CHAPTER 3 – PSYCHOPATHY

➢ Define the concept “psychopath”.

➢ Distinguish between primary, secondary and dyssocial psychopaths.

➢ Distinguish between a psychopath and an antisocial personality disorder.

➢ Discuss the behavioural characteristics of the psychopath.

➢ Explain why psychopaths could be regarded as abnormal by comparing their behaviour with
that of normal persons.

➢ Why do psychopaths often commit crime and why do several land up in prison? Highlight
your answer by referring to the characteristics of the psychopath.

➢ Explain the concept “semantic aphasia”.

➢ Explain how the criminal psychopath differs from non-psychopathic criminals.

➢ Briefly discuss the psychological measures of psychopathy.

➢ Indicate what is meant by the triarchic psychopathy model.

➢ Indicate why callous-unemotionality, boldness and meanness should also be considered as
core factors in psychopathy.

➢ Explain what the “dark triad’ of personalities entail.

➢ Explain why the recidivism rate is high amongst psychopaths.

➢ Draw a comparison between the male and the female psychopath.

➢ Report the findings that are known about racial/ethnic differences in psychopaths and give
possible reasons for the dearth of research on this topic.

➢ Indicate to what extend psychopathic characteristics occur in youth offenders.

➢ Highlight the most important findings regarding neuropsychological factors and
psychopathy.

➢ Explain why knowledge of the functioning of the central nervous system is necessary to
explain the development of psychopathy.

➢ Hemisphere asymmetry and deficiency could be used as a possible explanation for the
development of psychopathy. Discuss this statement.
➢ It is believed that psychopaths demonstrate problems in emotional processing (amygdala
dysfunction). Explain.
 INTRODUCTION

❖ Due to violence and crime, psychopathy is one of the most important psychological
constructs in the criminal justice system

❖ Psychopathy is a concept studied in the fields of:

o Law and psychology
o Forensic mental health
o Personality
o Criminal justice

❖ Juveniles who possess psychopathy-like characteristics are believed to be

susceptible to antisocial behavior through their lives

❖ A psychopath is not identical to a sociopath

o A sociopath is an individual who
▪ PERSISTENTLY AND CHRONICALLY COMMITS CRIMES AND BREAK
THE LAW
▪ it is a nonclinical label

o A psychopath MAY OR MAY NOT engage in CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

DEFINITION: it describes an individual who demonstrates a discernible cluster of

psychological, interpersonal and neurological features

- SYMPTOMS: social predators, charming, manipulative, lacking in conscience,

empathy, selfish, violating norms

- CAUSES: biological, psychological, social factors

- TARGET: 1% population
 WHAT IS A PSYCHOPATH?
THE PSYCHOPATH

❖ The terms psychopath describes a person who Demonstrates obvious cluster of:
o PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES
o INTERPERSONAL FEATURES
o NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURES

❖ HARE DESCRIBES A PSYCHOPATH AS –

SOCIAL predators

who CHARM, MANIPULATE AND

RUTHLESSLY plow their way
through life

leaving a broad trail of broken

hearts, shattered expectations
and empty wallets

Completely LACKING IN
CONSCIENCE AND EMPATHY,

violating social norms and

expectations WITHOUT any
sense of GUILT OR REGRET

they selfishly take what they

want and do as they please

violating social norms and

expectations WITHOUT any sense
of GUILT OR REGRET
 THREE CATEGORIES OF PSYCHOPATHS:

➢ The PRIMARY psychopathy

➢ The SECONDARY psychopath
➢ The DISSOCIAL psychopath

THE PRIMARY PSYCHOPATH:

❖ The True Psychopath

❖ The individual who shows PHYSIOLOGICAL & BEHAVIORAL FEATURES that represent psychopathy

❖ The primary psychopath has visible differences such as

o Psychological differences
o Emotional differences
o Cognitive differences
o Biological differences

The SECONDARY PSYCHOPATH AND THE DYSSOCIAL PSYCHOPATHY form a heterogeneous group of
antisocial individuals who make up a large segment of the criminal population.

In both these cases the label psychopath is misleading because their behaviors and backgrounds have
LITTLE IF ANY SIMILARITY TO THOSE OF A PRIMARY PSYCHOPATH
 THE SECONDARY PSYCHOPATH

❖ The individual has PSYCHOPATHIC CHARACTERISTICS but commits ANTISOCIAL OR VIOLENT ACTS because

of extreme EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS OR INNER CONFLICTS

❖ The secondary psychopath can also be called:

o Acting-out neurotics
o Neurotic delinquents
o Symptomatic psychopaths
o Emotionally disturbed offenders

Both have high recidivism rates

❖ The secondary psychopath shows MORE EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY AND IMPULSIVITY THAT PRIMARY

