In the case study, Waylon Smithers is becoming increasing concerned with the behaviours of his employer Mr Burns. Waylon Smithers explains how Mr Burns is becoming “too difficult for him to handle” and suspects that Mr Burns may suffer from a personality disorder. Burns is described as a “heartless, greedy and exceptionally ugly” that makes “Ebeneezer Scrooge seem downright lovely.” The case study explains how at a young age, Burns was sent to live with his Grandfather, “a twisted and heartless billionaire” and suggests that this may have had a long lasting impact on the behaviour of Mr Burns.
Evidence from the case study suggests that Waylon Smithers is correct in thinking that Mr Burns may have a personality disorder, more specifically; it appears that Mr. Burns’ is suffering from psychopathy. Psychopathy is an antisocial personality disorder, previously known as both a psychopathic and sociopathic personality disorder. This disorder is more frequently diagnosed in males than it is in females. Buss (1966) described psychopathy as “a personality disorder in which there is no capacity for love or true friendship; a lack of insight, guilt or shame; an inability to control impulses; unreliability in fulfilling obligations; pathological lying; thrill seeking; disregard for the conventions we hold in society and antisocial behaviour” (as cited in Patrick, 2005). Burns is described as a self-interested individual who has no regard for the welfare of others; he has an
“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior
The first main indicator that someone is a sociopath is that the person is often unable to control their anger and their expressions of annoyance, and they react to accusations with a dangerous attitude. Gene displays this unique lack of self control when visiting Leper in Vermont. Leper accuses Gene of crippling Finny and the conversation ends with this, Leper: “Like when you crippled him for life”[pg 145]. “I shoved my foot against the rung of his chair and kicked. Leper went over in his chair and collapsed against the floor”[pg 145]. Although Gene has repeatedly announced he jounced the limb on purpose, he gets vicious and kicks Leper and his chair over after Leper implicates that he did it. On another incidence Gene physically attacks the captain of the rowing club after a small argument. This exactly matches the psychological profile of a sociopaths response to accusatory tone or authoritative display. The rejection of guilt is also in line with another symptom of a sociopath, not feeling remorse after doing something bad.
However, more recently, a study led by King’s College London has claimed that there are differences between the brains of psychopaths and other criminal offenders diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Nigel Blackwood who led the research is quoted as saying “We describe those without psychopathy as 'hot-headed' and those with psychopathy as ‘cold-hearted’.” This statement shows a clear distinction between what should be interpreted as a lack of self-control and ability to repress impulses and what should be diagnosed as psychopathy. The study took MRI scans of 66 men, two thirds of which were offenders who had been diagnosed with antisocial personality whilst the other third were non-offenders considered to not have any personality disorders. Of the 44 offenders, 17 met the diagnosis criteria for psychopathy (ASPD+P) assessed by the guidelines stated in the DSM-IV. Researchers saw that the members of the study diagnosed as psychopaths had notably less grey matter in areas associated with moral behaviour and understanding other peoples’
When we look at how fragile each one of our lives are, we need to take a minute and realize the different characteristics that form us into who we are today. Studies have shown that there are characteristics within the behavior of an individual that can be linked to the specific behaviors demonstrated by an offender that would classify them as a psychopath. Along with other research that looks into an individual’s genetics to see if that plays a role in defining or making a psychopath. John Allen Muhammad, also known as the D.C. sniper, was labeled as a psychopath when he terrorized D.C. for two weeks, taking thirteen victims and killing ten of them. This paper will go over the behaviors that constitute psychopathy, and the behaviors that
Cullen is an exemplary example for a person experiencing anti-social personality disorder. He possess superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self worth, pathological lying, lack of remorse, and, most of all, he believes that it is the hospital administrator’s and orders fault for not stopping or reporting him ("Serial Killer Gets Prime Time Audience." 1). Psychopaths have the ability to charm others into
This article states that we need to stop interchanging psychopath and sociopath, as they are two different disciplines. Pemment goes into detail about the history, research, and growth of psychopathy. He says that we need to understand the difference between the two, as the behavioral characteristics and potential treatments for each are different. The article includes details on Hervey Cleckley and Robert Hares work on psychopathy. The article describes the PCL-R, and how Hare says the test should be done. The PCL-R is used as a screening tool to identify psychopaths, and
The first step in diagnosing someone as a sociopath is to create a standard of sociopathic behavior. Formally, sociopathy is referred to as Antisocial Personality Disorder or ASPD. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines ASPD as “A mental health condition in which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting, or violating the rights of others"(Sociopathic Traits 1) and lists seven identifying traits. It is important to understand that ASPD is a condition of varying degrees. To be considered a sociopath, one does not have to display all seven traits. In fact, there is much debate about what level of sociopathic behavior deserves a diagnosis of ASPD. Possibly the most widely accepted scale is the Hare PCL-R, which ranks sociopathic tendencies. Even though Hare is the most commonly accepted standard, it is still somewhat disputed. The professional agreement, it seems, is that ASPD can vary in intensity. Therefore, even though he does not display the
