives. We need to be kinder to each other.

The yearbook club story is so devastating... obviously what Rifkin did was unforgivable and he made the active choice to do that but I'm pretty upset by his childhood. No kid deserves that.

I've always been interested in the psychology of serial killers. Thanks for this video!

Joel Rifkin seems to have willed himself into being a serial killer. I've heard him speak and thats always the impression I got. Thank you for this dissection, Dr Grande. 🌹👍

Grim childhood- bullying really is an issue, and it seems that it's even more so in the US- all those high school shooters...

I really wish we would take bullying far more seriously and prosecute such acts where appropriate and place both parties into therapy immediately to address the damage it does and to rehabilitate the offender. Nearly always the bullies get rewarded for their behavior while the victims spend a lifetime living with the consequences of a shattered sense of self, complex PTSD, and associated personality disorders or traits and health consequences. I spent my entire adolescence bullied incessantly dozens of times per day for 6 years uninterrupted, bullied by most of the school and a number of teachers simply for being seen as “different” and an “outsider” when I moved to a rural school at age 12 and was rejected after just a few months (magnified by the fact that the move itself was traumatic). The abuse completely destroyed my physical health by age 18 leaving me permanently disabled and even 36 years in I have never gotten past the damage done during those six years even at age 48 (myriad chronic health issues, disturbed sleep, severe chronic pain, disability, complex PTSD, strong Avoidant traits bordering on AvPD, and virtually no close friendships or relationships in all the years since due to an inability to trust anyone). We really need to recognize bullying, especially repeated and ongoing bullying, for the crime it truly is as it is just another form of child abuse. It really should not surprise us when abuse like described in this video leads some to commit vicious crimes or launch a school massacre aimed at those who often spent years persecuting a victim to their breaking point and beyond as I do not think most people can even comprehend the amount of rage a teen can bottle up inside due to years of unending abuse by so many for so many years with no escape in sight. Those who perpetrated the childhood abuse that contributed to the victim’s descent into madness really ought to have to share in the criminal consequences for the crimes their own abusive acts ultimately set into motion. The saddest part really is that his victims had nothing whatsoever to do with his original victimization and that had the abuse not been perpetrated to begin with he may very well have grown to be a productive and responsible member of society instead of a mass murderer looking for his own innocent victims to abuse.

I never thought I would listen to a video on a serial murderer and feel this awful for him. That bullying he endured in school was horrible.

Living in a society where you are unsure if trusting more a police officer or a serial killer’s word scares me a bit.

I saw Joel Rifkin bullied in high school. I remember seeing members of the Cross Country Team harassing him.

LMFAO. I lost it when he said eligible for parole in 2197. :D

I am working towards my MS in Forensic Psych, I have cited several of these videos by Dr Grande, they are very well done and have actual science and facts, not just some A+E style true crime hype that just aims to be gratuitious. Thanks for the video and your continued work in this genre, you are helping a lot of people with these videos.

Thank you for your thorough analysis of Rifkin. Very interesting case. His super-casual demeanor while recounting his horrific crimes is disturbing. Thanks again Dr. Grande!

Could you do one on Richard Simmons and the psychology of him and his disappearance?

It's so sad. You have to wonder if he'd had at least one friend, maybe he would have never done this. Bullying has been a problem for a very long time. It appears to make some kids stronger but it goes very badly for others.

Dr. Todd is so entertaining I bought a new brand of popcorn. He is also so therapeutic I managed to turn a spotlight on some of my local bullies. I love to garden and clean my yard so now I can much better. I’ve made a broader range of people aware of how abused women who live close by me are also. Abusers do it a little at a time - more and more each day. Like parasites grow.

I always become torn at whether or not children reject people like him because they sense that he was messed up OR if the rejection from peers created the problem.

