Summary: The Psychopath Inside

According to the “Hare Psycopathy Checklist” a psychopath is a person who knows right from wrong in our society but often feels no guilt, remorse or empathy when they engage in wrong actions. They lie easily, blame others for their actions and often hurt people who are close to them. David Berkowitz meets the criteria of Hare’s checklist and is believed to be a true psychopath. Berkowitz is known as the “Son of Sam”, a thrill seeking serial killer who terrorized the city of New York for over a year. Information about David Berkowitz’s background, personality traits and lifestyle and his serial killer profile help to prove that he is in fact a psychopath. In conclusion, this essay will prove to readers that David Berkowitz is a notorious

In order to more accurately define psychopathy, Cullen calls upon Dr. Robert Hare. He is “the leading authority on psychopaths,” and writes that psychopaths can “torture and mutilate their victims with about the same sense of concern that we feel when we carve a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner” (239). By referring to the work of Dr. Hare, Cullen simultaneously builds his ethos while also illustrating the psychological state of the killer. Eric, along with other psychopaths, exhibited two defining characteristics: “a ruthless disregard for others,” and “an astonishing gift for disguising the first” (240). A non-psychopath is rarely able to kill so indiscriminately, due to the emotional burden it leaves on the killer. However, Eric cannot empathize with other human beings, and does not feel pain or conflict when killing. In addition, his exceptional aptitude for deception allowed him to manipulate Robyn Anderson to buy the guns for him, under the pretense that he wanted to go hunting. It also enabled him to lie extensively to his parents about the true nature of the bombs he had in his possession. Cullen explained psychopathy and its key components in order to explain how Eric was able to commit such a

Abandoned and shunned by his friends, he began writing to serial killers on a whim and discovered that the same traumatic brain injury that made him an outcast to his peers now enabled him to connect emotionally with notorious murderers. Soon many of America’s most dangerous psychopaths were revealing to him heinous details about their crimes—even those they’d never been convicted of.

He is an award-winning neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, where he has taught for thirty-five years. As well as happily married with three kids, he often says you wouldn’t suspect him of being a psychopath because he looks like a normal man living life. He shares a rare and alarming pattern of low brain function in certain part of the frontal lobes areas commonly associated with self-control and empathy with psychopaths. Wondering where he got his psychopathic tendencies from, he sets out to find the reasoning in his brain scans.

After he died, his brain was scanned and it was discovered that he exhibited a damaged orbital cortex, which can be found in many serial killers” (Pemment, 2012, n.p). All of these changes can lead to psychotic killer tendencies as the child grows up.

Another thing Jeffrey was considered to be classified as was a psychopath. Jeffrey killed 17 young men and cannibalized them. Cannibalism is a form of insanity or severe mental illness, but in Jeffrey Dahmer case he was neither insane nor was he severely mentally ill. Jeffrey did not have any delusions, hallucinations, or paranoia, which are symptoms that are commonly associated with someone who has severe mental illnesses. Jeffrey admitted to his wrong doing. Jeffrey felt he was in any danger. Jeffrey did not seek help for his behavior, instead, he continued killing people to fill the need for his own sexual pleasure. Jeffrey Dahmer was a psychopathic.Psychopathy has a certain set of 20 very distinct personality characteristics which include

Explained through psychoanalytic theory Jeffrey Dahmer’s personality and criminality can be seen as a result of the events of his early life traumatic events. Unfortunately, for Dahmer and his victims he was not able to be well adjusted, socially productive, and functional member of society. Instead, Jeffrey Dahmer’s un-socialized id, weak ego and poorly developed superego formed the personality and ultimately lead to criminality of infamous serial killer we know

The history of concealed carry began in 1986, when the push for allowing the practice first gained momentum

In Tortilla Curtain, Candido and America have a very difficult time living in Los Angeles. Being illegal immigrants is harder than they thought. Delaney Mossbacher, a middle-class man, hit Candido Rincon, a Mexican immigrant, with his car as he was crossing the road. Candido was badly injured, but accepted twenty dollars from Delaney and ended up going their own ways. Delaney, his wife, and stepson, Jordan, live their routine life in a neighborhood called Arroyo Blanco. This incident left Candido battered and close to death. After the incident, Delaney went from liberal humanist to racist elitist. This incident also turned Candido from a diligent immigrant to an individual who commits crimes. Candido blamed having bad luck on his

In the Movie, American Psycho, Patrick Bateman demonstrate challenges to identify his unique type of personality theories. The purpose of this essay is to review a selected film as a Psychology student, and discuss it from a psychological perspective. Also in this paper providing a diagnosis for a character in the movie and discuss the behaviors that support the selected diagnosis, and to explain and discuss the mental illness depicted in the film.

Fifty years ago, a person breaking the law would either be called crazy or a criminal. Today, the mental health community has much more specific diagnoses. However, the explanation of certain behaviors may be difficult because there is much overlap among mental conditions. In Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is apparently simply a psychopath. However, Bateman can be diagnosed with other mental illnesses such as Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder. In both the book and film adaptation, Bateman’s actions can be understood more accurately when analyzed in light of modern psychology.

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.

It is very rare to study something that is as fascinating yet as bewildering as the distinctive paradox, that is the human brain. Every individuals conflicting behaviour and elaborate character that make them the person they are must have a justification. I originally established a fascination in forensic psychology as I read about a sequence of homicides committed by Gary Ridgway, otherwise known as the “Green River Killer”. Upon discovery of this case, questions began to pervade in my head about what may be the cause for an individual to execute such things, and just how someone’s mind could be so peculiarly dissimilar to my own.

“I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip" (Harron) thought Patrick Bateman as he contemplated his growing feelings of emptiness and need for bloodlust. American psycho is the story of a greedy, materialistic, self obsessed businessman who transforms into an unstable and violent sociopath. Abnormal behavior can be defined by four patterns deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger (Comer 2). Deviance is exhibited as unusual, or extreme behavior. Throughout the movie, Bateman was very blunt and would casually say violent, graphic comments. The only time Bateman experienced distress was towards the end of the movie when he couldn’t stop killing. He began to panic, called his lawyer to confess, and didn’t go into work. However, most of the time Bateman said he enjoyed the rush of a kill. Typically, abnormal behavior interferes with the person's ability to conduct daily activities (Comer 2). As a result of Bateman’s abnormalities he could not sustain a healthy relationship. The most extreme characteristic of Batemans abnormal behavior was that it caused him to put others in danger.

Sociopathy is a definitive wayward behavior that is considered to be strayed from the norm. Sociopaths are understood to behave in ways that are out of the ordinary or outside of the acceptable norm (Eiseberg, 1995). In essence, sociopaths are overbearingly preconditioned to perform excesses of certain behaviors. Sociopaths often fall under the category of moral outlaws (Joana & Abigail, 2014). Psychologists have noted that psychopathic tendencies are inert. They can be triggered by brutal upbringing, or life-threatening or -changing experiences (Marsh, 2013). For a trait that is so mystifying, it leaves to ask, how are sociopaths created? How do people with this trait get to become this way? A major theme of this literature review finds that there are still large gaps of understanding when it comes to the clinical study of what makes a sociopathic mind work.