PSYCHOPATH

❖ Secondary psychopaths appear to be MORE AGGRESSIVE AND VIOLENT THAN PRIMARY

❖ The secondary psychopath is ROOTED more in PARENTAL ABUSE AND REJECTION

THE DYSSOCIAL PSYCHOPATH

❖ The individual has PSYCHOTIC CHARACTERISTICS and is ANTISOCIAL because of social learning

❖ The dissocial psychopath does NOT possess the features of the primary psychopath

❖ The dissocial psychopath displays AGGRESSIVE ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR that they have learned from their

subculture like their:

o Gangs
o Terrorist groups
o Families
 DEFINITION: pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others

- SYMPTOMS: repeatedly performing illegal acts, lying, impulsivity, irresponsibility, lack of remorse

- CAUSES: biological, psychological, social factors

- TARGET: more men than women

- TREATMENT: psychotherapy

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER

❖ A persistent pattern of DISREGARD for and VIOLATION of the RIGHTS OF OTHERS, and There is a history

of repeated behavior and can start at 15

❖ The DSM has 7 additional criteria to determine APD:

o Repetitive lying
o Impulsiveness
o Failure to conform to social norms
o Irritability and unusual aggressiveness Any 3 or more
o Irresponsibility must be met
o Disregard for the safety of others
o Lack of remorse or guilt

❖ Diagnosing a person with APD

o Must be 18 years old

o Must be evidence that behavioral patterns linked to conduct disorder and this happened
before the age of 15
o Not all children diagnosed with conduct disorder will eventually qualify for APD
▪ But a person with APD would have qualified for conduct disorder

Antisocial personality disorder Psychopathy

A psychiatric term A psychological term

 BEHAVIOURAL CHARACTERISTICS AND
DESCRIPTIONS OF A PSYCHOPATH
Hervey Checkley wrote a book describing the major behaviors demonstrated by the full-fledged psychopath.
He was able to identify 16 CHARACTERISTICS he felt DESCRIBED THE TYPICAL PSYCHOPATH these are all included in his
measure of psychopathy – “the psychopathy checklist”

BEHAVIOURAL CHARACTERISTICS:

❖ 2 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS of psychopaths are: Both very apparent during

initial contact
o Superficial CHARM
o Average to above average INTELLIGENCE

At the start They

❖ Psychopaths often appear: impress others as
friendly, outgoing,
o well EDUCATED and knowledgeable
likeable, alert
o they are charming and manipulative
o middle/ upper class background
o they show MANY INTERESTS
o they are VERBALLY SKILFUL – can talk themselves out of trouble
o their VOCABULARY IS EXTENSIVE – they can talk about anything
o they often JUMP from one TOPIC to another
o their SPEECH IS EMPTY of any real substance, tending to be filled with
▪ stock phrases
▪ repetition of the same ideas
▪ word approximations
▪ abstract terms
▪ jargon used in inappropriate fashion
▪ logically inconsistent statements and phrases
▪ half formed sentences
o as a group = they are not usually verbally and socially skilful at successfully
manipulating others
 PSYCHOPATHIC BEHAVIORS IDENTIFIED BY HARA & CLECKLEY

HARA PCL CHECKLIST CLECKLEY’S PRIMARY PSYCHOPATH DESCRIPTION

Superficial charm Superficial charm and good intelligence

Grandiose sense of self worth Pathological egocentric

Pathological lying Untruthfulness

Manipulative Manipulative

Lack of remorse Lack of remorse

Shallow affect Poverty of affective reactions

Callous, lack of empathy Unresponsive interpersonal relationships

Failure to accept reasonability for actions Unreliability

Promiscuous sexual behaviour Impersonal sex life

Lack of realistic long term goals Failure to follow any life plan

Poor behavioural control Impulsive

High need for stimulation Inadequate motivated antisocial behaviour

Prone to boredom Poor judgment

Irreparability Absence of delusions and anxiety

Bizarre behaviour after drinking alcohol

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

❖ PSYCHOMETRIC STUDIES – studies that use standard psychological tests and measures

Indicate that PSYCHOPATHS usually SCORE HIGHER on intelligence test that the
general person, specifically on individual administered tests
 ❖ Psychopaths can be divided into two different groups namely
o SUCCESSFUL PSYCHOPATHS – those who have committed crimes but avoided
arrest and conviction for offences
▪ Success does not mean intelligent
o UNSUCCESSFUL PSYCHOPATHS – those who have been convicted and imprisoned
▪ Being convicted does not been that person is not inelegant

PSYCHOPATHS AND MENTAL DISORDERS

❖ Most psychopaths do not show sever or disabling mental disorders

❖ As a group they LACK ANY SYMPTOMS of
o Excessive worry and anxiety
o Psychotic thinking
Even under high pressure conditions
o Delusions they remain cool and calm
o Severe depression
o Hallucinations

❖ Boldness and fearless dominance can be important features of psychopaths

❖ Some clinicals believe that psychopathy and schizophrenia are part of the same spectrum

