...people think of a psychopath or sociopath they think of a person who is violent and has a lack of guilt. These traits are both true. But, a psychopath has many more characteristics that people see with the naked eye. Most psychopaths are anti-social and do not relate to others as normal people do. They usually plan out their violent attacks with no emotion or sympathy to what they do. To some people they get the tags “emotionless,” “fearless,” and “unstoppable.” The reason that psychopaths do not fear anything is because they somehow lack anxiety and feel that nothing matters to them. It is also hard to say what motivates a psychopath, could it be control or dominance possibly, but most psychopaths have had no long relationships with anyone in their lives or any purpose for the things they do other than planning violence. They tend to have a grandiose demeanor and an attitude of entitlement like other people owe them something. Certain brain disorders and hormonal imbalances make a person become a psychopath. There are four different types of psychopaths. First, there are primary psychopaths. This type of person does not respond to any type of punishment, apprehension, stress, or disapproval for the things that they do. For a primary psychopath, words to not connect to them like words would for a normal person. It is also unclear to scientist if they even understand the meaning of their own words and this is a condition known as “semantic aphasia.” These psychopaths have no life...
Words: 1221 - Pages: 5
...when that one percent is psychopaths, it becomes exponentially more influential. According to Robert Hare (Hare, Focus on Psychopathy, 2012), a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, that one percent of psychopaths also make up ten to fifteen percent of the offenders in the United States. He defines these people as “manipulative, deceptive, self-centered, lacking in empathy and guilt, callous, and remorseless.” (Hare, Focus on Psychopathy, 2012, p. 2) These people pose a serious potential problem to society when nonviolent. However when violent they are very dangerous and are easy to spot (e.g. Ted Bundy). They act in severe, harmful and often...
Words: 1302 - Pages: 6
...To this I would say that although it has been proven that psychopathic behavior is genetic, not all psychopaths go on to become serial killers (Brogaard, 2012, n.p.). Deutschman (2005) stated that psychopaths are “glib, charming, manipulative, deceitful, ruthless--and very, very destructive” (n.p.). When you think about these qualities does anyone come to mind? Maybe the person is not a technical psychopath, but putting it into perspective like this helps to see how common these characteristics are. Chivers (2014) raised the issue that you could possibly work with a psychopath and not even be aware of it. He went on to summarize a study done by criminal psychologist, Robert Hare and stated that Hare and “another researcher looked at 203 corporate professionals and found about four percent scored sufficiently highly on the PCL-R to be evaluated for psychopathy.” The PCL-R is a test created by Hare that evaluates a person to “determine whether someone is a psychopath” (n.p.). As far as the four percent goes, that means that about eight out of those two hundred and three people is a psychopath. This research proves that a person can have psychopathic traits and not be a serial killer. Although it has been proven that psychopathy can be genetic, it does not prove to be the only reason of why a person comes to be a serial...
Words: 1585 - Pages: 7
...If there’s one thing helpful to learn from psychology it’s the dangerous characteristics of these social predators, so that we can recognize them more easily and avoid them when possible. Unfortunately, their personality disorder often passes unnoticed until they commit a horrific crime. Some psychopaths would seem crazy to a normal person even from miles away, But most psychopaths move among us undetected. Brain scans found a critical connection between two regions of the brain, which controls behavior and aggression, is different in psychopaths which could explain their aggressive behavior. A psychopath is a person who has the tendency of manipulating people and using violence in addition to intimidation to gain control over others so as...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...Psychopaths Television and Hollywood are great at painting pictures of murderers and mean ugly people that do heinous things to innocent people that have no idea what they are in store for. Occasionally on some of the major criminal television shows like “Criminal Minds,” or “Law and Order,” they will tell a story that involves someone that is abused by a relative, neighbor, or a teacher. Even when this happens, it doesn’t paint a clear and concise picture of a criminal psychopath. Not all psychopaths are violent. In fact, many of them can function successfully in society. They are not all antisocial, but they are all very self-centered and everything that they do is to benefit them. “In short, psychopaths have a predatory quality to them, and in order to understand them, it is important to view them as classic predators” (Hare, 2009). Characteristics of Psychopaths There is no perfect way to describe a psychopath because they come in all shapes and sizes. Psychopaths can be either sex, surprisingly, almost one percent of the general male population are psychopaths. Some psychopaths are violent, and some are not. Some of them enjoy being the center of attention, and some are very antisocial and do not like being in crowds. “Psychopaths differ from each other, and their condition can vary in severity. Current research suggests a continuum of psychopath ranging from those who are highly psychopathic to persons who have the same number or fewer traits in a milder...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...Children Psychopaths In 1979, sixteen-year-old Brenda Spencer received a rifle for her birthday. She used it to shoot kids at an elementary school near her San Diego home, wounding nine and killing two. A reporter asked her later why she had done it. Her answer: "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." In 1993, two bodies were found on a country road in Ellis County, Texas. One was male, one female. The boy, 14, had been shot, but the 13-year-old girl had been stripped, raped, and dismembered. Her head and hands were missing. The killer turned out to be Jason Massey, who had decided he was going to become the worst serial killer that Texas had ever seen. He tortured animals, stalked another young woman, and revered killers like Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Henry Lee Lucas. He was nine years old when he killed his first cat. He added dozens more over the years, along with dogs and even six cows. He had a long list of potential victims and his diaries were filled with fantasies of rape, torture, and cannibalism of female victims. He was a loner who believed he served a "master" who gave him knowledge and power. He was obsessed with bringing girls under his control and having their dead bodies in his possession. Nine-year-old Jeffrey Bailey, Jr. pushed a three-year-old friend into the deep part of a motel pool in Florida in 1986. He wanted to see someone drown. As the boy sank to the bottom, Jeffrey pulled up a chair to watch. When it was finished, he went home....
