Although it is difficult to imagine a child being psychopathic, it is crucial that we are able to recognize psychopathic behaviors in children. Mental health professionals say they could easily detect early psychopathic tendencies in childhood, but do not want to actually label the child a psychopath yet (Stenson, 2009). According to Duncan, it is difficult to imagine a child doing such things because everyone automatically expects them to fit into the Innocent/ The Child archetype (Schill, 2012).
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.
The field of forensic psychology is ever-changing as is the world around us. There is a persistent need to evaluate rules and procedures to keep up with the societal needs. A major area that is evolving within forensic psychology is the health care field and the usable technology. This new and advancing technology is allowing for the diagnosis of some very specific mental disorders, including the intriguing diagnosis of psychopathy. Until recently, very little research has provided conclusive evidence in makes a psychopath, a psychopath. Questions have been surfaced regarding the possibility of detecting psychopaths and preventing their trail of destruction
The PCL-R is a tool that enables a distinct group of psychologically abnormal offenders to be measured using a three point rating scale for twenty-two consistent behavioural characteristics. These characteristics have been underlying themes in an ongoing debate between psychiatrists on the definition and existence of psychopaths in discourse. While the literature takes no determinative stance, the psychopath has nonetheless become a distinct group in the binding legislation of the 1913 mental health Act. The PCL-R goes a step further than the act does to identify this group by not only suggesting that the “psychopath” is a statistically relevant group of criminals but Hare takes an objective approach that eliminates any likelihood of
“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
Psychopathy is an extremely complex subcategory of a specific personality disorder. This disorder has been researched since approximately the 18th century. Modern technology in science can detect psychopathy by examining the human brain using different techniques. This technology can and should be used to prevent violence in the world today.
According to Jackson (2008) these assessments can aide with predicting the onset of psychopathic characteristics. With this in mind, one can study the development of these traits through childhood and adolescence, as well as, bridging the gap between childhood and adult psychopathy (Jackson, 2008). Another area that will benefit for assessing for conduct disorders in juvenile settings is the risk for recidivism. In a study conducted by Yampolskava and Chuang (2012) found children with conduct disorder, as well as having other mental health disorders possessed 80% for recidivism. The contributing factors for these juveniles’ behaviors were associated with childhood
Mass murders and planned killing sprees; the average person cannot grasp how any normal-thinking human can commit such heinous acts. This illustrates the contrasting mindsets of an average person and a psychopath, who are often guilty of these acts. Psychopathy is traditionally viewed as a personality disorder defined by antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited and impulsive behavior. Psychopathy is therefore associated with an increased risk of crime and violence, creating a formidable challenge for the justice systems. Although psychopaths’ crimes are inexcusable and they should be punished, if society intervenes before a psychopath reaches criminal status, we could prevent many tragedies. Psychopathy is a mental disorder that can be diagnosed early in a person’s life and, if reared in a healthy environment and taught how to channel anger and behavior, a psychopath is capable of living a normal and peaceful life.
In order to protect oneself from a sociopath, one must understand the inner clockwork of one, in order to both diagnose others, or even self diagnose. Because of the danger of a sociopath and there chamelion like talent to blend in with the general community, they are very hard to identify, but knowing how to is crucial to keep oneself safe.
There is no current compilation of tests or surveys that can serve as a standard to test for psychopathy in children. Even though the cause of this disorder is unknown, researchers have discovered a remarkable amount of information relating to brain abnormalities in psychopaths. Various psychologists claim that just like autism, psychopathy is a distinct neurological condition; this brain activity can be identified in children as young as five years of age (Kahn, 2012). A study tracked the psychological development of 3,000 children, this was done over a span of 25 years, it was stated that psychopathic signs could be detected in children as young as three years of age. New high-level technology such as the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI) has facilitated researchers in locating the affected sections in the brain of a psychopath.
Review of literature indicates that there have been, and still are sociopathic children who kill, and commit sadistic crimes in this world. Is it possible that such young people can develop sociopathic traits? This paper intends to prove so. Sociopathic children display certain archetypes that can either be taken as a warning, or something to go off of when getting the child help. Children who develop sociopathic traits at a young age can most likely be treated with the help of psychologists, and constant encouragement from parents. However, some children do not take to the treatment and do not feel empathy, or remorse to those around them. If these children are not treated for their behavior, problems are more than likely to
There are three main debates on juvenile psychopathy. The first debate is whether the features of adult psychopathy even exist in juveniles. The disorder may be very difficult to measure reliability because of the transient and constantly changing developmental patterns that are so characteristic of childhood and adolescence. Some behavioral patterns of children and adolescents may be similar to adult psychopaths for a variety of reasons but may not really be signs of psychopathy. One side thinks that features of adult psychopathy exist in children, and the other side disagrees. There are many different factors that can frame the individual's personality. The second debate is the serious long-term social, ethical, and emotional consequences accompanying the label of psychopath for the child. A child who is told he is or can't do something, then the child is going to adapt to and believe he is and can't do whatever he has been told. The issues is if the child being tagged as a psychopath, then others will begin to see and treat him as a known psychopath. The juvenile psychopath will be limited and misunderstood in some cases. The last and final debate is that any psychopathic assessments of youth must achieve an exceptionally high level of accuracy before they can be judiciously employed in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Any mistake would create a bigger issue to anything that is related. The process has to be performed nearly perfect. There are also gender differences in
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
Psychopathy, sociopathy, and anti-social personality disorder, also known as ASPD, are three very similar disorders; so much so that it is a common question if they are the same disorder or not. All three of them are defined as people who have anti-social behaviours. All of these disorders are very common in people who disregard both the law and social norms, have no shame or guilt, and are occasionally violent; such as criminals. Psychopathy, sociopathy and ASPD, are essentially the same disorder, as they all fall under the same category of an anti-social disorder, and are based on symptoms, definitions, and crime records.