Sociopathy And Psychopathy Essay

For a long period in history, psychopaths were believed to be possessed by demons and spirits and were routinely exercised to expel such creatures. As science and clinical experiences progressed, people have learned that the brain is wired in multiple different ways, some in which lead to the negative “disorder” dubbed psychopathy (Telles-Correia and Sampaio). Yet, the popular theory that ‘psychopathy is purely genetic is not entirely true. Both genetic and environmental aspects cause psychopathy, and go hand-in-hand in some cases.

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

Each year thousands, even millions of people get diagnosed with some type of disorder. With many disorders created overgeneralization's occur especially when two disorders come from the same group of disorders. Such is the case with Anti-Social Personality Disorder and Psychopathy. Many people associate the two and don’t fully understand the difference, since they are very similar. However, not all who are diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder are psychopaths.

In “The Making of a Serial Killer,” Berit Brogaard explains the genetics and brain-work behind psychopathy. Brogaard examines studies that show psychopathy may be hereditary, furthering the idea that there must be a problem with the brain, which also means it could possibly be correctable. Psychopathy could, along with other mental disorders and illnesses, develop in one’s childhood. Psychopathy is often confused with other disorders and illnesses, which is understandable because of the various similarities. Although studies have shed light on some possible causes of psychopathy, much of the disorder remains a mystery.

Conclusions: Mental illness and depression place a burden on society. The causes for and thus the proper treatment of these disorders are needed. Scientific study of the genetic causes behind depression is of utmost importance. This paper will argue that there are significant overlaps between personality disorders such as psychopathy and mental illnesses such as depression, and that this overlap often produces criminal

The words "sociopath" and "psychopath" are used with a relatively high frequency to describe individuals whose behavior and demeanor seem to mark them as fundamentally different from "normal" people. Neither term appears in the DSM IV, which is generally considered to be the mostly recognized standard for mental illness because clinicians have found it difficult to isolate the symptoms and patterned behavior that would constitute psychopathology on a consistent basis. Robert Hare's Psychopathy Checklist, provides a tool for ascertaining whether an individual can/should be considered to be a psychopath or sociopath (the terms are used interchangeaby) primarily for the purpose of adjudication. This paper examines mass murderer Gerald Stano to determine if he was a psychopath.

When most people hear the word psychopath or sociopath, the first image that pops into their head likely resembles some crude image of a crazy-eyed maniac, wielding an axe dripping with the blood of their victims. This popular idea, however, could not be farther from the truth. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V (DSM-V), released in 2013, places psychopathy, along with sociopathy, in the category of ego-syntonic1 personality disorders (Jenkins, 2014). The official term, encompassing both psychopathy and sociopathy, is Antisocial Personality Disorder; this disorder is “characterized by a long-standing pattern of a disregard for

Psychopathy is a disorder characterised by callousness, diminished capacity for remorse, superficial charm, and poor behavioural controls (Richell et al., 2003). Psychopathy has two subcategories, primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy, both types are associated with hostility, impulsivity and aggression but secondary, unlike primary, is associated also with social anxiety, introversion, moodiness and low self-esteem (Blackburn & Fawcett, 1999, as cited in Ali & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2010).

Psychopathy is defined as a disorder of personality and antisocial disorder is primarily behaviorally based. Interestingly these disorders are considered co-morbid, because they can be present simultaneously within in patient but are not the same (Werner, Few, & Bucholz, 2015). This paper will discuss the literature for psychopathy and antisocial disorder, any relevant theories, and areas in need of further research.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder, where the person lacks any emotion and they show violent antisocial behavior. Psychopathic traits start to show during early childhood and therefore there is a high chance that the callous-unemotional behavior transcends into adult life. This article elaborates on what researchers within the field of psychology and biology has tested on individuals with psychopathic traits and future recommendations. The authors of this article highlight an individual who falls under the personality disorder category to illustrate how researchers can best provide the resources to further understanding the phenomenon of psychopathy.

Roles That Mental Illness Play In Psychopathic Behavior were investigated. Key issues which were addressed include:

A psychopath can be best explained as, one who exhibits a lack of empathy and remorse. Someone suffering from this type of disorder can appear to be trustworthy and sincere on outward first impressions. They are usually engaged in repeated criminal activity and antisocial behavioral issues. They may find it hard to associate with society as a whole, and also find it hard to associate with their own identity and place in the world as well. A psychopath’s behavior suggests that they are unable to feel guilt and shame, and healthy relationships with others is unachievable, and will potentially end in violence. Prosecution will show that Cristian Nunez-Ortega painted a chilling picture of psychopathic control and destruction the day he committed the murders of Courtney Bradford, and her daughter, Jasmine.

There are two types of mental disorders that most people are familiar with thanks to television shows such as “Criminal Minds”. A show about serial killers, kidnappers and many more, throughout the show they discuss about people doing inhuman crimes. The actors sometimes describe them as sociopaths or psychopaths. There are a couple of differences between these two disorders. The first difference is brain anatomy, genetics and a person’s environment all provides the process of a psychopath and a sociopath. Psychopath is genetics, their brains have underdeveloped components thought to be accountable for emotions regulation and impulse control. Sociopath is environmental, negative household, physical abuse and emotional abuse. “At worst, they are cold, calculating killers” said Aaron Kipnis PhD author of The Midas Complex, another difference is consciousness while sociopath have it relatively weak on the other hand psychopath do not have it.

Though there is no one true cause for either psychopathy or sociopathy, they can still be prevented or minimized to some capacity. However, people do not usually get help making it harder for the development of efficient treatments. Despite the popularization of the disorders by the media, the stigma that still surrounds mental disorders like these comes with a lack of understanding of the origins or of the problems that comes with having these mental

Described as a social disorder, psychopathy is a field that has been extensively researched and we have discovered that it consists of two distinctive subtypes; primary and secondary. There are some similarities between these two subtypes however a distinction can be made through a subject’s characteristics and traits. Both primary psychopathy (PP) and secondary psychopathy (SP) are associated with impulsivity, aggression, social isolation due to a lack of convergence with the social ‘norm’, superficial charm and poor behavioural control but primary psychopaths are more often characterised as callous, manipulative, extremely selfish with a diminished capacity for remorse and routinely untruthful, where secondary psychopaths are more introverted, socially anxious with low self-esteem (Blackburn & Fawcett, 1999). Empathy is essentially the capacity or ability to understand and share another person’s mental experience. Cognitive empathy, is often referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM) and is conceptualised as the ability to understand and infer the emotions and