Words: 7125 - Pages: 29
...According to Sang M Lee, computer abuse shows no sign of decline. The social structure theory can help prevent it by enhancing insiders involvement in computer abuse. Studies show that deterrence factors influence SDI and organizational factors significantly affect ICI and ICI decreases insiders’ abuse. Interestingly, SDI negatively affects both insiders and invaders abusers. According to Peter Marzuk, psychological disorders and persons with mental illnesses and personality disorders are strongly linked to crime? Marzuk notes that new studies of violence among the mentally ill are well designed and quite convincing. His studies do state that most people who have mental illnesses are not criminals., and the ones that are do not commit not violent crimes. Marzuk says, "In the last decade, the evidence showing a link between violence, crime, and mental illness has mounted. It cannot be dismissed; it should not be ignored." This research found that people with a background of psychiatric hospitalization were more likely to have been found guilty of a criminal offense than persons without a history of psychiatric hospitalization," a finding that was true for both men and women. According to Marzuk, depending on their sex and diagnostic categories, subjects with psychiatric hospitalization histories were three to 11 times more likely to have criminal convictions than those without such histories. Offenders with personality disorders and hospitalization backgrounds were convicted...
Words: 689 - Pages: 3
...Tereak Thomas Being a Psychopaths means you have no moral compass which means you have no reason to do the right thing. Psychopaths are closely compared to sociopaths but they have a very distinct difference that keeps sociopaths out of trouble unlike psychopaths. Sociopaths are not criminal by nature, you can argue that about psychopaths or anyone but, they are very charismatic and don’t have a moral compass like psychopaths. Sociopaths are independent thinkers and lack empathy so they can’t relate to others so they mostly isolate themselves. This isolation makes them a non-threat to society as a whole. Being a sociopath isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A NPR report about a real life sociopath debunks these rumors on sociopaths with her book. The differences between Psychopaths and Sociopaths might be small but it makes a difference in their behavior. Being said sociopath isn’t always good, but there isn’t much research on sociopathic behavior to show it has a “bad” side. In the report by NPR is done on M.E. Thomas who is a diagnosed sociopath and she talks about her experience as a sociopath. Her book is called Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight and she uses an alias because sociopaths are not viewed as positive by society’s standards. She reveals that most sociopaths “are not incarcerated and the silent majority often live freely and anonymously” “They’re your neighbors, colleagues, maybe even family members and lovers.” Most don’t make there presents...
Words: 560 - Pages: 3
...A Serial Killer’s Life Course Serial killing is at least as old as humanity itself. The study of serial killing, however, has only been around for the last few decades. As such, there has not been much investigation into the sociological or criminological precursors to serial killing. Because of this, I was interested to attempt to apply theory from the Developmental Life Course Perspective to the lives of serial murderers. Through the implementation of case studies, a pattern did, in fact, emerge that appeared to conform to the Perspective’s theory regarding entrance into, engagement in, and desistance from crime. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY A person with Antisocial Personality Disorder, also called APD, is popularly known as a psychopath...
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
...The Mind of a Psychopath Research on Psychopathy Disorder Randall Parker Jr St. Johns River State College When beginning my research on Psychopaths I believed that I would find an abundance of information and research on psychopaths and their behavior; however, after following my research I seen that Psychopaths are one of the most under studied disorders in society. Have you ever taken the time to really ask yourself what types of people really surround you in everyday society? Most people in society are fairly normal and then there are those that do not live amongst the social norms, they tend to break all barriers for what we would consider moral and just. People dealing with the disorder are display a lack of remorse or guilt associated...
