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Essay on Lack of Empathy V. Psychopathy

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In the book, The Stranger, Merseault is convicted of first degree murder. During the questioning Merseault is indifferent about the murder. Lawyers note that Merseault feels no remorse towards his violent action and as a result of this, the jury finds Merseault guilty; the penalty is execution. The jury believes he is a danger to society and calls him a monster. Merseault lacks empathy; he is unable to recognize and respond to other people’s feelings (Baron-Cohen). However, this is not enough to state that Merseault is a danger to society. Does Merseault lack more than just empathy? Is he a psychopath?
Empathy is a skill children learn from their parents (Kutner). The way a parent shows empathy is crucial to the development of their …show more content…

Another factor that plays a very important role in a child’s development of empathy is their parent’s emotional stability. When a parent expresses too much sadness, because of depression, or too much anger, a child becomes overwhelmed. Children that are overwhelmed cannot develop empathy. Since they cannot manage all of these emotions, they learn to ignore them. (“Child Development of Empathy, a Skill You Can Teach, Train and Encourage”). Is this what Merseault learned to do? It is possible, that Mersealt was overwhelmed as a child, and because of that, was unable to learn empathy. In the book, it seems as though Merseault ignores all of his emotions, but is that all he did?
Not only is Merseault unable to empathize with others, but when he kills the innocent man he feels no remorse. In the public eye, a “psychopath” is deemed to be a serial killer or a dangerous villain. However, a psychopath is far more common than one can imagine. In modern terms, the word psychopathy is generally used in reference to the works of Canadian psychologist, Robert Hare. Hare’s, Psychopathy Checklist - Revised, was developed to test a wide variety of socially deviant behaviors and personality traits, the most important being the lack of remorse, conscience, and guilt (Putnam). A psychopath’s world is greatly skewed and the normal laws of human emotion and interaction do not apply. According to Christopher Putnam, approximately one man in every one

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