During the McCoy murder case he was formally diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial personality disorder, also can be called sociopathy, is a mental condition in which a person constantly shows that they have no regard for right and wrong and ignore the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They show no guilt or remorse for their behavior. Gacy said that after his first killing
Psych terms used in movie Antisocial Personality Disorder is described as the long disregard of human rights displayed by an individual. This is seen with Hannibal and Buffalo by both having a disregard for human rights by killing and dismantling their victims bodies.
When you have ASPD you won’t always end up being a serial killer, but in Gacy’s case he did. When you have ASPD you might be manipulative, deceitful and reckless, and most likely won’t care about other peoples feelings. People, like Gacy, might end up getting ASPD because of difficult family circumstances. There parents having misused alcohol, been abusive to their family, or said very hurtful things to them during their childhood. When you have these difficulties during your childhood you will end up having behavioral problems during adolescence and
Individuals who score high of the PCL-R have limited range of depth feelings, meaning that psychopaths usually do not feel depressed. In fact, individuals who had suicidal tendencies tend to score lower in the “shallow affect” symptom. On the hand, PCL-R Factor 2 focused on the antisocial factor which indicates whether the individual has violated norms or laws. Some symptoms include early behavioral problems, lack of realistic goals, irresponsible, juvenile delinquency, early behavioral problems, etc. Dixon Jr may have scored higher in Factor 2 due to his juvenile delinquency record and his aggression towards the inmates during the beginning of his sentencing.
Those who suffer with ASPD will often behave violently and impulsively, and they often violate the law, therefore they are most likely to become involved in criminal behaviour due to the traits that they have. John Wayne Gacy’s case provides a convincing example of how anti-social personality disorder can have a major influence and contribution to criminal behaviour, particularly in the context of serial murder (Hatchett, 2015). Anti-social behaviour is characterised by an extensive pattern, where they don’t consider morals and the rights of others, other traits include impulsivity, irresponsibility, and lack of empathetic emotions (McEvoy, 2023). Gacy’s actions and crimes, looking at his repeated sexual assaults and murders, show a key alignment with these features of the ASPD. He used his ability to manipulate and coerce his victims and had no thought for their well-being as he raped and murdered them.
“Special Report: Antisocial Personality Disorder—the Patient in Need ...” Psychiatric News, 23 Nov. 2022, https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2022.12.12.20. Black, Donald W. “The Antisocial Murderer: Gacy and Others.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Dec. 2021, https://academic.oup.com/book/37208/chapter-abstract/327500176?redirectedFrom=fulltext. Black DW.
Antisocial personality disorder is described to be the tendencies to disregard and violate the rights of others around them. (Psychologytoday.com, 2017) There are many symptoms to look at for the mental illness. The DSM-5 lists many traits that people carry with them when having the illness much like Randle McMurphy. Randle was arrested and sent to work on the work farms for statutory rape.
For example, if a hardened criminal (that is in prison for armed robbery) stole money in order to provide for his family (a sense of responsibility), then that criminal does not possess antisocial personality disorder. Furthermore, those that do have antisocial personality disorder may begin to show symptoms during childhood; however, the disorder cannot be diagnosed until
According to Cleveland, “Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental health condition marked by a long-term pattern of distrust and suspicion of others without adequate reason to be suspicious (paranoia). People with PPD often believe that others are trying to demean, harm or threaten them” (Cleveland). This article provides a clear explanation of paranoia, showing that people with paranoia have distrust in others and are afraid that people are out to harm them. Paranoia can change someone from a rational human being to someone who is prone to violence and
Daisy suffers from an eating disorder and she is antisocial. Antisocial personality disorder is one of the chronic mental disorders where the person is the view about others is very callous. Lisa is a sociopath. A sociopath is a person having extreme antisocial behaviors towards someone. Janet is anorexic.
In Just Mercy, a veteran named Herbert Richardson suffered from “PTSD that continued to undermine his ability to manage his behavior” which eventually led to him committing a crime (Stevenson 74). This shows that people with mental disorders have no control over their behavior, so committing a crime is not their intention. They are unable to manage themselves properly and lack the conscious understanding to make decisions. People who struggle with a mental disorder “are somewhat more likely than members of the general public to commit acts of violence, research shows” (DeAngelis 6). This reveals that their mental state has a huge affect on their behavior.
Silence of the Lambs Mental Health Analysis Silence of the Lambs explores the life of a psychiatrist with antisocial personality disorder who has a connection to a serial killer that is under investigation. While some of the characteristics presented in this movie correlate to those on the DSM-V for a person with antisocial personality disorder it creates a stigma and fear against people with mental illnesses. During the interviews Hannibal Lector shows many symptoms commonly observed in people with antisocial personality disorder and the facility shows the lack of resources and therapy for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Main Characters and Their relationship in the Presented Environment Lecter was interviewed by a training FBI agent Starling in a case of an old patient of
Next, I would use the big four to assess the convicts antisocial history and look for indicators of antisocial personality pattern through criminal attitudes, impulsiveness, aggression, poor problem solving skills, and psychotic symptoms. I would evaluate the offender 's values, beliefs, and rationalizations for indication of antisocial cognitions that support crime. Furthermore, I would look for antisocial associates that encourage participation in criminal behavior. Through the central eight risk factors, I would collect information regarding the individual 's family and marital circumstances to see if antisocial behavior is rejected or supported. To evaluate the individual 's quality of relationships and performance within social settings, I can look to school and vocation circumstances.
Furthermore, the psychology of criminal behavior, psychology, and criminology all have a primary objective of achieving an understanding of the variation in the criminal behavior of individuals (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Empirically, the study of variation in criminal behavior is done by the studying of covariates (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). The primary covariates that PCC studies are biological, social, and psychological (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Although, criminology tends to assess criminality at an aggregate level, in comparison to the psychology of criminal conduct’s focus on an individual level. Additionally, a psychology of criminal conduct involves applying what is learned by the studying of psychological information and methods to the predicting and influencing the propensity of criminal behavior on an individual
Where external and internal factors play a part and they are fated to be a criminal. The scientific grounds are offenders and people who have not yet offended can be given help, and they can be diagnosed by experts and receive treatment needed to not offend (Cavadino, 2007