1:42 minutes in to a 20 minute video of a serial killer "[about his first murder] he promised himself that he would never kill again" *cue curb your enthusiasm theme* great video as always, stay safe and take care

Great info as usual Dr. Grande. Joel Rifkin was a brutal killer but for some reason, I've always felt bad for him.

I think the idea that a personality disorder can’t show up later in life to be out of line with reality. Trauma can happen at any time in a person’s life, and can have a profound effect on behaviour and in turn, personality. Neurplasticity is not limited to children.

We love you Dr Grande, show keeps getting better, I truly appreciate you and have learned and applied things you've taught, I am so GRATEFUL!

Our class was big enough (about 500) to really not know anyone besides your own circle of friends. I was a shy kid, had family issues, but had creative outlets and a solid neighborhood of friends to fall back on. If he wanted help, we actually had a stellar human being as a social worker in EMHS at the time, she went above and beyond if you reached out to her. Not everyone does that, though. I stayed in touch with Joyce for years, but have to wonder what she thought of all this when it happened. I know she is an artist in the Hamptons now, so maybe that says it all!!

Driving a truck without a front license plate. Reminds me of my insurance man's advice to his highschool kids. If you are going to break one law don't break two.

Good morning! Im so glad to start my morning with you Dr!! Thats from the heart.

Can you please analyze James Holmes? His psychology is incredibly abnormal

Joel Rifkin :: Seinfeld connection most likely because of the location - New York and the time frame - early 90s.

Comment 67: All I can do is congratulate Dr.Grande on the insight, the need for supervision in any life and the need for accountability, which would have prevented rumination on the topic of evil. As a late comment on yesterday’s video on Mechele, the guys needed to have remembered that their biggest error was to share a love interest. Great analysis Dr. Grande. Thankyou 😀😄👍

Many many thanks for excellent analysis and demonstration of symptoms off abstract definitions.

Been waiting for you to do Rifkin for a while! Thanks!

I'm tired of how there's absolutely no accountability for bullying, despite the fact we see so many devastating affects (shootings, suicides, criminal behavior, ect). The people responsible for the bullying just go on about their lives while their victims start to take it out on others.

For some reason, much like Dahmer, Rifkin seems to be a likeable guy. This is only a facade but even someone who can kill countless times may have an appealing presence to them, which is scary and fascinating.

"I am not diagnosing anybody - just speculating".👍👍👍

Thank you once again . That is alot of fine details

It's actually funny to me, Todd, that you brought up the whole 'having the same name as a serial killer' thing because I can remember that at a previous office job I had before going back to college, we had a partnership with a company and my main source of contact was with one Richard Ramirez. When I first saw his email and the signature underneath, I remember looking around to my coworkers who also got it and said something like "Dude, can you believe this is his name?". Turns out they don't study crime history, so the whole thing wasn't appreciated enough. This video fixed that! Good stuff man!

Excellent analysis! Thank you! The length of Dr. Grande's videos is always perfect for my 20-minute commute, too!

Always enjoy your videos. Watching from Nairobi. Very informative. Keep up the good work Dr. Grande.

Love you dr grande. And your sense of humor is really good. And your analysis is spot on.

"A very unusual choice of weapon for this first murder" :)

Great channel, i enjoy your videos. They make quarantine a little bit easier. Thank you for that! 😳👍

I just feel bad for other people named Joel Rifkin, especially if their names are called over a PA system at a sporting event.

another facinating video, doctor...if you ever run out of personality disorders, and the people that have them, you could head down to the comment sections and make a part 2 for some vids by answering our questions, and maybe adding any info you had previously cut for time...just a thought. people are a lot more likely to engage with the content when the channel-face engages back.

Very interesting. Thank you.

I was fat, ginger and had glasses in school and I didn't even go through as harsh a level of cruelty from other students. Obviously it's no excuse but I feel bad for young rifkin 😔

Wow, I've been watching things on Rifkin all day yesterday, then I wake up to this. Dr. Grande, are you a mind reader? Haha thanks again for this absolutely awesome content. You rock!

