CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

Criminal Behavior

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation
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Introduction

Criminal behavior, such as violent and antisocial behavior, is considered a major social

problem with complex causes. It is known that a myriad of environmental, social, and

psychological factors are associated with an increased risk of convictions for this type of

criminality.

Discussion

Criminal behavior

Criminal behavior, especially violence, by the mentally ill has become a major public

issue in the Western world. In the context of an increasing crime, it has been identified that

mental illness is a significant contributory factor. Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder

characterized by lack of emotional response, poor behavioral controls, and deficiency of

empathy, commonly leading to persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behavior.

Several factors may impact one's functioning in responding to psychopathy; this includes;

Age; researchers who study personality disorders believe that the age-crime relationship reflects

no change in the underlying traits of callousness and egocentricity that forms one component of

psychopathy. Gender is another factor; research on psychopathy in women is sparse and assumes

that psychopathic features manifest equally across.

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

There are gender differences in the behavioral display of psychopathy, showing that

psychopathic women tend to express more emotional instability, verbal abuse, and aggression in

their family relations, while psychopathic men describe more criminal behavior and instrumental

violence (Lancel, 2016). A diverse psychopathy construct is shown in the diagnostic manual

DSM-5, in which it is conceptualized as an antisocial personality disorder.

Such characteristics lead psychopaths to deviate from social norms by acting immaturely,

abruptly, violating social rules, and engaging in certain antisocial behaviors—Cleckley

categorizes psychopaths as primary and secondary. Primary psychopaths have no apparent

anxiety or guilt after engaging in unethical behavior, while secondary ones report more frequent

aggressive behavior and less stress (Li,2020).In addition, the case psychotherapy in working with

culturally diverse patients is explored.

The mainstreaming of culture in research and clinical training in psychopathology is

highlighted, noting that each clinical interaction is cultural. Furthermore, psychopathy is

associated with reduced empathetic response. This deficit has been highlighted in several ways,

like their willingness to act in an antisocial manner with little evidence of concern for the impact

that such behavior may impact others.

Conclusion

Individuals with psychopathic personalities have a disproportionate impact on the

criminal justice system. Psychopaths have twenty to twenty-five times more likely than non-

psychopaths to be in prison.
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References

Essemyr, K. (2018, March 6). Gendered Expressions of Psychopathy: Correctional Staffs’

Perceptions of the CAPP and CABP Models. Taylor & Francis.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14999013.2018.1431337

Li, S. (2020, March 9). Criminal behavior. Https://Www.Dovepress.Com/the-Characteristics-of-

Moral-Judgment-of-Psychopaths-the-Mediating-Eff-Peer-Reviewed-Fulltext-Article-

PRBM. https://www.dovepress.com/the-characteristics-of-moral-judgment-of-

psychopaths-the-mediating-eff-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-PRBM