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Psychopathy and criminality
Serial killers research paper
Thesis on the different types of serial killers
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The media generally portrays the prototypical serial killer through the lens of two extremes. They can either have an incapacitating mental illness or be brilliant, but severely troubled, geniuses. Yet, neither of these two stereotypes are accurate, as serial killers generally display signs of psychopathy, which is not considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. Despite the erroneousness of Hollywood’s movies and television shows, many psychologists and lawmakers are still considering the degree to which psychopaths can be considered responsible for their actions. In “Psychopathy and Culpability: How Responsible Is the Psychopath for Criminal Wrongdoing?” researchers Adam R. Fox, Trevor H. Kvaran, and Reid Griffith Fontaine attempt to draw conclusions from evidence on whether or not psychopaths meet the criteria for full criminal responsibility. Other researchers, such as Scott E. Culhane, Sage M. Hilstad, Adrienne Greng, and Matt J. Gray, use a case study to demonstrate that psychopathy is not synonymous with serial killers and that mental illness cannot necessarily be used in criminal cases to justify murder in their research paper titled “Self-Reported Psychopathology in a Convicted Serial Killer.” In the remaining two articles …show more content…
These character traits allow the psychopath to commit his atrocious acts. However, because the psychopath is rendered incapable of moral reasoning, the criminal legal system has a problem in justifying the punishment of one, as psychopathy intervenes with the person’s ability to be a normally functioning adult. Currently, psychopathy is not recognized as a mental illness by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR. Most psychopaths end up being diagnosed with ASPD, or Antisocial Personality
However, Glenn and Raine (2014) argue that the emotional deficits characteristic of psychopaths diminish their rational capacity, making them unable to be held accountable for the rash and harmful decisions. Additionally, psychopaths may display knowledge of right and wrong, however their understanding is substantially compromised (Maibom 2005). Therefore, because they cannot understand moral emotions, moral transgressions fail to motivate them and they cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. They treat moral transgressions as equal to conventional transgressions (Levy 2008); to them, they are merely breaking the rules. And although breaking the rules begets consequences, a short attention span prevents psychopaths from anticipating consequences. Nevertheless, say, for example, a psychopath on a different portion of the spectrum is aware of the consequences. In this case, they would be still be indifferent because their feelings of grandeur lead them to believe that they are removed from punishment (Gao, Glenn, Schug, Yang, Raine 2009). For these reasons, many argue that psychopaths should not be held responsible for their behaviors.
“Some werewolves are hairy on the inside.” Stephen King, a famous horror film writer and director, knows that serial killers are some of most evil but unrecognizable people in society. Walking down the street, serial killers go completely unnoticed. This “under the radar” way of living is what makes them very dangerous. Serial killers appear entirely normal on the outside, but it is what is on the inside that makes them unlike everybody else. Inside is where their minds are altered to accept all the morally unacceptable things that they do. Most of the evils they think and do root from abnormalities in their brains, or other imbalances in their bodies. Whether additional faults accompany their irrational behavior or not, serial killers are their own kind of human being.
According to Egan, serial killers may be grouped as psychotics or psychopaths. Psychotics are limited in number in the most of societies in the world. Th...
In The Psychopath Test, an inspired reporter retells his journey of uncovering the details of psychopathy and its controversy. Jon Ronson profiles incredible cases and controversial treatment demonstrating the ambiguity of psychopathy and the commonality of self-diagnosis. He asked the question “What does it mean to be a psychopath?”. Ronson's work is an extensive look at the bigger questions that society has about psychopathy, including some of its history. The American Psychological association does not address psychopathy the same way Ronson does in his book. The APA often refers to psychopathy as Antisocial Personality Disorder: characterized by a pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others by an adult. Psychopaths are
Serial killers are the byproduct of many different things: trauma, death of loved ones, abuse, neglect, adoption, and even witnessing abuse (Are Serial). Serial killers have had to endure a massive amount of something such as trauma or abuse to an unimaginable extent to become what they are; the extent of the abuse, the trauma, the psychological damage they endure is incomprehensible to many. The destruction of one’s innocence can occur at any given time in his or her life, but he or she is more impressionable in his or her youth by the negativism of someone else’s actions (Scott, Shirley L. What Makes Serial Killers Tick ~ Childhood Event). People are susceptible to what they endure in their adolescence, and cruel upbringings, such as that of a serial killer’s, are possibly the determinant of their future.
