Book Report: Without Conscience

An additional aspect connected with psychopathy is the incomplete repressed capability to make the dissimilarity among ethical and conventional offenses. An ethical offense could be explained as one that is distinct due to its punishments relevant to the privileges and welfare of individuals. A conventional offense could be explained by its punishments relevant for the good of the social order. In the instance of those with psychopathy, individuals make a reduced amount of association to the victims that were part of the situation, and additionally appear to have a time that is more complex trying distinguishing between ethical and conventional offenses mentioned during the situation. ("Psychopathy: A Misunderstood Personality Disorder", 2011). Therefore, if there is nothing eliminating the action or offense, adults as well as children with psychopathy, will most likely illustrate a diminished capacity to differentiate between the two types of offenses.

When most people hear the word psychopath their mind forms a picture of a wild-eyed, rambling, lunatic who is often restrained in a straitjacket. The media has helped this belief along the way with slasher horror films and grisly CSI episodes depict these strange humans. However, the average psychopath is much harder to spot than most people believe. In fact, most of them are extremely difficult to distinguish from ordinary humans. They outwardly appear normal and many do not find it difficult to blend into common society. They can interact with others, hold successful jobs, and effectively keep themselves out of trouble. Most are not the sadistic killers many people think they are. Psychopaths are people born with problems (Bartol 105) or

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

Expert witnesses from the case of Kjeldsen (1981) state that even though psychopaths are not able to experience remorse or guilt for their victims, they have the mental abilities to appreciate the nature and quality of the actions (Verdun-Jones, Criminal Law in Canada, 2015, p. 209). That is, in other words, psychopaths are to have capabilities to understand as well as foresee the physical consequences of their actions, despite not being able to understand the psychological damage created towards their victims (Verdun-Jones, Criminal Law in Canada, 2015, p.

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’

Psychopaths have been around for more than a century, and have found themselves to be able to make the public fear them. Belle Gunness, the Zodiac Killer, and John Wayne Gacy are all examples for the character traits compatible with psychopathy and have been able to provide more reason to the research of psychopaths. Statistically, psychopathy is found in three percent of the male population and in one percent of one percent of the female population. A psychopath’s behavior of exploitation, lying, recklessness, and arrogance has been studied to further understand how their brain structure is different in MRI scans and how they are able to use special abilities to catch its victims. Many research studies have been able to provide more information

Cultivating Conscience is a book in which the author, Lynn Stout, debates the effectiveness of using material incentives in law as a way to lessen the amount criminal activities performed in modern society. Material incentives, according to Stout, are only part of the complex equation that is behavior. Throughout the book the author gives examples of research-based theories that prove there are many other ways to lessen delinquent activities that do not involve punishment or prison. These tests have proven that there are three main factors needed to influence human behavior and in turn, cultivate conscience. These factors, according to Lynn Stout, when implemented into the American legal system can change American’s views and actions for the better.

In the book, The Psychopath Inside, by James Fallon he discovers that he himself has a similar brain scans to the ones of a psychopath. He discovered this knowledge by doing a separate study of analyzing members of his family’s brain scans and saw a brain scan that was similar to a psychopath’s. To his curiosity, he found out it was his. Fallon wasn’t worried at the fact he was a psychopath, since he showed no signs of it such as violence and wasn’t a criminal of some sort.

The researchers, based at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, said the differences in psychopaths' brains mark them out even from other violent criminals with anti-social personality disorders (ASPD), and from healthy non-offenders. The study showed that psychopaths, who are characterised by a lack of empathy, had less grey matter in the areas of the brain important for understanding other people's emotions.

Of all the psychiatric disorders, none are more chilling to the world then the psychopaths and sociopaths. These two disorders, categorized as antisocial personality disorders, bring about the absolute worse people and killers that the world has ever known. The infamous serial killers, the people who do the unimaginable, were all psychopaths. The ability of these people to do what they do and know that what they are doing is wrong, is perhaps one of the most chilling and shocking characteristic of these people. Psychopaths and sociopaths are very often thought by most to be the same disorder, yet they are different when classified by many psychiatric researchers. The people classified as psychopaths and sociopaths are separated by one main difference, and that is if they were born with a lack of the ability to empathize or if they were affected as children in a traumatic environment. Although both of these horrible disorders derive from a different area, the reality is that they are unpredictable, undetectable and most importantly, they can be very dangerous.

Due to its primary role in processing memory and emotional reactions, over the last decade and a half psychologists have been linking the amygdala to psychopathy. It is involved in aversive conditioning and instrumental learning and is thus involved in all the processes that, when impaired, produce the same functional impairments displayed by psychopaths. Two famous studies conducted by Tiihonen and Kiehl respectively have confirmed this. Tiihonen used a volumetric MRI to test and confirm the positive correlation between low amygdaloid volume and a high degree of psychopathy in violent criminals (measured by the Hare checklist-revised) while Kiehl used a functional MRI to prove reduced amygdala response during an emotional memory task in individuals who scored high on the Hare checklist-revised. However, both these studies along with numerous others were conducted using violent offenders as subjects rather than individuals with psychopathy. Although many psychopaths do exhibit violent tendencies, not all violent offenders are necessarily psychopaths. A study conducted by Raine is one of the few that did focus only on individuals exhibiting psychopathy. In his study Raine was able to show reduced prefrontal grey matter in his test subjects. Unfortunately though, he was unable to differentiate between grey matter in different regions of the prefrontal cortex. It is however clear that there is one region of the frontal cortex that could be

In the book Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D Hare, the author described how those diagnosed with this have little capacity for seeing the consequences of their behavior (Hare 77). Psychopaths exhibit extreme emotions or none at all, and their function processing is slower than that of a person with little to no psychopathic tendencies.

The biology and environment play a huge role in these offender’s lives. The interaction between neurological and having a disadvantaged environment can put them at a higher risk of becoming an offender. These offenders can be seen as psychopaths because of the factors that are a play. Throughout their childhood they begin to have antisocial conduct. Then during adolescence they begin to have cumulative consequences and in adulthood they start to commit criminal behavior.

Do you clearly understand what plain conscience really means? Conscience is a term that is used to describe the behavioral character of human beings with respect to self-awareness. It is internally and rationally capacitated as the common lore suggest. Conscience helps people to overcome iniquity via doing what is right and that is what people commonly refer to as norms and values of life. All the values that we might be exposed to during our life time are as an influence of conscience. In human growth and development a child is able grow adapting to the environment but still processing an inner filling that makes it feel happy or uncomfortable. These reflective behaviour result from the conscience which build in the kids so as to develop and

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘conscience’ as, “a moral sense of right and wrong especially as felt by a person and affecting behaviour (my conscience won’t allow me to do that) [or] an inner feeling as to the goodness or otherwise of one’s behaviour (my conscience is clear; has a guilty conscience)”