❖ Checkley briefly considered psychopathy as a form of masked psychosis

❖ Some forensic clinicians state that they sometimes see a mentally disordered offender who
qualifies as both a psychopath and a schizophrenic

❖ There is evidence that suggests its not uncommon to see psychopaths who are mentally
disordered in maximum security psychiatric units for highly violent or dangerous patients

❖ It has been reported that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and who show many features of
psychopathy had more severe histories of offending and violence that the individual diagnosed
with schizophrenia alone
 PSYCHOPATHS AND SUICIDE

❖ Cleckley was under the impression that psychopaths RARELY IF EVER- committed suicide

❖ Given the SUPERFICIAL AFFECT, SELF-PROMOTION TENDENCIES AND GRANDIOSITY linked to

psychopathy, SUICIDE behaviour seem highly UNLIKELY

❖ Hare – psychopaths TAKE THEIR OWN LIFE when they believe there is NO OTHER WAY OUT of a

situation they see as intolerable

❖ Intolerable situations include

o A very long prison term

o Incurable illness

o Surrounded by the police – [suicide by cop]

❖ MALE PSYCHOPATHY inmates who are especially AGGRESSIVE AND IMPULSIVE does SHOW

INDICATORS OF SUICIDALITY

❖ Suicidality a term used to indicate the risk of suicide- usually inferred form self-reported suicidal

thoughts or intensions

❖ Some psychopaths who find themselves in DESPERATE SITUATIONS DO COMMIT SUICIDE

o Especially if they are highly impulsive and violent

OTHER PRINCIPAL TRAITS
 THE CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATH

CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATHS

❖ Many psychopaths have no history of serious antisocial behavior

❖ SERIOUS OFFENDERS ARE NOT NECESSARILY PSYCHOPATHS
❖ A criminal psychopath:
o Those psychopaths who show a wide range of PERSISTENT AND SERIOUS ANTISOCIAL
BEHAVIOR.
❖ As a group criminal psychopaths tend to be:
o Dominate
o Manipulative

❖ AS A GROUP THEY ARE CHARACTERIZED BY

o An impulsive, risk taking and antisocial lifestyle, who obtain their GREATEST THRILL
FROM DIVERSE SEXUAL GRATIFICATION and target diverse victims over time

❖ Psychopathic traits in adults and teens are seen as happening on a dimension

o Some show more psychopathic tendencies than others

❖ The accumulation pf psychopathic characteristics is what determines the final diagnosis

 OFFENDING PATTERNS OF CIRMINAL PSYCHOPATHS

❖ Criminal psychopaths:
o Are believed to be responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in society
o They are considered to be the MOST VIOLENT AND PERSISTENT OFFENDERS
o They generally LACK a normal sense of ETHICS AND MORALITY
o They live by their OWN RULES
o They are prone to use cold-blooded instrumental INTIMIDATION AND VIOLENCE TO SATISFY THEIR
WANTS AND NEEDS
o They generally DISAPPROVE OF SOCIAL NORMS AND THE RIGHTS OF OTHERs
o SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE TEND TO BE OVERREPRESENTED among psychopathic offenders

In order to be classified as sexual homicide – there has to be physical

evidence of sexual activity with the victim before, during or after the murder
❖ PSYCHOPATHIC SEX OFFENDERS:
o Sexual assault and rape are overrepresented among psychopathic offenders
o unlawful acts of psychopathic sex offenders are likely to be more
▪ violent
▪ brutal
▪ unconventional
▪ sadistic
o they appear to be more MOTIVATED BY THRILL SEEKING AND EXCITEMENT RATHER THAN SIMPLE
SEXUAL AROUSAL
o psychopaths as a group:
▪ tend to be MORE SADISTIC AND VIOLENT than non-psychopaths
▪ they commit more DIVERSE AND SEVER FORMS OF SEXUAL HOMICIDE

❖ MURDERERS described as extremely SADISTIC & BRUTAL tend to have many psychopathic features
❖ SERIAL MURDERERS who show psychopathic features are specifically sadistic and brutal in their murders
❖ SERIAL KILLERS AS A GROUP ARE NOT BELIEVED TO BE HIGH IN PSYCHOPATHY
❖ PSYCHOPATHS may be more likely to derive pleasure from both the NONSEXUAL AND SEXUAL SUFFERING of
others
❖ murders and serious assaults committed by non-psychopaths happen during
o domestic disputes
Thus, qualifying as hostile or reactive
o extreme emotional arousal aggression

This pattern of violence is rarely seen in criminal

psychopaths
❖ criminal psychopaths engage in violence as a form of revenge or retribution, or during sessions of drinking
❖ many attacks of non-psychopaths are against woman they know well
❖ many attacks of criminal psychopaths are directed at men who are strangers
❖ the violence committed by the criminal psychopaths is callous and cold-blooded
❖ rapists who have psychopathic characteristics are more likely to have nonsexual motivations for their actions
such as
o anger
o vindictiveness
o sadism
o opportunism