Robert D. Hare’s book Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us focuses on psychopathy in our society. In the book, the author highlights the characteristics of psychopaths in a simple manner that are understandable to an everyday reader. Psychopaths are individuals who are deceitful and manipulative and they don’t care who they hurt. Hare points out his personal experience with psychopath in prison that eventually lead him to create The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. In the Checklist, Hare emphasizes characteristics that makes someone a psychopath such as “shallow emotions, deceitful and manipulative behavior, lack of guilt, lack of empathy, impulsiveness, poor behavior control, lack of responsibility, need for excitement, early behavior problems, glib and grandiose behavior” (Hare 1993, p. 34). The author employs detailed interviews and a close study of psychopaths to research and create an instrument that could help detect psychopathy. In the book, Hare goes further to provide
Kent Kiehl from the University of New Mexico, says, “one in one hundred people is a serial killer” A deep experiment and deep understanding definition of a serial killer varies from brain functions, and how the different compartments work with each other to make the person who they are. From a start the separation from a serial killer to an average person begins with the Amygdala, two nuggets of tissue one at each half of the brain, this is the Brains Central Command Center, yet they are no bigger than a thumbnail, and is what processes the emotions of any act the human has committed. Research has now proven that there is another part of the brain that helps the Amygdala processes and respond to the actions, Is called the Frontal Lobe, one out of five lobes and this lobe helps to reason, make judgments, make plans for the near and far future, take action and problem solving. When the Amygdala and the Frontal Lobe work together, they send out signals to the body to react to certain situations, which not only varies from Serial Killer to an average person, it also varies from people to people. The function of these two parts of the brain, is what causes a person to feel guilty when they did something wrong, from stealing a cookie from the cookie jar to the first time skipping school and get caught. For example, if somebody had purposely broken a window, a state of panic comes into play and the person feels guilty, no matter how much they apologize, they still have the constant thought of “oh no, what have I done?”, however Serial Killers don’t have the state of panic. The Studies have shown that the Amygdala and the Frontal Lobe of the body, don’t necessarily communicate as properly like those of average people and that a Serial Kil...
...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.
Psychopathy is characterized by “deception, manipulation, irresponsibility, impulsivity, stimulation seeking, poor behavioral controls, shallow affect, lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse, a callous disregard for the rights of others, and unethical and antisocial behaviors” (Bonn). Psychopathic killers often disregard human life so they can achieve their own goals. They don’t feel the emotions that regular people would. Ted Bundy is an example of a killer who was influenced by his mental health. Bundy has been credited saying that his family was not to blame for his crimes. In fact, his last words were “Jim and Fred, I'd like you to give my love to my family and friends.” Jim was his lawyer and Fred was a minister he had talked to all night about his upcoming execution. He was raised in a normal home and lived a seemingly normal life. His psychopathy seems to be the main reason for his killing; however, his home life was not as normal as he let on. His mother had him at a young age, so his grandparents raised him as their own and he believed his mother was his sister. This is enough to mess with anyone, but he refuses to blame anyone but himself for his crimes. He maintains that his childhood was happy, so did his family have more of an effect on him than he thought or was his mind to blame? Psychopathy is not the only illness that
It’s not a big surprise that knowing how to identify psychopaths and what they’re capable of can greatly benefit authoritative figures that deal with them on a daily basis. For example if authorities understand behavioral traits psychopaths generally possess it will be easier to design “interviewing and interrogation strategies” that have a better chance of success (Bonn, 2015). Without special training it would be highly difficult for law enforcement officers to obtain much needed information as a result of a psychopaths devious behaviors. Professionals belonging to the criminal justice system will undoubtedly encounter psychopathic individuals in their line of work which further demonstrates the necessity behind understanding and evaluating psychopathy. For the first time in the DSM-5, or diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, the APA recognized psychopathy as a “specifier of antisocial personality disorder” (Bonn, 2015). An incredible accomplishment due to the fact that psychopathy is not an “officially accepted clinical diagnosis”, and the DSM-5 is a universal authority for the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders (Bonn,
Today 's society seems entranced by serial killers in the news and media. Because of the worldwide coverage on serial killers, forensic psychiatrists have taken an interest in these people and often interview them after they have been caught. There are multiple studies and reports of individuals who have committed serial murders but only a small amount of reports on adolescents who have shown serious fantasies about becoming serial killers prior to actualizing their fantasy. This paper explores the question that has been asked for centuries. That question is whether or not serial killers are born the kill or driven to murder. Many sources were used in reference to nature vs. nurture, and research on serial killers and if its genetics or decisions. With real life examples, this paper will attempt to answer the unanswerable.
