Psychopathic Behavior In Adulthood

1.) Introduction

My research paper discovers if there is a link between early childhood physical abuse and psychopathic behaviour in adulthood. My sources allowed me to gather information about many different theories regarding if there is a relationship between the above variables. If so, how likely is the chance of abused children become psychopaths as adults?

My research will include studying the early childhood of notorious psychopaths, such as; John Wayne Gacy Jr. He was born to submissive mother and to a father who is both an alcoholic and an abuser. Gacy and his siblings would be physically assaulted whenever his father thought that he or his siblings were misbehaving. Gacy became a serial rapist and killer of young men as the result

Craparo, A. Schimmenti, V. Caretti (European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2013)

The source is a study done on a group of violent offenders from Italy in order to determine the effect of physical trauma/neglect in childhood on the development of psychopathic behaviour in adulthood. The source investigates 22 criminal offenders who, at some stage in their lives, have had a traumatic (physical) experience. The scientists conducting the experiment used the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R) which measures the presence of psychopathic tendencies in an individual by “checking” a number of personality traits. The study found that the offenders who experienced early childhood physical trauma scored the highest in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—revised test.

The sample group is of a minimal number and the experiment was only completed once, which decreases the accuracy of results. The source, however, is trustworthy because the experimenters assessed criminal offenders with different criminal misdemeanours and childhood physical trauma experiences. This ensures that the results could apply to any person who has been traumatised physically in their

The study was used as a doctorate qualification, which means the source is set at a good standard. The authors who wrote it both have PhDs in psychology, and they are highly cited by many other authors around the world. Although the source was written in 1999, it is often referred to by other sources to do with this topic, this makes the source a reliable source.

2.3) Early Abuse and the Subtypes of Psychopathy

A. Cook (Master's thesis, Pacific University, 2010)

The source discusses the relevancy of childhood physical trauma in the development of psychopathic behaviour. The authors concluded that the sample inmates whom acquired the highest Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R) scores were found to be those whom had suffered intense childhood physical abuse.

The study implies that the type of physical abuse endured is not a factor in calculating the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R).

The source is dependable because it is written by a Master’s student in the School of Professional Psychology at Pacific University. The source uses citations as evidence to prove the above thesis. The source contains more than one successful experiment to demonstrate the role played by childhood physical trauma in the progression of a psychopath. Therefore, the source is