RECIDIVISM OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATHS

❖ Recidivism – the tendency to return to offending

❖ The recidivism rate of criminal psychopaths is very high
o Criminal psychopaths commit crimes again and again regardless of the methods used to
stop or rehabilitate them
❖ Psychopaths:
o Reoffend faster Than non-psychopaths

o Violate parole sooner

o Perhaps commit institutional violence
❖ High recidivism rates are characteristics of psychopathic adolescent male offenders
❖ Juvenile psychopathic offenders are more likely than other adolescent offenders to:
o escape from custody
o violate probation conditions
o commit violent and nonviolent offences over a 5 year follow-up period
❖ high recidivism rates among adult and juvenile offenders
o there is nothing the behavioral sciences can offer for treating those with psychopathy
▪ because psychopaths tend to be unmotivated to alter their problematic
behavior and often lack insight into the nature and extent of their
psychopathology
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES OF
PSYCHOPATHY
 CORE FACTORS OF PSYCHOPATH

Factor analysis

❖ Factor analysis is a statistical procedure where underlining patterns, factors or dimensions are
identified among a series of scale items
❖ Psychopathy is multidimensional in nature
❖ A statistical procedure designed to find different personality dimensions or behaviour factors in
test data is the factor analysis
❖ Factor analysis is a mathematical procedure
o The procedure produces a small number of descriptive or explanatory concepts
called factors
❖ When the psychopathy ratings on the PCL-R were submitted to the factor analysis, at least two
behavioural dimensions or factors emerged
o Recently more factors have been identified
o Lilienfeld and fowler suggested an 8- factor model
❖ Psychopathy began as a two-factor construct but it is now a four-factor model

THE TWO-FACTOR POSITION:

In the two-factor scheme there are 2 core factors

❖ FACTOR 1
o a behavioural dimension which is IDENTIFIED through factor analysis
representing the interpersonal and emotional aspects of psychopathy

o Consists of items measuring remorselessness, callousness and selfishness and

the manipulation of others
▪ The typical psychopath feels no compunctions about using others strictly
to meet his/her own needs
 ❖ FACTOR 2
o a behavioural dimension representing the SOCIALLY DEVIANT LIFESTYLE
characteristics of psychopaths
o more closely linked to social deviant or antisocial lifestyles
o characterised by poor panning, impulsiveness, excessive need of stimulation,
proneness to boredom and lack of realistic goals

❖ Factor 1 may be a more powerful indicator of psychopathy than factor 2

❖ Factor 1 is better at identifying psychopathy in general
❖ Factor 2 is better at predicting general recidivism and violent recidivism

FACTOR 1 FACTOR 2
Reflects INTERPERSONAL AND EMOTIONAL Most closely linked to SOCIALLY DEVIANT OR
components of psychopathy ANTISOCIAL lifestyles
• Consists of items measuring • Characterised by
• Remorselessness • Poor planning
• Callousness • Impulsiveness
• Selfish use of manipulation of others • Excessive need for stimulation
• Proneness to boredom
• Lack of realistic goals

Linked to Related to
Planned predatory violence Spontaneous and impulsive violence and substance
abuse problems
Resistance and inability to profit from psychotherapy
and treatment programs Socioeconomic status
Educational attainment
More connected to biopsychological influences Culture and ethnic background
 THE THREE-FACTOR POSITION

3 core behavioural dimensions that best describe psychopath

❖ FACTOR 3 = A core feature of psychopaths that Refer to emotional shallowness, callousness and lack of
empathy.
❖ Most psychopaths are seen to have the following characteristics
o Lack of empathy
o Callousness
o Emotional shallowness
❖ Cooke and Michie – recommended psychopathy should be described by the following core dimensions

① o An arrogant and deceptive interpersonal style which includes

▪ Grandiose sense of self-worth
This dimension is also
▪ Glibness
▪ Superficial charm known as impression
▪ Lying management
▪ Conning manipulation
▪ Deceitfulness

②o An impulsive and irresponsible behavioural style which includes

▪ Failure to think before acting
▪ A lack of long term goals
▪ Stimulation seeking
▪ Unsatisfactory work habits
▪ Parasitic life style
• Living off others including spouses, intimate partners, friends
and parents
③o Deficient affective or emotional experience which is characterised by
▪ Low remorse
▪ Low guilt
▪ A weak conscience
▪ The absence of anxiety
▪ Fearlessness
▪ Callousness
▪ Little empathy
▪ Failure to accept responsibility for one’s actions
 THE FOUR-FACTOR model

❖ The 4-factor model = a model of psychopathy that incorporates antisocial behaviour

❖ In addition to disturbance in interpersonal affective and behavioural functioning – the definition of

psychopathy should include a 4th factor/ dimension = antisocial behaviour

❖ The 4-factor model has been supported across various

o Cultures
o Ethnic groups
o Young and adult offenders
o Forensic patients

❖ A 4-factor model is based on the finding that individuals manifesting psychopathic traits often show violent
and a large collection of other antisocial behavioural patterns that a more than poor planning and impulsivity
linked with 2-factor

