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Essay Annotated Bibliography Criminal and Non-Criminal Psychopathy
White collar criminals vs street criminals
Investigation of psychopathy
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What is a psychopath? When we think of a psychopath we think of names like Ted Bundy, the Zodiac Killer and other famous murderers that stole the spotlight throughout their violent criminal careers. In reality Psychopathy is traditionally defined as a personality disorder characterized by antisocial behavior, lack of empathy or remorse, and bold behavior. Although no psychiatric or psychological organization has sanctioned a diagnosis titled "psychopathy", assessments of psychopathic characteristics are widely used in criminal justice settings and the corrections system to determine an offender’s likelihood to re-offend if released. Research also continues today into weather psychopathy is an actual mental problem or possibly a combination …show more content…
Identifying such psychopaths is not easy. One reason for this is that in our culture some psychopathic traits are considered admirable, and are rewarded by society. Such traits include: fearlessness, cunning and social adeptness. These traits can be argued to be beneficial in some cases thereby raising the idea that a benevolent psychopath could exist. For example a psychopathic doctor is unlikely to develop a nervous hand tremor. A psychopathic Special Forces operative is unlikely to hesitate during an assault. A psychopathic undercover narcotics detective is unlikely to betray himself with anxiety. Those are a few examples of some good the personality can affect but in more cases the general consensus in dealing with a White Collar Psychopath the initial meeting is pleasant and over time an atmosphere of fear and intimidation exists. The term white collar crime refers to financially motivated non-violent offenses. Most studies involving White Collar Psychopaths involve criminal activities. Those offenses include embezzling, high profile thefts and what has been referred to as romance crimes or those involving financial fraud with a romantic partner. The studies are valid but of all the criminal cases there are many more individuals that could be classified as White Collar Psychopaths that do not offend.
Psychopaths that exist in the corporate and private world and are adept at making themselves an integral part of any corporation or family these are the White Collar Psychopaths, but what kind of damage do they do and how do they work their way in with generally no friction at
His victims of choice were young, college age, women ( Gerdes 128). He was in
The psychopath know the reasons behind acting a certain way and just don't think about the consequences. Even in the DSM-IV clear definitions of a psychopath doe not exist but the closes to diagnose is anti-social personality disorder. Dr. Hare instead developed the Psychopathy Checklist for people to diagnose psychopathy. The first part of the Psychopathy Checklist looks at the emotional and interpersonal traits of the disorder(Hare, 1993). Some of the emotional qualities that the clinician would look for is as followed: glib/superficial, egocentric/grandiose and lack of empathy.
One trait that psychopaths have is an overblown sense of self-worth (Baker). Robert Hare, the leading specialist in psychiatry, has made a psychopathy checklist to determine if someone has psychopathic tendencies. The second trait of his list is “Inflated view of his abilities and self-worth Psychopaths
Ted Bundy is without a doubt one of the most notorious serial killers America has ever known. Active from 1974 to 1978, Ted Bundy has been linked to at least 36 murders but it is widely believed that he slaughtered more than 100 women. Ted Bundys victims were sexually assaulted then slaughtered. The locations of his kills were Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Florida, Idaho, and Vermont.
...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.
The Zodiac Killer is one of the most popular murders. The fact that made him so infamous was that The Zodiac Killer was never identified. The mysterious killer was never caught and jailed for his crimes. The FBI have looked for the killer for decades, but still, even to this day, could not find him. The whole mystery of the killer and the name of the killer has made him popular across the United States. The Zodiac Killer was a mysterious killer, and he had a very unique way of going about the murders.
Does the name Ted Bundy ring a bell? A Handsome smart and conniving young man that’s responsible for about forty murders between 1964 through 1978. Ted (Theodore) Bundy was born November 24, 1946 in Burling, Vermont. Mother Eleanor Cowell was at the stage in her life where she was a single mother that could take care of her child. So she let her parents step in and raise young Theodore. With this happening Theodore grew up believing his birth mother was his sister and his grandparents where his parents.
Much is unknown about the Zodiac killer, but given what is known about serial killers in general, this man was probably born between 1938 and 1943. That would make his age between 25 and 30 years old at the time of his first murder in Vallejo, California, in 1968. Also, that age estimate works with witness statements and it's supported by Zodiac's references to his victims in younger terms in his letters of 1969. Zodiac wasn't an attractive character from what we know. He may have had to wear glasses throughout his youth and his facial features weren't all that pleasing. So overall he may have been unpopular as a young boy and spent a good deal of time alone. It seems as though rejection is a big issue for Zodiac. No one knows anything about the Zodiac's parents but it wouldn't be ridiculous to say that there was domestic violence, broken relationships with parents or guardians, and maybe even a physical or sexual abuse in the household. Considering the adult outcome, Zodiac would have turned out to be an angry, withdrawn, loner, whose adolescence just could have been filled with fantasies and irrationality.