According to studies led by King’s College researchers, it has been confirmed that “psychopathy is a distinct subgroup of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)” (Gregory et. al n.p) and similarly to psychopathy, the more severe ASPD behavioral patterns are, the symptoms can be referred to as sociopathic or psychopathic. Furthermore, according to Nigel Blackwood, Ma, MD.MRCPsych, “MRI scans...found that psychopaths had structural brain abnormalities in key areas of their ‘social brains’” (Gregory et. al n.p). The areas of the brain, in which are deficient in psychopaths, are important when comprehending an individual emotions’, intentions, and moral
As the story continues, his sympathy for Bartleby’s predicament develops. Throughout paragraph 90, the lawyer discovers that Bartleby resides in the office and feels pity towards how Bartleby sustains such “ miserable friendlessness and loneliness.” Readers can acknowledge how the Lawyer struggles with maintaining the changing attitudes he feels towards Bartleby: “melancholy merge into fear” and “pity into repulsion” (137). The Lawyer intended to fire Bartleby for his refusal to work, but did not, for he feared of being portrayed as a “villain” (138). According to Jack Getman, the Lawyer has “become a different, more appealing person, one who is more responsive to the needs and rights of his workers” (Getman 738). It is evident that the Lawyer undergoes many changes in the interest of Bartleby.
The concept of psychopathy originated in the 1800s to describe individuals that consistently failed to conform to societal norms and exhibited antisocial behavior that did not fit the concept of mental illness of the time period. While, psychopathy was a common term used to describe individuals suffering from this disorder other descriptions were coined such as “Pinel’s term “manie sans delvie” meaning mania without delirium in the 1700s, to describe patents whose ‘affective faculties were disordered’” or Pritchard’s term “moral insanity” (Ogloff 520). In the 1930’s Partridge argued that psychopathy was a social rather than a mental disorder and proposed that the concept of sociopathy be introduced as a more accurate description. The American Psychological Association adopted Partridge’s term for their Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel in 1952. However, in 1968 the American Psychological Association changed the diagnostic label from sociopath to “personality disorder, antisocial” for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel – II that continued through to the DSM - III in 1980 and the DSM - III-R in 1987 and the DSM - IV in 1994. Today the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel categorizes antisocial personality disorder as a personality disorder and it is named as such. Unfortunately, not much research has been conducted
Of the 87 participants, 17 males and 1 female met criteria for antisocial personality disorder. Criminal history record searches through the Department of Justice showed that 33 males and 4 females had a history of police arrest, and 26 males and 3 females had a history of court convictions. Psychopathy was measured using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), with a total score ranging from 0-40. For the purposes of this study, a cutoff score of 23 was used to identify those designated as psychopathic, which included 30 males and 2 females.
Introduction The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the constructs of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. The aim is to highlight whether the terms psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder reflect the same construct or whether they differ. Furthermore, recommendations for treatment of criminal behavior will be explored. For the purposes of this evaluation some definitions need to be highlighted: Criminal offence is an act that breaks a law, which relates how to behave in society. The harm caused by the act is seen to be against society as a whole, not just a specific person. Sometimes it refers to the specific law that was broken (Herring, 2009). Crime is the breach of rules or law for which some authority
Psychopathy is characterized as persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, egotistical traits. Psychopaths are found in every country, belong to every race, and the majority are men. According to several studies, approxmently1 in 10 people are psychopaths, and they probably exhibited signs of the condition at a young age. There
Psychopathy is a disease of the mind, in which the psychological state of someone has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric evaluation. Psychopaths have no concern for the feelings of others and a complete disregard of any sense of social obligation. Psychopaths are characterized by lack of empathy, poor impulse control and manipulative behaviors. They use charm, manipulation, intimidation, and the use of severe to mild violence to satisfy their own needs.
Sociopathy is a definitive wayward behavior that is considered to be strayed from the norm. Sociopaths are understood to behave in ways that are out of the ordinary or outside of the acceptable norm (Eiseberg, 1995). In essence, sociopaths are overbearingly preconditioned to perform excesses of certain behaviors. Sociopaths often fall under the category of moral outlaws (Joana & Abigail, 2014). Psychologists have noted that psychopathic tendencies are inert. They can be triggered by brutal upbringing, or life-threatening or -changing experiences (Marsh, 2013). For a trait that is so mystifying, it leaves to ask, how are sociopaths created? How do people with this trait get to become this way? A major theme of this literature review finds that there are still large gaps of understanding when it comes to the clinical study of what makes a sociopathic mind work.