Analysis: Into The Mind Of A Psychopath

Into the Mind of a Psychopath “Psychopaths are found in every segment of society, and there is a good chance that eventually you will have a painful or humiliating encounter with one. Your best defense is to understand the nature of these human predators” (Hare) The mysteriousness and complexity of psychopathy have a compelling and almost fascinating nature. Psychopaths, often portrayed as geniuses with dark and twisted minds and blunted by the incapacity to feel engage in society, due to sensationalized perspective from the media create a false representation. The lack of knowledge and understanding that surrounds this disorder reflects its complexity. Psychopathy is a more nuanced classification of antisocial personality disorder, encompassing

These individuals at their very core, lack the capability to establish emotional connections with other people, the ability to empathize, and have not broken from reality. Researchers continue to investigate the etiology, symptoms, and potentials of treatment in psychopathy. This still remains a diagnostic challenge due to its unique and complex nature. The sensationalized images of serial killers in the media and news portray psychopathy as some sort of debilitating mental illness however, psychopathy under the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is characterized as a type of antisocial personality disorder. The term psychopathy was initially introduce in the late 1800’s from its Greek roots psyche and pathos meaning “sick mind” or “suffering soul”, a time where the condition was initially considered a type of moral insanity. This changed with a major advancement in the 20th century, largely in part due to the work of psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Hervey Cleckley in his book, The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality. Cleckley proposed 16 specific traits characterizing

Before considering the different forms of treatment, proper diagnosis is essential in any psychological disorder. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) is a diagnostic tool created by Robert D. Hare, Ph.D., one of the world’s foremost experts in the area of psychopathy, and was initially designed to identify the degree of a person’s psychopathic tendencies. After revision, the checklist is now used for diagnosing psychopathy in individuals for clinical, legal, and/or research purposes. The test lists 20 psychopathy-related characteristics covering interpersonal relationships, emotional involvement, evidence of immoral activity/social defiance, and lifestyle (e.g. grandiose estimation of self, pathological lying, shallow affect, cunning and manipulativeness, parasitic lifestyle, impulsivity). The PCL-R consists of not only a structured interview but a review of the patient’s history as well. Each of the traits are scored at a number 0-2, a score of 30 or higher indicates psychopathic personality traits and is diagnosed as psychopathic. In comparison, a person without these traits would score on average a 5 or 6. The Psychopathy Checklist is rapidly being adopted worldwide as the standard instrument for researchers and clinicians. Although there is no definitive treatment for psychopathy, there are intervention strategies and therapies in efforts to treat but not cure. If the hypothesized theory of the etiology behind the subtypes of