The Importance Of Psychopaths

I am doing a research paper of Psychopaths. A Psychopath is a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior and are sometimes considered synonymous with sociopaths and is defined as a personality disorder. It has been estimated that around 30% are psychopaths in the US and it is lower in the UK at around 23% but it is still a larger amount than the overall population. Psychopaths cannot feel guilt, remorse, or empathy therefore, can commit any and many crimes and not feel any emotion towards their action. That is one reason why Psychopaths can and are considered very dangerous and violent.

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

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.

“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

Expert witnesses from the case of Kjeldsen (1981) state that even though psychopaths are not able to experience remorse or guilt for their victims, they have the mental abilities to appreciate the nature and quality of the actions (Verdun-Jones, Criminal Law in Canada, 2015, p. 209). That is, in other words, psychopaths are to have capabilities to understand as well as foresee the physical consequences of their actions, despite not being able to understand the psychological damage created towards their victims (Verdun-Jones, Criminal Law in Canada, 2015, p.

When most people hear the word psychopath their mind forms a picture of a wild-eyed, rambling, lunatic who is often restrained in a straitjacket. The media has helped this belief along the way with slasher horror films and grisly CSI episodes depict these strange humans. However, the average psychopath is much harder to spot than most people believe. In fact, most of them are extremely difficult to distinguish from ordinary humans. They outwardly appear normal and many do not find it difficult to blend into common society. They can interact with others, hold successful jobs, and effectively keep themselves out of trouble. Most are not the sadistic killers many people think they are. Psychopaths are people born with problems (Bartol 105) or

However, more recently, a study led by King’s College London has claimed that there are differences between the brains of psychopaths and other criminal offenders diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Nigel Blackwood who led the research is quoted as saying “We describe those without psychopathy as 'hot-headed' and those with psychopathy as ‘cold-hearted’.” This statement shows a clear distinction between what should be interpreted as a lack of self-control and ability to repress impulses and what should be diagnosed as psychopathy.
The study took MRI scans of 66 men, two thirds of which were offenders who had been diagnosed with antisocial personality whilst the other third were non-offenders considered to not have any personality disorders. Of the 44 offenders, 17 met the diagnosis criteria for psychopathy (ASPD+P) assessed by the guidelines stated in the DSM-IV. Researchers saw that the members of the study diagnosed as psychopaths had notably less grey matter in areas associated with moral behaviour and understanding other peoples’

Psychopaths have been around for more than a century, and have found themselves to be able to make the public fear them. Belle Gunness, the Zodiac Killer, and John Wayne Gacy are all examples for the character traits compatible with psychopathy and have been able to provide more reason to the research of psychopaths. Statistically, psychopathy is found in three percent of the male population and in one percent of one percent of the female population. A psychopath’s behavior of exploitation, lying, recklessness, and arrogance has been studied to further understand how their brain structure is different in MRI scans and how they are able to use special abilities to catch its victims. Many research studies have been able to provide more information

The word “psychopath” may call to mind the sadistic Hollywood cannibal Hannibal Lector or the infamous serial killer from the 1970s Ted Bundy. This perception of psychopathy is accurate but incomplete. Psychopaths are significantly more likely to make contact with the criminal justice system and their crimes also tend to be more violent than those of other criminals (Carré et al., 2013). Psychopaths are found to be responsible for approximately 50% of serious crimes and make up about 20% of North American prisons (Hare, 1999).  Psychopaths are notorious for being among society’s most dangerous individuals; however, this category not only refers to the ruthless serial killers, sex-offenders, and stereotypical convicts. In reality, most psychopaths are not criminals. In fact, most psychopaths possess a superficial charm that makes them rather appealing. This paper will focus less on the extreme, criminalized psychopath and more on those whom we might unknowingly encounter in everyday life. After exploring the diagnostic criteria for psychopaths and how the qualities associated with psychopathy tend to be favored in the workplace, this paper will examine how the disorder poses ethical problems for corporations and how society is dealing with the issue.

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

As read in the article Psychopaths Get A Break From Biology: Judges Reduce Sentences If Genetics, Neurobiology Are Blamed, published in Science Daily, judges say psychopaths should receive longer sentences than non-psychopathic people, yet believe psychopaths possess the same amount of free will. A study done in Utah by James Tabery, Lisa Aspinwall and Teneille Brown surveyed 181 judges from 19 states on how they would sentence psychopaths, and the results were simply paradoxical. Researchers gave all judges the same example of a case involving a psychopath as a defendant. This real-life case involved a psychopath brutally beating a clerk. One fourth of the judges were given genetic and neurobiological reasons for why the individual should

An additional aspect connected with psychopathy is the incomplete repressed capability to make the dissimilarity among ethical and conventional offenses. An ethical offense could be explained as one that is distinct due to its punishments relevant to the privileges and welfare of individuals. A conventional offense could be explained by its punishments relevant for the good of the social order. In the instance of those with psychopathy, individuals make a reduced amount of association to the victims that were part of the situation, and additionally appear to have a time that is more complex trying distinguishing between ethical and conventional offenses mentioned during the situation. ("Psychopathy: A Misunderstood Personality Disorder", 2011). Therefore, if there is nothing eliminating the action or offense, adults as well as children with psychopathy, will most likely illustrate a diminished capacity to differentiate between the two types of offenses.

In this article, Edens and Cox suggest that the prosecution in capital murder trials produce evidence regarding antisocial personality disorder, sociopathy, and psychopathy. ASPD, sociopathy, and psychopathy all have a long history in the criminal justice system. Mental health experts are called in to evaluate the suspect during sentencing, to determine future violent behaviors, and if there is any potential for rehabilitation. In their research, they found little systematic research on how much of an impact ASPD, sociopathy, and psychopathy have on a case outcome. They decided to carry out a survey at a national conference to measure how frequently this evidence was produced. They found that ASPD evidence was used more than sociopathy and

In a study done by Kiehl et Al, limbic abnormalities were tested using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The main research question was to see what difference there was in criminal psychopaths versus the normal noncriminal population in accordance to limbic and frontal cortex activity. There were eight trials in the study in which the participants were told to: encode (memorize a series of words), rehearse the memorized words; recognize the words in a test. There were three different groups: the control, noncriminal non-psychopaths and the criminal psychopaths. Most of the words used were random and not repeated except for the few negative words that were put into the mix. During this test they were put into a functional magnetic resonance

A significant and controversial issue within the legal system is the ‘insanity defense’ in which during a criminal trial, the defendant will make a claim that they are not guilty by reason of insanity, or in other words, they have deficient and impaired cognitive and mental capabilities. These mental health problems associated with insanity are caused by psychopathological disorders, which may have led to their dysfunction. What separates this from a regular plead of ‘diminished capacity’ is that a plea of insanity is a full defense rather than just a partial defense (Legal information institute, n.d.). With the diminished capacity defense, the defendant’s mental competence is still the focus, although they are pleading to a lesser crime