I wonder how Rifkin would have turned out without the dyslexia, physical dysfunction, and non-stop bullying. Thank you for your take, Dr. Grande.

What is interesting about Joel Rifkin that is rarely brought up is the fact that he worked as a landscaper, he worked as a landscaper for a Mr. William Casey and his wife Sophia. William Casey was the director of the CIA from 1981-1987.

I love your voice and wisdom.

Wow...I’d almost forgotten bout this guy! Awesome video on Rifkin👍🏼 thanx..I enjoy all ur videos I’ve watched👏🏼

Uh boy!! This is hitting close to home for me as he murdered my friend (we became friends at 13) Mary Ellen DeLuca. I just spoke to her 2 weeks before(she was working in a Pizzeria). You can imagine my surprise when on the front page of the very newspaper I was going to buy with my morning coffee and newspaper--her photo was right there on the front page. What's amazing is..noone ever knew of her double life. I'm going to refrain from commenting any further. Thank you for your insight Dr. Grande.

I could not finish listening to this, the bullying is heartbreaking, no child should be exposed to this.....adults in positions of authority and allow this to go on in schools should all be made accountable as to why they allow this to go on every day in thousands of schools, disgusting lack of responsibility to vulnerable children!

Dr., you delivered those lines about changing your name as well as a standup comic. was cracking up

Concise, expert analysis. Enjoyed it.

I remember that Seinfeld episode 😂👍

I loved your analysis. Narcistic traces. Thank you.

Another great video! 🙌👏👏👏

I thought of "Elaine" as soon as i saw the title! 😄

"Do I need a lawyer"? Yeah,... probably seventeen 😨 😁. Thank you Dr. Grande 😃🇳🇱

You should one on Epstein & Weinstein...

Great video thank you

I think this is a very solid course for your channel, Dr. Grande. These profiles are definitely the most in depth and thoughtful of any I've seen of these major criminals.

How did RU-vid know to recommend this video right after I got done watching the Seinfeld episode where Elaine was dating a man named Joel Rifkin? I didn't even watch the ep on RU-vid

Dr. Grande please do a bit on the psychology of the elites in general & the ones who come from that background who turn out pretty emotionally well balanced or turn out sociopathic, psychotic or neurotic It's truly a fascinating subject. I'm most interested in the juxtaposition of the the lower classes seemingly becoming a bit more aware & empathetic in most social structures versus the contempt of the poor & general disdain of humanity within the upper echelons as compared to times past. The disparity send to be heightened these days because of internet social media. I realize it's not a hard and fast rule, & case studies are found on both ends of the spectrum. (The Johnson & Johnson family comes to mind, Royal families, etc... It's interesting nonetheless.

Jesus, it’s frightening how literally everyone is capable of murder, it’s such a weird thing, why on earth would someone WANT to take a life? What joy could you possibly get from it?

John Wayne Gacy went to his own lawyer and told him about the bodies under his house and then he said he had to get back to work. I do not see a Dr. Grande John Wayne Gacy video. I would be curious to see that.

Please do a case analysis on Ian Watkins (The absolute monster from Lost Prophets). I'd love to hear some insight from you on this horrible creature.

Would it be possible for you to do a video like this on guys from the Wild West? Say doc holiday, Jesse James, billy the kid, wild bill, etc.

Hi Dr Grande .. can you please do an episode comparing the personality and mental factors between seriel killers who kill adults and the ones they kill children.

Elaine: "Little Stewart Rifkin wants to go shopping with his mommy!" 😆

I can't help but feel bad for Joel Rifkin. I know he turned out to be a monster but so were the kids he went to school with. Every single one of them had a hand in making him who he was

hi dr. grande! i love your videos so much! i was wondering if you’ve ever seen or heard of the show hannibal? (the one with mads mikkelsen) if so i’d love your opinion on it. i think it’s such an interesting show, it gives a very interesting perspective on psychopathy and even sexuality. i’d love to see you make a video about that show (only if you’ve seen it and want to of course) or just hannibal’s character in general (the silence of the lambs etc) if not that’s completely fine, just a suggestion and figured i’d ask. thanks for the frequent uploads! you’re the best.

