In the book Judgement Ridge, written by Richard Lehr and Mitchell Zuckoff, there are two main characters: Robert Tulloch and Jim Parker. They are both close in age to one another. Robert is 17 and Jim is 16. Jim is a lover of music and arts, and he even has a drum set and an electric keyboard in his basement. He is very intelligent, too. At his school in Chelsea, Vermont, he collected so many credits in his first two years of high school that, in his junior year, had only one main class each day. Robert, like Jim, rarely attended school his junior and senior years simply because he had no classes to take. He had surpassed the amount of necessary number of credits to graduate. He is an extrovert, so he enjoys being in the spotlight, and being the center of attention. Robert is very arrogant and self-absorbed. He believes that all of society is inferior to him, and that he is of a “higher power.” Robert is …show more content…
“Psychopaths are overconfident in themselves, and they possess a very grand sense of self worth” (Psychology Today 1). Robert believes that he is of a greater power, and that all other beings are inferior to him. “He though of himself as a ‘Higher Being’. He decided that he was beyond the reach of society” (Lehr, Zuckoff 144). Psychopaths are also uncaring and tend to have shallow emotions. “Psychopaths can be described as being callous and showing a lack of empathy, which can be described as coldheartedness” (Psychology Today 1). Robert didn’t think twice about murdering the elderly couple nor about killing his own dog. “We could use rocks to bash their heads, and then we’d take their money and run” (Lehr, Zuckoff 315). “Robert suggested they test their appetites for violence by taking a life. Robert argued that it would be good practice, so they wouldn’t hesitate when the real time came. He had a candidate all picked out: his dog, Ruby” (Lehr, Zuckoff
Psychopaths are typically devoid of emotion, and have an inherent sense of superiority that drives them to take actions that society considers
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
First of all, when a person suffers from psychopathic behavior, they manifest superficial charm while concealing deep rooted anger. In other words, psychopaths have the tendency to be smooth, charming, slick, and engaging, while hiding their true intentions toward the other. You could clearly see this behavior in my client. My client explains that his actions to Fortunato were unquestionable, as h treated Fortunato with great politeness and as a friend, but Montresor states that Fortunato has wounded him many times and
Psychopathy, in both the mental health and criminal justice systems, has emerged as one of the most important clinical constructs of the 21st century (Hare, Clark, Grann, & Thornton, 2000, p. 623). Where clinically, psychopathy is traditionally described as a combination of inferred socially deviant behaviors and personality traits. Some traits and behaviors a psychopath is seen to possess are commonly known, for example, to being impulsive, selfish, aggressive, lacking remorse, shame, feeling for others, pathologically lying, and having asocial or antisocial behaviors (Hare, & Neumann, 2006, p. 59-60). One of the reasons as to why psychopathy has come to see an increase in the development of its theoretical and applied interest is the
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
4. Serial killers also show signs of a psychopath though this is not always the case. Psychopaths lack empathy and guilt, are egocentric and impulsive and don’t conform to social, moral, or legal norms. Psychopaths have a distinct set of rules for themselves. They appear normal and are often very charming and charismatic.
The group of people that I chose to do intelligence research on was psychopaths, particularly serial killers. I did not focus on any particular subgroup, however there are subtypes of psychopaths such as primary and secondary and among those two subtypes it is further broken down into distempered and charismatic subtypes. In the article Psychopathy: Manipulation, Deception, and Evil, author Pamela Kulbarsh (2012) defines a psychopath as “a morally depraved individual who represent the ‘monsters’ in our society; an unstoppable and untreatable predator whose violence is planned, purposeful and emotionless” (p.1). While in the article it states that not all psychopaths are law-breakers that is a different story with serial killers
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
A psychopath may be unreliable with no sense of responsibility. They have absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking. Psychopaths develop pathological egocentricity. They are completely self-centered due to their incapability of real
Many experts in the criminology field are intrigued by serial killers and their minds. When studying serial killers, these experts have indicated that there is a positive correlation between the behavioural disorder Antisocial personality disorder which is better know to the average person as being a psychopath, and between serial killers. The definition of a psychopath is “someone who knows right from wrong but does not care . . .” (Bain, Colyer, Hawes, and Newton). The definition of a serial killer is someone who kills on at least three separate occasions (according to the FBI handbook) and take some form of a break between murders (Ryan). The most common characteristics are that they are attractive and charming, lack empathy, and are manipulative
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.
“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
A psychopath is traditionally defined as someone with a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, egotistical traits. In society, psychopaths display specific characteristics such as lack of empathy, which may identify and explain how they respond in certain situations.
Psychopaths are prevalent in almost every aspect of life. They are at school, in the office, and at the grocery store. People view psychopaths as socially removed and isolated, but many with psychopathic traits lead normal lives with their own quirks. Functional psychopathy has become more and more normalized, as it has been featured in different aspects of pop culture. Many people hope to break the stereotype associated with psychopathy in order for society to become more inclusive of mental disorders, and also to educate more people about psychopathic behavior through popular shows and movies.
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.