Living Your Worst Nightmare : The Psychic Sociology Of Two Similar But Different Kinds Of Killers

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

This article tries to sum up the causes of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Though, researchers have not found an exact cause of Antisocial Personality Disorder (Martens, 2000). Antisocial Personality Disorder is known to be directed toward specific behaviors and criminal act instead of looking at personality traits and psychopathological aspects (Martens, 2000). People that develop Antisocial Personality Disorder are more likely to suffer from substance abuse disorder, anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia (Martens, 2000). Researchers have done different studies especially with brain injuries, which could trigger

In fact,because psychopaths are not able to feel empathy involuntarily, they are able to turn the feeling on. It is very common for psychopaths to have “ a false belief in their own superiority, a sense of entitlement and a complete disregard for social norms” (Paula, year). Psychopathy had recently been changed into ‘antisocial personality disorder’ in the updated version of the FBI’s mental health book, DSM-III. It was changed for the reason of the personality not always being reliable, as well as psychopathy symptoms crossing over antisocial personality disorder symptoms. Another reason for the change was because it is believed that focusing on behavior instead of the why helped identify the disorder easier. The new research was highly and widely discussed among many physicians because some felt unsure of the change, but they were also for the change with consideration of the evidence that was found. The usual psychopath is not found to be violent. If they are violent, they are considered more dangerous than others and will most likely reoffend sooner and worse than the first time. Between psychopaths and non psychopaths, psychopaths have a longer criminal history which varies in crimes. Their patterns are unique when compared to a non psychopath, but due to their inability to have emotion, they are able to be more observant on their next chosen

Psychopathy and Sociopathy have become interchangeable, even though the diction of each can greatly affect a sense of concern to a person. The word psychopath is normally pared with the word killer, making it seem more serious than sociopath.The definition of sociopath is “a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.’ where the definition of a psychopath is a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as a moral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.” These kinds of people are normally viewed as extremely violent and are mostly in prison, but “Roughly one in 25 Americans is a sociopath,” according to Harvard psychologist Dr. Martha Stout, author of The Sociopath Next Door. The thought that someone you see every single day, could be a sociopath is staggering, and once learning more about it, and why it is caused, you can them know how to react in an appropriate manner.

The development of a sociopathic personality disorder is influenced by several elements. These factors largely are attributed to a person’s genetics and the environment. At large, there is not a significant amount known about what exactly makes a person a sociopath; however, there are several factors linked in our genes that can help identify what may contribute to the mental disorder. By no means is there a strict formula that we can follow that with one hundred percent certainty determines whether someone will end up a homicidal maniac or not. However, we can partially diagnose why and how this disorder comes to be. Sociopaths make up approximately three to five percent of the general population; meaning about three out of one hundred, people are likely to have sociopathic traits. While genetics may aid in identifying a persons’ potential for developing a mental illness, the environment around said person plays its own role.

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

Antisocial personality disorder is a disorder of the brain that cause one to disregard other people’s rights by violating them, they lack empathy and are very malicious towards others, they enjoy the suffering of individuals whether it be an animal or human being and it usually occurs during child/teen hood and worsens as the child ages. With this disorder comes a hatred toward society due to lack of knowledge of the real world “Many of the children grow up shy, lonely, highly sensitive, with feelings of being rejected, unloved and neglected by family and/or society”(Miller, 2014, p.13). Isolation at young ages causes children to not know how to interact with others in the real world they think that it is okay to violate personal space because they were never taught what that was. With the isolation and feelings of oddity in the child, they begin to manifest fantasies within their own mind (Miller, 2014, p.14). Many times the child starts out with violent sexual fantasies that they would like to act out but do not have an execution plan so they experiment on inanimate objects or even themselves or family members who will not tell such as younger siblings. This quickly escalates to the things they do to strangers in society starting with smaller steps such as stalking, peeping tom, or abduction. With such successes, they begin their reign of terror

The common sociopath has trouble with interactions through the early stages in life. An example being the social normality throughout school and adolescence. The social awkwardness perceived through peers can create the anxiety and paranoia through a sociopath’s mindset. Potentially turning paranoia and anxiety into a violent spurt. They rarely use their conscious when making decision that can affect other people. A majority, are in a constant state of traveling either as a runaway or living in shelters. Many are prideful about their anti-authoritative nature which can lead to a more sadistic lifestyle making rebellion a natural state of mind. As time progresses the condition gradually worsens. Generally, these people are satisfied with their

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), opposition defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD) are three distinct disorders based upon their respective diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5. If ODD and CD were mild forms of ASPD, then there would need to be causal relationship between the childhood manifestations of ODD and CD and the adult manifestation of ASPD. There is evidence of comorbidity between ODD and CD, and also evidence to suggest that children diagnosed with these disorders may go on to develop ASPD later in life; however, correlation does not equal causation. The three disorders have subtle but important differences in their associated behaviors, underlying causes, treatment outcomes, and neurological signs.

The idea of serial killers and the role they play in our lives has fascinated people since the cases of Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes, although serial murderers existed before them. The infamous and mysterious complexities of these cases have puzzled and terrified people for over a century. Perhaps due to the deviant and taboo nature of serial killings, people in our society and others have tried to attribute many reasons for why they occur. In this search for answers, one major scope has been widely left out of the research: the sociological imagination. It is through this method of understanding that I will attempt to explain the development of serial killers and apply theories that explain the frequency of serial killings in our society.

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 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.

These ideas are similar to the risk factors that correlate with the development of antisocial personality disorder, but also match up with each perspective ’s method of explaining psychology. According to the psychodynamic theory, antisocial personality disorder can be initiated through the lack of parental love and support during infancy. The resulting lack of basic trust could lead to the formation of disregard for other’s feelings and rights later in life. Psychodynamic theorists believe that people with antisocial personality disorder respond to the absence of parental support by becoming emotionally detached and rely on the use of intimidation, power, or destructiveness to relate to other people.

People lacking maternal figure, abuse drugs, and have untreated mental illness tend to lead a more aggressive life because they lack the morals of the general

The goal of this paper is to effectively explain the adverse affects of antisocial personality disorder. This paper will increase understanding on the psychological mindset of those who commit crimes and how it relates to their personality. I have selected two sources on the subject of antisocial personality disorders that will effectively explain an individual’s actions who suffer from this disorder. Finally we will discuss possible treatments for this disorder.