Rebecca Taylor LaBrode discusses in her article, “Etiology of the Psychopathic Serial Killer: An Analysis of Antisocial Personality Disorder, Psychopathy, and Serial Killer Personality and Crime Scene Characteristic," LaBrode discusses the treatment available to individuals with psychological disorders, and she connects personality disorders that come from children with past traumatic events, but she also states that the disorder can be treated from an early stage in life. Labrode specifically says,…
My favorite movie is called seven psychopaths and it is written and directed by Martin Mcdonna. The things I love about this film is how the dialog was written mainly because its as if the characters speak whats on they're minds no matter how mean or insensitive what the had to say was. Even though the other parts of the movie werent very realistic it seems like thats how people seem to speak to eacother in real…
Psychopathy is defined by three domains they are an interpersonal style characterized by arrogance, manipulation, and deceit; a behavioral style characterized by impulsivity and irresponsibility; and an affective experience characterized by shallow emotions and a lack of empathy (Sadhu, 2015). Neumann, Hare, and Newman (2007) suggest that psychopathy involves a four factor model which are an interpersonal factor that includes superficial charm, grandiosity, pathological lying and manipulation; an affective factor that includes callousness, lack of remorse, shallowness and failure to accept responsibility; an impulsive lifestyle factor that comprises impulsivity, sensation seeking and irresponsibility; and an antisocial factor that involves…
Their studies had even fewer participants than Macdonald’s original study; the FBI only used 36 murderers, 25 of which were serial killers, and no non-violent criminals as controls. Even with this small amount of data theories were developed and articles published. They did, however, add some subject background data that may provide further clues to predictors. They found most, three quarts, had single and/or indifferent parents growing up, three quarters had atypical sexual desires, and that three quarters had been abused (Brice,…
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched is a psychopath. This is shown through her lack of empathy or remorse while allowing the aides to be cruel to the patients, her attempts at intimidation and her ways of not settling for anything less than what she wants. First, Nurse Ratched is a psychopath because she shows no signs of empathy or remorse towards the patients. During the novel, Nurse Ratched allows the aides to get away with anything they please. One example of this happening is when the narrator portrays what has happened to the past patient, Mr. Taber: “The nurse comes down the hall, smearing Vaseline on a long needle, then pulls the door shut so they’re out of sight for a second, then comes right back out, wiping the…
This research article discusses psychopathy as a personality disorder that has certain elements that the offender must meet before being clarified as psychopathic. This further helps to define and understand the role in which psychopathy plays within criminal profiling. This article coincides with other articles to further back up the findings from them as well.…
Human fascination with the dark and twisted minds of criminals is not a new concept. For years, humans have tried to understand what draws people to commit terrible acts. When looking at crime as a whole, each case is vastly different in motivation, execution, and the effects they have on the culprit. The one unifying factor that does exist between crimes ranging from shoplifting to murder is the overwhelming presence of personality disorders that can motivate criminal behavior or justify it for those responsible.While personality disorders impact the behaviors and mindsets of all victims, those with paranoid, narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders share the closest connection to delinquency. The mental toll each disorder takes…
Hare, R.D. (1980). A research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations. Personality and Individual Differences, 1,111-119.…
Psychopathy is a personality disorder, mainly characterized by a lack of remorse or empathy, and is highly associated with antisocial behavior alongside other symptoms (Pozzulo, 301). Research shows that psychopathy can develop during childhood and adolescence (Pozzulo, 314). Psychologists are able to present to court the most probable criminal behavior of an young offender, as well as how specific models of psychopathy should be addressed, and how the offender should be punished including specific aspect of the sentence. However, psychologists’ expert testimonies labeling an offender as psychopath can lead to biased jurors’ sentences. Moreover, psychology is far from a perfect science and therefore contains many contradictions on psychopathy…
These statistics illustrate the idea that nature rarely operates without nurture. Dr. J. Reid Meloy, author of The Psychopathic Mind: Origins, Dynamics, and Treatment, states “the psychopath is only capable of sadomasochistic relationships based on power, not attachment. Psychopaths identify with the aggressive role model, such as an abusive parent, and attack the weaker, more vulnerable self by projecting it onto others.” Dr. Meloy goes even further by saying that these environmental factors can hold sway over the predisposed, genetically different mind of the serial killer in infancy. An infant will start to look inward for after experiencing too many neglectful and painful experiences. In normal development a child bonds with the mother figure for nurturing and love, for a psychopath the mother is often seen as an “aggressive predator or a passive stranger.” This can be because she is overbearing and too protective, or because perhaps the father is abusive and she does nothing to intervene. Of course there are a plethora of reasons this could happen to the developing child, those are just a few examples. The father figure in a serial killers environment looms large too as…
Psychological Explanation is based on someone's mental behavior. A person's personality and learning factors can cause them to commit a crime. According to some early childhood experiences it can have a major effect on personality and development. Also according to Psychological Explanation crime is stemmed from abnormal urges and desires.…
Researchers have noted that there appear to be at least two different conceptions of psychopathy, each with differing policy implications. Jennifer L. Skeem et al. distinguished Cleckleyan psychopathy (named after Hervey Cleckley's early conception of…
Serial killing as a phenomenon has been apart of the United States’ history for many years. Serial killers have been typically defined as individuals who have murdered a minimum of three to four people over a period of time with a ‘cooling off’ period between each murder (Wittington-Egan, 2008). There are various theories that give insight into why individuals become serial killers. One of the most prevalent theories being the idea that psychological disorders contribute to one’s likeliness to kill, the most frequent being antisocial personality disorder. Furthermore, through copious amounts of research, one can conclude that the population at the highest risk of becoming serial killers is males diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.…
Other studies have sought to assess factors that are associated with recidivism of offenders diagnosed with serious mental illnesses. A study by Harris, Quinsy & Rice (1993) on violent recidivism of mentally ill offenders found substantial differences between recidivists and non-recidivists in the areas of socioeconomic status and childhood aggression. Another major finding from their study was that “age and psychopathy” had an influence on violent recidivism. With the exception of psychopaths, the risk of reoffending decreased with…
The traditional male serial killer is often thought to be a white, extremely smart and evil individual. However, this commonly held belief has proved to be false, as many serial killers often only poses average intelligence (Hickey, 2015). Furthermore, a shocking 52 percent of serial killers are African American, a statistic that many people in the general public would…