“203 years to life” caught me off guard 🤣

They specifically used the name Joel Rifkin because Sienfeld show was in NewYork city.

Both Ted Bundy and Andreas Baader were also apprehended at traffic stops.

I have a question, Dr Grande. It's my understanding that Joel Rifkin would later on, after he was apprehended, express remorse for the killings. Do you think he was sincere about that? Or possibly a better question would be do you think he is capable of feeling remorse.

It so interesting how much pop culture influences us. My first thought when I saw your video was oh Elaines BF lol. I really didn’t know much about the info surrounding his crimes though and that was eye opening. Great video and made me laugh

It’s crazy to hear what was going on when I was living in my teenager bubble from ‘89 (14 years old) - ‘93 (18 & the year I graduated from H.S.).

Ugh....you wonder if he wasn't bullied as a child if he would of taken a different path in life? How many lives could of been saved had his bullying and isolation been addressed.

Come to think of it, a lot of serial killers seem to get caught due to traffic violations. I’ll try and remember that next time I get pulled over. 😂

Very interesting.

WHY weren’t the parents more involved in his life? Why don’t parents help their kids through bullying issues, take them out of that school or just spend more time with their kids at home. If their son is being bullied, why didn’t they spend time with him instead of him being alone in his room all the time??? I get so mad at parents....So sad!!!

Good analysis. Im particularly glad about a detail on the role of bullying. Its a preventable problem to a lagèe degree.. parents get involved with school and neighborhood Anti bullying program today.......but not enough. I wasbullied much as a child it makes you isolayed. When people try and be your friend the bullies come after them. The stretch of beach where i grew up was unsupervised and groups of 6-10 years olds would yang out and fights would start. The kode would stand around and just watching. It was always some bigger kode nearing on a smaller one. Good to menyion Joel Rifkinsufferedfrom depression. Father than mere therapy and Anti depressants Joel decided to actually do something. So he stated a charity to get women out of prostitution. Him being the head of it was of course an issue. But Joel claimed he felt better about himself for the endeavor. Thats important for psychiatry. Creating karma where youve errored. It does effect the mind

Great channel

My heart breaks for people like Rifkin. There's no justification for what he did, but the poor guy never had a chance to have a normal life.

Great video. Something I would love for you to talk about, is random untrained people offering counselling on social media platforms during the coronavirus. There’s people out there trying to be heroes but instead of sending people to a therapist they offer therapy based on their experience of living with a person who has mental illness.

Would love to see you do a video analyzing pearl Fernandez!!!

Ok, this was a much better episode than your episode on Long Island Serial Killer. If I remember correctly, Rifkin went on to fantasize when he was in his early teens. From your video one would get a picture that this fantasizing started when he was in high school... Rifkin was diagnosed with the schizoid personality disorder and I believe that this was the correct one for him...

Hi Dr. Grande! Would you please cover the Pamela Smart case? The case that started my true crime addiction. Why do you think she still won't admit to any crime after 30 years in prison? Thank you for taking the time to do these great videos!! I love your channel🤗

Hi Dr. Grande. Can you please do an analysis of Marcus Wesson?

It scares me how much similarities some of the people I interact with have with serial killers, based on interviews with those serial killers I see on RU-vid.

interesting video thank you. there are two interesting serial killer-like parallels: like Son of Sam he was adopted and like Rodney Alcala, he also appeared on TV in a Seinfeld episode.

It's just now occurring to me the usefulness of Dr Grande's videos to perhaps an author creating characters

The police were like “Lawyer? I thought he asked for a beating.”

Bundy and Berkowitz were also caught by traffic violations.