Essay Fictional Character Analysis; Hannibal Lecter

Antisocial personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2007). It is often characterized by blatant inattention to social norms and laws, pathological lying, putting others at risk for personal benefit, and an obvious lack of remorse (NIMH, 2007). One of the most notorious people with this disorder is Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer and necrophiliac whose sexual nature and gruesome offenses captured the nation’s attention (Talbott, n.d.). This paper will attempt to provide an overview of Dahmer’s life, as well as explain how both nature and nurture played roles in not only the production of a criminal, but also in the personality of all people.

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

Children with conduct disorder repeatedly violate the basic rights of other and are often very aggressive and, in some cases, physically cruel to people or animals (Comer, 2016). In fact, the FBI has found that cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appears in the records of serial rapists and murderers (McDonald, 2013). The best predictor of an adult having antisocial personality disorder is them having a conduct disorder in childhood that has not been properly diagnosed and medically treated (Higgs, 2012). Jeffrey Dahmer went undiagnosed as a child with a conduct disorder which would eventually lead to a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder, the disorder most commonly linked to adult criminal behavior (Comer, 2016). The behavior that would eventually lead to this diagnostic was particularly evident in Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood. In one event when the Dahmer family cleaned the home of dead rodents Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey Dahmer’s father, remembers seeing Dahmer, age 4, “oddly thrilled” at the bones dropping them “over and over” into a bucket and hearing the “brittle crackling sound that seemed to fascinate him” (Silva, Ferrari, & Leong, 2002). The fascination then forth with animals and their anatomy grew bigger. Young Dahmer was known for collecting and dissecting animals and insects he found on the road and storing their skeletons in bottles of formaldehyde to dissolve

What are the most five important things that have happened to your character in his or her life so far?

According to a study the department of psychiatric in the university of Texas health science center. at Houston, 112 criminals were assessed and it determined that with in that group the criminals action is related to ASPD (anti social personality disorder) symptoms, a recurrent and predominately manic course of illness, and bipolar disorder. There are many articles that such as " Occurrence of psychiatric disorder in county jail population", that because of mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder. Can greatly influence violent criminal behavior because of the sever mood changes the illness can cause to the suffer.

Explained through psychoanalytic theory Jeffrey Dahmer’s personality and criminality can be seen as a result of the events of his early life traumatic events. Unfortunately, for Dahmer and his victims he was not able to be well adjusted, socially productive, and functional member of society. Instead, Jeffrey Dahmer’s un-socialized id, weak ego and poorly developed superego formed the personality and ultimately lead to criminality of infamous serial killer we know

Although Perry is the one who killed the family, Dick plans the crime with ease due to his evil characteristics and guilt free conscious, therefore vulnerability can easily be molded by manipulation.

Martens, W. H. (2000). Antisocial and psychopathic Personality Disorders: Causes, Course, and Remission- A Review Artical. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminolgy , 44(4), 406-430.

Both Dade and Julian where fixated on proving themselves right and defending their beliefs about

This paper will briefly examine the movie Silence of the Lambs and the possible Antisocial Personality Disorder portrayed in the movie. It will involve critical thinking in the identifying and discussing of the disorder as found in the movie, how this disorder might have developed, a discussion pertaining to the accuracy of the disorder found within the movie, and briefly discuss some possible treatments for this disorder. Although a wide array of credible sources exists such as the DSM-5, each have their own respective definitions and descriptions of Antisocial Personality Disorder. While numerous sources offer an abundance of other publications readily available to an individual that will aid them in their research of the information regarding Antisocial Personality Disorder, this paper will generally focus on the disorder found within the chosen movie, Silence of the Lambs, with the assistance of the reputable and credible source of the DSM-5.

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

The criminal mind is something that is difficult to comprehend. The aggressive, manic, and psychotic behaviors of criminals are all a reflection of their human biology and the environment. Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, committed several crimes of murder and rape which were behaviors influenced by both external factors and his genetic makeup. While certain justifications for criminal acts can be argued as irrational, it is clear that the biological and environmental factors that contribute to Dahmer’s loneliness, and antisocial behavior fail to fully excuse his motives. These factors fail to fully excuse his motives because he used his “insanity” at trial as a plea to escape any consequences, and because he was not deprived from the ability to resist his impulsive and obsessive behavior. It is important to acknowledge cases like Dahmer’s because further advances can be made to treat psychotic behaviors and answer vexing questions in regards to law and medicine.

What makes a villain a villain? Is it the senseless violence inflicted upon the innocent? Or is it the oh so tragic backstory that is dramatically revealed just when the audience was really starting to hate them? Or is it when they...you know...eat people? When is it too much? When does a villain become a villain? Is it not all just based on our society’s views on what is right and what is wrong? After binging Hannibal, this is pretty much all I could think for several days. One moment you’re hoping that whoever this cannibalistic serial killer is, gets caught and put away for a long, long time and then the next moment, you’ve fallen in love with him. It’s really quite a rollercoaster. This show raises a lot of questions about morality, it

Gore Vidal is considered a one of the most celebrated writer and essayist in American literature. With the publication of The City and the Pillar in 1948 and his essay Some Jews and the Homosexual that published in 1981, Vidal launched the career for which he would become known, a defender of the homosexualist. Both of these works to some degree liberated Vidal from the inner tension he claims to have felt in his early work. He has maintained the belief that being gay is not unnatural nor should be a person be categorized as homosexuals.

Even though maltreatment is not a disorder it tends to be a risk factor that can lead to other disorders in an individual’s life. Maltreatment can be thought of as a gate way symptom to many personality disorders due to how maltreatment can affect an individual in various ways. Also, depending on the type of maltreatment individual experiences, it can lead to a certain predisposition to certain disorders. For instance, if an individual is sexually abused they tend to lead to a personality pathology to borderline personality disorder. Even though borderline personality disorder is not always an outcome of sexual abuse, but there tends to be a correlation between the trauma and disorder. For instance, Ogata, Silk, Goodrick, Lohr, et al, (1990) conducted a study that found a significantly higher rate of reports of sexual abuse in patients with borderline personality disorders than patients who have major depression disorder.