❖ The predictive power of psychopathy is enhanced if we take into consideration past criminal behaviour

❖ The 4-factor perspective includes the following factors

o 1. Interpersonal – pathological lying and conning
o 2. Lifestyle – irresponsible behaviour, sensation seeking and impulsivity
o 3. Affective – shallow affect or emotional reactions, lack of remorsefulness for their
actions
o 4. Antisocial tendencies- poor self-regulations and a wide array of antisocial
behaviour including delinquency
 4 core factors of psychopathy

•lying
•conning
•manipulating others
interpersonal
•superficial charm
F1 •grandiose self-worth

•irresponsablity
•sensation seeking
•lack of realistic goals
lifestyle
•poor planing
F2 •impulsivity

•shallow emotions
•callousness
affective •little empathy
F3 •failure to accept responsability for actions

•poor self-regulations
•antisocial behaviour
antisocial
tendencies •early behavioral problems
•presistent criminal activity
F4

Trianhic psychopathy model

❖ The most recent model of psychopathy is called the trairnhic psychopathy model [TriPM]
▪ Developed by Christopher Patrick

❖ The TriPM consists of 3 distinct dimensions

o 1. Meanness or callous-unemotionality

o 2. Disinhibition or externalizing proneness

o 3. Boldness or fearless dominance

Meanness
Description In psychopathy meanness is added as an additional feature
characterising the psychopathic personality.
It is a motivational style in which pleasure and satisfaction are sought
without consideration of others
Meanness tends to be central feature of the crime and delinquency
that is actively directed at hurting others

Meanness refers to Cruel verbal or physical behaviour towards others

Deficient empathy
Disdain for and lack of close attachment to others
Rebelliousness
Excitement seeking
Exploitations
Empowerment through cruelty
It is expressed through behaviour such as Extreme arrogance
Defiance of authority
Destructive excitement seeking
Callous aggression
Interpersonal detachments
Physical cruelty towards people and animals
Callous-unemotionality [CU]
Description Meanness is sometimes associated with CU traits, and these traits
often link to:
Severe, chronic and proactive antisocial and violent behaviour
Central to the diagnosis of psychopathy in antisocial psychopaths
UC traits include A persistent and significant lack of empathetic concern for others
Limited capacity for guilt
Deficits in emotional expression
Egocentric
UC traits theory UC traits are considered as signs and symptoms of juveniles and adult
psychopathy
These traits can also be seen in young children
Very informative for understanding the development of adult
psychopathy
A 20-item rating scale was designed to measure UC traits in children
DISINHIBITION/ EXTERNALISING PRONENSS
Description
Refers to behaviour such as
Involves traits such as
Characterised by
The externalising proneness trait
Boldness/ fearless dominance
Description
Impulsivity
Poor self-regulation
Low frustration tolerance
Irresponsibility
Alienation
Unreasonable risk taking
Hostility
Antisociality
Difficulties in regulating anger-related emotions
Impulse control problems
Reckless-impulsive tendencies that are often connected to the use of
sever, potentially criminal coercive tactics
Has a strong genetic component
Has been linked to impairments in the functioning of the prefrontal
cortex that regulates emotions and self-control
A key characteristic of psychopaths according to the TriMP
In the context of psychopathy it is described as a positive per the ability to
remain calm and focused in pressure or life threating situations
It demonstrates high slef-assurance and social efficacy in most social
averments
It reflects the capacity to recover rapidly from stressful situations and to seek
out unfamiliarity and danger
It can be considered adaptive, thus making it a controversial topic as a core
feature of psychopathy
It is associated with a “dark side” including antisocial behaviour, aggression and
sexual assault
Consists of personality characterises/ traits Charisma
Fearlessness
Novelty seeking
Calmness in the face of danger
Low stress reactivity
Behaviourally described as An interpersonal Fearlessness
style that is characterised by
Relatively immune to stress and anxiety
Successful at negotiating social interactions to achieve a desired goal
Reckless and impulsive behaviours

Behaviour Boldness can be channelled into either

Adaptive behaviour – heroism
Maladaptive behaviour – criminality

Psychopathy and the “dark traid”

❖ Features of the dark tetrad of personalities

Feature Narcissism Machiavellianism Psychopathy Sadism

Callousness X X X X
Impulsivity X X
Manipulation X X X
Criminality X X
Grandiosity X X
Enjoyment of cruelty X

❖ The dark traid is a cluster of personality traits that are associated with criminal psychopathy.