What is a psychopath? What type of person can be characterized by this and how do they come to be? But first before we can answer these questions we must first know what a psychopath is. Psychopaths are people suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviors; clinically it is a person who has a lack of what we would consider a conscience. Psychopaths are seen to suffer from a lack of empathy because of psychological, genetic and environmental factors. Scientists have many theories concerning psychopaths. Scientist do not have a definite clear cut answer on what is the cause for psychopathy but they have many ideas; nature and the nurture of the person. Nature is the genes that the person carries. The nurture of the person when they were a child is simply means how they were treated when they were growing up and/or how they were raised. Some scientists even consider it a possibility that it could be a mixture of the two.
A serial killer is a person who has killed three or more people over a month apart. Their motivation for killing is usually based on psychological issue.(Sanmartín,2001) In the U.S, the most reported serial killers are lower middle class white males, usually in their late twenties to early thirties (Skrapec,2001). Serial killers, often, are liars. They have no sense of remorse or guilt. Most of the time they are not in serious relationship or have any emotional obsession to any one person, besides their victims. Most of the well-known serial killers are: Robert Pickton, Charles Manson, Anthony Sowell, Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, The Green River Killer, and The BTK murderer. (Sanmartín,2001). Often, women were never seen as even a suspect
Sociopaths are prevalent among society, and some researchers, like Martha Stout, claim that one out of every twenty-five people is a sociopath. However, this statistic is incorrect. This statistic is based on the assumption that sociopaths and psychopaths are the same people—which is untrue. While the sociopathic and psychopathic traits overlap, sociopaths differ in that they are obviously nervous and agitated, unable to create the illusions that psychopaths are so proud of. They live on the fringes of society, uneducated and unable to keep a steady job. Psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are suave and able to maintain an illusion of conformity and maintain relationships on a superficial level. Both, however, are dominantly male, tend to disregard the rights and social mores of others, and have a tendency display violent and disruptive outbursts without remorse. Unlike psychopaths, who completely lack remorse and the ability to love, sociopaths may attach themselves to certain people, though they still remain contemptuous of the rest of humanity (7).
The definition of a psychopath is a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. The label “psychopath” cannot be placed on a child who is developing emotionally, mentally, or physically. A child’s brain is finished developing way past their teenage years. Most of the time when a child would be considered a psychopath is parents did not teach their children proper respect and they lacked parenting skills. The child just repeated what they saw and knew and continued to do wrong things throughout their life because they didn’t know until it was too late.
Ted Bundy was an American born rapist, a necrophile; a serial killer and a kidnapper who assaulted and murdered several young women during the 1970’s. The criminal kept on denying the charges for more than ten years and later confessed of having committed the thirty homicide crimes in seven different states before his execution (Rule, 2009). Bundy’s handsome and charismatic appearance made it possible for him to easily win the confidence of young women who were always his targets. He broke into the dwellings of his victims at night and bludgeoned them as they slept. He also approached young women in public places where he impersonated as an authority figure or feigned injury on his victim before empowering and assaulting at a more secluded area where he left them dead (Rule, 2009).
In the San Francisco Bay area, as well as in the rest of California, the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s was a time of terror and fear. What started out as a seemingly random, but brutal murder on the night of October 30th, 1966, turned out to be the start of a series of horrific murders that would span 2,500 suspects, 56 possible victims, and over 400 miles. On the calm, cool night of December 20th, 1968, a young seventeen year-old named David Arthur Faraday was getting ready to take a young sixteen year-old named Betty Lou Jensen on her first date.
The media most often showcases psychopaths as individuals who are inherently evil and dangerous towards themselves and others. Yet, this concept of psychopathy goes far beyond this idea of pure evil and instead necessitates a needed psychological understanding. These individuals, psychopaths, are generally characterized by a lack of empathy and conscience. Indeed, psychopath’s indifference to the repercussions of their actions combined with other characteristics such as hostility and aggression make for a potentially dangerous personality (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In order to identify a psychopath’s recidivism, it is important to differentiate them from sociopaths who, instead of having a psychological impairment that makes it difficult for them to socialize, have been systematically under socialized (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In accordance. psychologists have developed the methods such as the Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) to help identify those with psychopathic tendencies (Walters, 2012, p.409). That is why predictions of recidivism among psychopaths is most efficient when done