It’s the twenty-first century and for many who are tuning into the wide variety of television channels offered, death rages rampant. It’s the gruesome, gory, and crazy deaths that television channels count on to draw large audiences, often being the main focus of a drama or series. Homicide, suicide, serial killers; psychopaths. It’s almost as if this term is used so commonly, so loosely, that one could easily forget the actual meaning of the word ‘psychopath’. In addition to this, the television often gives all the attention to the gruesome deaths, yet the killer typically remains a cloaked figure, metaphorically speaking. Little information is given about the killer, and their motives are usually unclear until the short-lived reveal. Altogether these typical crime series leave me wondering where the line lies between someone committing a homicide and an actual psychopath, while keeping in mind that these questions are focused on the real world and not a television drama. Why are psychopaths the way they are, what characteristics classify them as a psychopath, and most importantly, what is it that drives them?
In this paper I will be looking into research materials that have taken different psychological perspectives. The research data this paper uses fall under the biological where genetic influences, brain chemistry, and nervous system are discussed. The social cognitive and behavioral parts of the learning perspective relate to where this paper discusses environmental factors that could encourage their psychopathic traits, along with the sociocultural perspective psychopaths do not seem to agree with, when we take a look at how they function in society. From the cognitive standpoint, actions and thoughts are questioned. And ...
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... all causes of the traits that someone with this disorder usually has. It may be easy for one to picture more than a few television identities that fall within these traits. They are the killers the television advertises them to be, and the sex and money that are typically within the plot aren’t very far from the truth.
Works Cited
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Caspi, Avshalom; McClay, Joeseph; Moffitt, Terrie E. (2002). Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science, 851-857.
Wade, Carole; Tavris, Carol. (2009). Psychology. Psychological Disorders, 537-539.
Hare used these core factors to develop the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised assessment tool that helps detect psychopathy in people. They developed this theory because psychopathic behavior was thought of as miscellaneous of a topic to be categorized in one or two factors. The four recommended factors proposed by Hare and Neumann are: Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle and Antisocial. The first factor, interpersonal consists of superficial charm, manipulation, pathological lying, and a grandiose sense of self-worth. Secondly, the affective factor involves the lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, callous and/or lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility for own actions. The third factor is lifestyle, which comprises of need for stimulation and/or proneness to boredom, parasitic lifestyle, impulsivity, irresponsibility, unsatisfactory work habits, and lack of realistic long-term goals. Finally the fourth factor is antisocial and contains poor behavioral controls, early behavior problems, juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility, and revocation of conditional release (Hare & Neumann, 2005, p.58-59). According to Hare and Neumann “The 4 psychopathy factors are significantly interrelated, and thus can be comprehensively explained by a single superordinate (that is, psychopathy) factor.” (Hare, R. D., & Neumann, C. S.
The nurturing of individuals plays a role in the making of killers, as 94% of serial killers had experienced some form of abuse as children and 42% have suffered severe physical abuse (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010). A child abuse is a determining factor, in which supports the idea that serial killers and psychopath, are influenced significantly by nurture (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). In most cases social, cultural and physiological determinants all play a role in influencing serial killers to grow into a mass murderer. It is important that physiological and social determinants can be identified, so they could be altered for the purpose of preventing the number of crime.
Identifying the mystery of the psychopath can prove to help the them and the general public. Early awareness of the common psychopaths among us will reduce the impact on society. Further research is still needed to better help the psychopath and the general population.
Kaplan, H. I., Sadock, B. J., & Grebb, J. A. (1994). Synopsis of psychiatry: behavioral sciences,
Brogaard, Berit. "The Making of a Serial Killer." Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, Inc., 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 May 2014.
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
Emotions get the best of everyone in stressful situations, but what about those without any emotions to spare? The media glamorizes murders and serial killers by making them the spotlight of movies, shows and novels. What readers and viewers often forget is that these people are real and have resided on the same street that their kids ride bikes on. The people that commit these horrendous crimes are often known as sociopaths. Not all sociopaths become serial killers, but the combination of abusive childhood, environment and genetic influences pushes them to repeatedly kill and take innocent lives.
This paper investigates the research question: to what extent is psychopathy due to biological predisposition?
An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal comportment. Analysis also shows that...
One area of research in psychopathy focuses on the set of structures in the brain known as the limbic system, but more specifically on a structure known as the amygdala. According to neuropsychology class slides, the amygdala is involved in emotions and storage of emotions in memory as well as the fear response when encountering threatening environmental stimuli. Osumi and colleagues (2012) note that the affective and interpersonal facets of psychopathy, such as cold-heartedness and lack of empathy, which are thought to be the core features of psychopathy, are associated with reduced activity in the amygdala. This is coupled with the fact that a less functional amygdala is associated with a psychopathic individual’s exhibition of antisocial behaviors, at least in part because he will not perceive the threat of punishment as a consequence of his actions. So whether it be the acts against other people or the acts of justice that may be carried out against the perpetrator, the psychopath will perceive both as less significant, as compared to a non-psychopathic individual. (Osumi et al., 2012)
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
Walsh, Zach and David S. Kosson. 2007. “Psychopathy and Violent Crime: A Prospective Study of the Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity.” Law and Human Behavior 31(2):209-229.
For this paper I plan to first define and outline the features of psychopathy. Then I will explore how traits of psychopathy are measured and present in children and adolescents and subsequently what relation there is between the expression of these traits in both 9childhood and adolescence and later criminality. Finally I plan to conclude my paper with possible interventions to help prevent persistent delinquent and criminal behavior as well as exploring any criticisms of measuring psychopathy and interventions in both adults and children.
Some of the most important information about psychopathy is that it is a personality disorder. These people are usually charming the way into people’s life to use and manipulate them to get what they want. These people do not have a soul of remorse for what they do because all they care about is themselves and what they can get from others. When these people using their charm they ma...