❖ The cluster includes

o Psychopathy
o Narcisse
o Machiavellianism [master manipulation]
o Everyday sadism [someone trying to hurt you verbally or physically for pure enjoyment]
❖ The dark tetrad
o Tetrad refers to a group of 4 characteristics

❖ The dark personality traits have been studied in

o Adolescents
o Children
o Adult offenders
o Leaders

❖ In connection to psychopaths the dark personality does not invariably commit crime
o Rather they are socially aversive and not likeable

❖ Dark personalities exist at some level in most people

❖ Personalities should be kept separate because they do not all share the same features
o The only feature they all share is callousness

❖ There is insufficient research to tie dark traid directly to antisocial or criminal behaviour

The female psychopath

❖ Woman generally score lower on the PCL-R than men
❖ There are fewer female psychopaths than male psychopaths in both
o General population
o Among persons convicted of crime
❖ The PCL-R was developed almost only on white male criminal psychopaths
❖ Female criminal psychopaths may show different behavioral patterns than male criminal psychopaths
❖ Female psychopaths compared to male psychopaths, show
o a lack of realistic long-term goals
o have troubled marital relationships
o engage in a wide range of crime
o show a greater tendency to be sexually promiscuous
❖ female psychopaths also may not express the same emotional processing abnormalities as male
psychopaths
❖ the affective features of psychopathy are important in identifying female psychopaths
o high levels of callousness
o low levels of empathy
These clearly distinguishes them from
non-psychopathic women
❖ female psychopaths tent to be more subtle and skillful in
o their aggression
Indicating that many of their harmful acts may
o their exploitative relationships
go unnoticed by the authorities
o their manipulation of others

❖ male psychopaths are more likely to

o engage in direct, physical forms of aggression
These render their harmful actions
o dominance more noticeable and more likely to
o status seeking be officially recorded

❖ female psychopaths may rely more on relational aggression to get their way than male psychopaths

❖ female psychopaths have experienced greater levels of

o environmental deprivation
Compared to male psychopaths
o more sexual and physical victimization

❖ female psychopaths who offended began their criminal careers later than male psychopaths
❖ female psychopaths recidivate less often than male

❖ gender differences in criminality as a whole

o gender distinctions in psychopathy are due to a number of
▪ social influences
▪ neuropsychological differences that happen in the developmental trajectory of men
and woman
▪ woman and men arrive at crime via different pathways
❖ the PCL-R links females to antisocial behavior

RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES

❖ most measures of psychopathy have been developed using white inmates as subjects
❖ the black criminal psychopaths tend to be less impulsive than white criminal psychopaths
❖ a meta-analysis – supports that the difference between blacks and whites are minimal
❖ racial and ethnic differences in psychopathy scores are minimal
❖ psychopathy as measured by the PCL-R is a universal phenomenon
JUVENILE PSYCHOPATHY
CAN JUVENILE PSYCHOPATH BE IDENTIFIED
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
MEASURES OF JUVENILE PSYCHOPATHY
 NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AND
PSYCHOPATHY

Introduction

❖ Psychopathic tendencies are caused by:

o Social factors [abuse and poor upbringing]
o A variety of neuropsychological factors

❖ Psychopathic behavior results from a interaction between neuropsychological and learning/socialization

factors

genetic factors

Low arousal
❖ Temperament linked to & = associated with psychopathy
Fear responses

❖ A temperament of this nature may disrupt the formation of:

o Guilt
o Conscience
o Concern about punishment

❖ It is suggested that youth with psychopathic features:

o may have brain abnormalities
o psychopathy may run in families
❖ genetic contributions may play a role in the emotional dysfunction found in psychopaths
o thus, heredity may contribute to the under arousal and low emotional
responsiveness of psychopaths
❖ highly unlikely that genetics alone create psychopathic features
❖ many factors can interact with genetics through the developmental pathway to psychopathy

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOPATHY

Markers a term
used for the
❖ Neuropsychology refers to the branch of psychology that combines neurosciences and psychology neurological
indicators of a
specific
❖ Neuropsychological indicators called markers Have been found in psychopaths as reflected in phenomenon
o Electrodermal measures – skin conductance such as
psychopathy
o Cardiovascular and other nervous system indices
 BASIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

❖ The human nervous system can be divided into 2 main parts

o The basis of structure
o The basis of function

the central
nervous •THE BRAIN
system •THE SPINAL CORD
[CNS]

The structure division

– the way it is
physically arranged

•ALL NERVE SELLS CALLED

The NEURONS
peripheral
nervous •NERVE PATHWAYS
system [PSN] LOCATED OUTSIDE THE
CNS

Those nerves that leave the spinal cord and brain stem and travel to specific sites in the body to the
peripheral (outside) nervous systems.

This includes all the nerves connecting the muscles, skin, heart, glands and senses to the CNS

❖ The basic function of the PNS is to bring all the outside information to the CNS, where it is processed.