A well-known personality disorder is psychopathy. Psychopathy’s shortened term “psycho” is often used as a slang term to mean crazy. Psychopathy is a real issue caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Psychopathic people have traits “common to some serial murderers, including sensation seeking, a lack of remorse or guilt, impulsivity, the need for control, and predatory behavior. These traits and behaviors are consistent with the psychopathic personality disorder” (Morton). Psychopathic tendencies are most common among killers. Although, “serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders, including psychopathy, anti-social personality, and others” (Morton). With psychopathy in a serial killer they feel they have a valid and justifiable reason for killing three or more people. With psychopathic killers feel their motives make their killing okay. Serial killers have “many other motivations for serial murders including anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking” (Morton). A common motive for serial killers is revenge. They feel that someone did them wrong, much like a person who was abused as a child. They feel they have a valid excuse for murdering the person that abused them or substitutes if they find that object of their rage unreachable. Another common motive is simply anger. With anger it is more often than not that they do not have a target. They are just angry and are willing to kill anybody to cope with it. Antisocial personality disorder is often in people who show “a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility” (Morton). Antisocial personality disorder is similar to psychopathic personality disorder yet, it remains different. The Behavior Analysis Unit at the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated, “Psychopathy is a personality disorder
Psychopathy is one of the most commonly misunderstood disorders present in todays society. However, this papers object is not to clear up said misunderstanding, or to determine whether it is right or wrong to behave with psychopathic tendencies, but to discuss different perspectives involved in evaluating psychopathy. People living in todays society consider the world to be black and white, although that is not the case. The world is full of grey areas as well, especially when considering the world of mental illness. Understanding this is key to understanding the reasons for all the different perspectives on psychopathy.
One ongoing controversy is whether if psychopathy is a genetic trait or if it is caused by environmental factor either trauma or the community. Researchers have said that those who have experienced child abuse and victimization have the likelihood of being violent and express sexually offending behavior as those traumas are considered risk factors. Empathy can be a genetic attribute or can even me progressed over time. In other words, it can be a motivated process that can be voluntary, which is why some suggest therapy. They also have said that therapy can help "rewire" this trait, yet it's counterproductive for many and can increase such behavior. Psychopathy has been associated with the antisocial disorder. Nevertheless, it can also consist of narcissistic, histrionic, and borderline disorder, which makes it difficult to categorize. Another thing researchers have noticed is that some psychopathic characteristics are adaptive and can be seen as helpful in society. What is meant by this is that having too much empathy can impede politicians' and police officers' ability to carry out their duties. Many in society have shown the opinion that those with mental illnesses have a clouded judgment and can't technically know what they are doing. Knowing this, some believe that those with psychopathy should excuse criminal responsibility and of course other say there is no excuse for committing a crime.
A psychopath is someone who is unable to live harmoniously in society due to their profound lack of compassion, empathy, conscience, and remorse (Hare, 1993). Many psychopathic symptoms have been proposed to result from cognitive and emotional processing impairments. The concept of a psychopath is often of a ruthless and dangerous criminal, an image commonly depicted in the media and film. Though psychopaths do make up an estimated 40% of dangerous offenders in Canada, it is the non-violent manipulators and cheaters, like white-collar criminals and unethical business people, who can have the most impact on the general population (Bonta & Motiuk; 1996, Hare, 1993). Therefore, understanding the cognitive bases and development of psychopathy can allow exploration into possible interventions and treatments, as well as identifying measures for use in diagnosing psychopathy in childhood and adolescence. Additionally, the deciphering of abnormal processes can give insight into normal functioning, thus helping to expand current knowledge. This paper reviews conclusions that processing of