Words: 721 - Pages: 3
...Serial Killer Psychology By Anna Davis Criminal psychology refers to the study of the mental and behavioral characteristics of people who break laws established by local, state, national or international governments. Some criminal, or forensic, psychologists focus their research on serial killers -- men and women who murder a large number of people over an extended period of time — typically months or years. What constitutes a serial killer is open to interpretation. In the United States, Congress has defined a serial killer as someone who murders a minimum of three or more people. By definition, a cooling-off period separates the murders, making them appear random or unconnected. The victims — often prostitutes, runaways or other vulnerable populations — rarely know their killer and may serve as a symbol that triggers the attack. In other words, a serial killer's motive tends to be psychological, not material. Understanding what goes on — or gets turned off — in a serial killer's mind is the ultimate goal of scientists who specialize in this area of psychology. You might think the field is relatively new, but it dates back to at least the 19th century, when psychologists tried to develop a profile of the mysterious and elusive Jack the Ripper. Antisocial Personality Disorder vs. Psychopathy Mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), developed by the American Psychiatric Association, to understand the illnesses...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
...The condition is very hard to spot and is completely untreatable if advanced. That being said it is entirely possible to prevent someone with a disposition of being a psychopath to convert in to a full grade psychopath. People with this condition exhibit lack of emotions or very shallow ones. Emotions such as shame, guilt and embarrassment aren’t present in the minds of these individuals. They tend to blame their faults on others, a process which is called "blame externalization". They show a lack of empathy towards any living creature which makes them be very "coldhearted", they tend to be selfish, egocentric, and extremely overconfident. But what really makes these individuals dangerous is that those traits combines can make a human being overly aggressive, violent and impulsive. They are smart and have are incredibly good at blending in with society and are very adept liars, meaning they can lie with all sense of truth in their words. So they appear to be completely normal and in many cases very charming and outgoing. All that combined with a sense of complete dominance makes the perfect killer. These are all the conditions needed to fill the lis of criteria as to what makes a psychopath, Dr. William Hirstein on psychologytoday.com says: " The current approach to defining sociopathy and the related concepts is to use a list of criteria. The first such list was developed by Hervey Cleckley (1941), who is known as...
Words: 1484 - Pages: 6
...Determinism or people with deterministic views believe one of two concepts. They either believe that environment and past experiences guide a person or they believe that genetics control a person. If Canter is correct then Matthew had no choice but to become a violent person. Surprisingly, this concept isn’t hard to believe. Matthew was a successful young man with one degree already under his belt and he was registered to be starting grad school. Even after murdering five people, nobody had anything bad to say about Matthew except the fact that they didn’t expect anybody, especially Matthew, to want to kill the five people that died that night. Matthew was already known to have some mental issues but he had been treated in high school for them. So why after so many years had Matthew decided to do something crazy and what made him do it? There were no provoking factors such as bullying or a dying parent. The only argument that makes sense is that Matthew had no control over his...
Words: 1343 - Pages: 6
... like Martin Blank, assert, “Uncle Charlie has […] corrupted Young Charlie’s innocence forever,”10 this analysis is incomplete. As the opening sequence suggests, Young Charlie was already discontent with her life in her family and hometown; thus her fall was inevitable. As Young Charlie begins to understand Uncle Charlie’s true nature—he is not a savior but rather a “charming psychopath”11—her idealism about life outside of Santa Rosa starts to crumble. In the end of the film, she is presented with potentially bleak choices: marry the detective, live inconsolably with her family, or risk a violent solitary life, like her uncle. Because she has already expressed her discontent with an “average” life in a small town, the marriage or life with her family would inevitably be oppressive, but the alternative is unfathomable. Her living in the house with Uncle Charlie as he tries to kill her is only a physical manifestation of this internal struggle. This reality—preserving the status quo or engaging in violent rebellion—has caused some critics, like James McLaughlin, to see the film as exposing the violent tension inherent in traditional family dynamics, especially for young women. To him, Uncle Charlie’s rage regarding widows is simply a fear of independent powerful women: “[rich widows] are regarded as inhuman and unnatural, unhinging both the social and natural orders.”12 Because she never agrees to marry Jack Graham, Young Charlie may “really [be] after the independence and power...
Words: 716 - Pages: 3
...Devoid of Empathy The Sociopath, often referred to as a Psychopath or as one having an anti-social personality sickness is a callous, remorseless, self-established man or woman. However these with this sickness aren't insane-they are completely conscious of what they're doing and what the consequences of their movements might be. They make their choices rationally, no longer out of delusion. Sociopaths lack what's referred to as the affective part of empathy meaning that they are mindful of how the other person is feeling or what they are thinking but they easily do not care. As they see it, folks are just objects to use for their possess gratification. They're manipulative and ruthless predators who most likely pick those people who are...
Words: 1150 - Pages: 5