❖ Once the CNS has processed the information it relays on the interpretation back to the PNS if action is
necessary

❖ When you place your hand on a hot object the PNS relays this raw data (not yet your pain) to the CNS
which interprets the datum as the sensation of pain, and in return relays a command to the PNS to
withdraw your hand. The PNS cannot interpret it only transmits information to the CNS and carries
communication back
 The human nervous system

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DIFFRENCES

❖ The CNS
o Structurally the CNS = the brain & the spinal cord

❖ The cerebral cortex

o The highest center of the brain, where the following happens:
▪ Interpretation
▪ Thoughts
▪ Memories
▪ Images

o It is the processing center for stimulation and sensations received from the outside world and the
body via the PNS
o It is the outer surface of the human brain, and it contains nerve cells called neurons
▪ Each neuron has a communication link to other neurons, creating a communication
network
❖ The physical structure of the brain does not directly concern us

o But the electrical circuitry and arousal properties of the cortex are relevant in understanding the
neuropsychological characteristic of the psychopath

Hemisphere Frontal Amygdala &

Asymmetry & Neuropsychological Hippocampus
deficiency Studies Dysfunction

Hemisphere Asymmetry and deficiency

❖ The human brain can be divided anatomically into 2 cerebral hemispheres

human brain

Information
processing

left right
hemisphere hemisphere

The left specializes in verbal or language functions The right specializes in nonverbal functions

Processes information in an analytical, sequential The right process information holistically and more
fashion globally

Language – requires sequential cognition and the The right is involved in the recognition of faces, a
left is best equipped for this operation complicated process requiring the processing of
information all at once or at the same time

Thus the left and right hemispheres are 2 functioning differentiated information processing systems
❖ These two cerebral hemispheres seem to coexist in some sort of reciprocally balancing relationship in cortical
functioning and information processing

❖ In addition to information processing, these 2 cerebral hemispheres also make different contributions to
human emotions

human emotions

right
left - is important in the understanding
- is linked to self-inhibiting processes and communiction of emotion
- more spontaneos and impulsive

❖ The 2 hemispheres must have a balance of contribution from each for normal judgment and appropriate
self-control and self-regulation of emotion
o These control and judgment processes are prevalent in the frontal lobes

❖ Criminal psychopaths manifest an abnormal/ unusual balance between the 2 hemispheres

o In both language processing and in emotional/ arousal states
▪ This is called hemisphere asymmetry

❖ Criminal psychopaths are often inconsistent with their verbalized thoughts, feelings and intentions

❖ Criminal psychopaths seem to be highly peculiar in the organization of certain perceptual and cognitive
processes
o The left = seems deficient in linguistic processing because they do not reply on the verbal
sequential operation to the extent that a majority of individuals do.
❖ NoN- psychopaths rely more and more on the left to process the information
o And psychopaths rely more on the right

❖ Psychopaths are less accurate than nonpsychopaths at reading emotional expressions by faces
o Psychopaths are less accurate than nonpsychopaths in facial emotional recognition under
conditions designed to promote reliance on the left processing

❖ Left hemisphere activation hypothesis

o Psychopaths exhibit deficits on a variety of tasks that require activation on the left
Frontal neuropsychological studies
 Amygdala and hippocampus dysfunction

❖ Psychopaths show clear problems in emotional processing

o The frontal lobe links to this observation

❖ The amygdala + the hippocampus = the combination of these are responsible for the dysfunction of
neurological structures
❖ THE AMYGDALA
o Almond shape cluster of neurons in the brain
o Responsible for emotions such as
▪ Fear
▪ Anger
▪ Disgust
o Each amygdala is located close to the hippocampus in the front portion of the temporal lobe
▪ There is an amygdala on each side of the brain

❖ THE HIPPOCAMPUS
o Shaped like a seahorse
o Located in the temporal lobe

❖ psychopaths exhibit lower amygdala activity during an emotional processing task when compared with
criminal nonpsychopaths and noncriminal controls

❖ the relationship between the amygdala and learning might start as a highly significant factor in
understanding the emotional behaviour of a psychopath

❖ Reduced amygdala functioning in more psychopathic individuals suggests reduced responsivity to the
thought of causing harm to others when contemplating personal moral dilemmas.

❖ Without amygdala activation, individuals may be undeterred from conning and manipulating others,
making impulsive, irresponsible decisions, and engaging in criminal behaviour without feeling guilt or
remorse
 Peripheral nervous system [PNS]

PNS

Somatic division autonomic division

comprising the motor nerves controls heart rate, gland

than innervate the muscles secretion and smooth muscle
involved in body movement activity

Smooth muscles are those muscles found in

the blood vessels and gastrointestinal system –
they look smooth under a microscope in
comparison with the skelet muscles which look
❖ THE AUTONOMIC SEGMENT striped or textured
o Relevant to discussion of psychopaths -because of the differences found between the psychopath's and
general populations' reactivity or responsiveness to stimuli
o Autonomic system activates emotional behaviour and responsivity to stress and tension
o The autonomic division can be divided into 2 subdivisions

autonomic
division

sympathetic parasympathetic
system system
❖ Sympathetic: responsible for activating the individual for fight or flight before or during fearful
emergency situations
▪ The psychopaths show a James Bond like coolness even in stressful situations
▪ Either the sympathetic nervous system does not react sufficiently to stressful stimuli or
▪ the parasympathetic system springs into action in the psychopath more rapidly

❖ the principles and teqniques of measuring autonomic activity

o emotional arousal – mainly under the control of the autonomic nervous system can be measured
by monitoring the systems activity
▪ heart rate
▪ blood pressure / volume
▪ respiration rate
o the most common physiological indictor of emotional arousal is skin conductance response
[SCR] Also known as the galvanic skin response [GRS]

❖ SCR
o A measure of the resistance of the skin to conducting electrical current
o A number of factors in the skin influence the resistance
▪ Main factor seems to be perspiration
o Perspiration corresponds to changes in emotional states
o If emotional arousal increases – perspiration rates increase
o An increase in perspiration lowers skin resistance to electrical conductance
▪ Skin conductance [SC] increases as emotional arousal [ anxiety, fear] increases
o Psychopaths lack the capacity to respond emotionally to stressful or fearful situations
o Psychopaths has an underactive, under aroused autonomic nervous system
o Psychopaths have a low SC arousal
o Deficits in SC arousal are linked to low autonomic arousal levels which means it relates to low
emotionality, lack of empathy and remorse and the ability to lie easily
SYMPATHETIC & PARASYMPATHETIC
 Autonomic nervous system

❖ anxiety reduction is an essential ingredient in learning to avoid painful or stressful situations, and since
psychopaths are presumed to be anxiety free, then the psychopath should have special difficultly
learning to avoid unpleasant things
o inability to learn from unpleasant experiences
o Very high recidivism
❖ Avoidance learning
o rewarded by the reduction of anxiety on encountering the correct check point in a study
psychopath less responsive to this stress

❖ Injection of adrenaline --> learned more quickly

o Since anxiety is presumed to be a major deterrent to antisocial impulses, the manipulation
of arousal or anxiety by drugs may suggest policy implications for the effective treatment of
convicted psychopaths

❖ Psychopaths exhibit very little autonomic activity (skin conductance and heart rate) but they also gave
smaller orientating responses
o Suggests that psychopaths are less sensitive and alert to their environment -
particularly to new or unusual events

❖ Suggests that psychopaths may be more adaptive to stress when "psychophysiological defines mechanisms"
are brought into play --> reducing impact of stressful stimuli

❖ Criminal psychopaths give smaller autonomic responses under aversive conditions

o Suffer from "hyperemotionality" Fail to experience the full impact of any kind of emotion -
positive or negative
▪ May be born with this hyperemotionality and that may account for their lack of
remorse throughout the lifetime

❖ Research allowing tentative conclusions about psychopathy and autonomic nervous system:
 o Psychopaths appear to be both autonomically and cortically under aroused - both under rest
conditions and under some specific stress conditions

o Since they lack the necessary emotional equipment, they appear to be deficient in avoidance
learning, which might account partially for their high recidivism rates

o if emotional arousal can be induced, such as by adrenaline, psychopaths can learn from past
experiences and avoid normally painful or aversive situations

o With adequate incentives psychopaths can learn from past experiences and avoid aversive
consequences as well as anyone

❖ Psychopaths are profoundly affected by alcohol, even small amounts

o Since psychopaths are already under aroused --> alcohol suppresses almost completely
 Childhood of the psychopath
• Criminal behavior and other behavioral problems are believed to be rooted in the home usually in homes with
o Conflict
o Inadequate discipline
o Poor models

• Psychopathy seems to be the result of interactions between

o Neurological factors
o Social factors
o Learning factors

• neurophysiological factors may be causal factors in the development of psychopathy --> does not mean they
are hereditary
• Little evidence supports strong genetic influence

• There is a possibility that psychopaths are born with a biological predisposition do develop the disorder, This
predisposition requires certain psychosocial risk factors before starting such as
▪ Neglectful parents
▪ Abusive parents
• Could also be that psychopaths have a nervous system that interferes with rapid conditioning and association
between transgression and punishment
o due to this defect --> fails to anticipate punishment and hence feels no guilt (no
conscience)
• Possible that certain parts of the psychopath's nervous system have not yet matured
• Another possibility: genetics, toxicity (lead paint, etc), in utero or early childhood, birth difficulties,
temperament, and other early developmental factors may affect certain processes in the nervous system -->
making some children vulnerable to develop conduct problems and psychopathic characteristics
• Early damage to the prefrontal cortex may contribute to psychopathic trait development
• Social factors play a role as well in affecting these dispositions
o Persistent and serious offending that emerges early in life is driven partially by heritable
influences that are strengthened or weakened during childhood by parenting and other
environmental factors
 • Belief that psychopathy begins in childhood and continues through adulthood
o Psychopaths More likely to have experienced family difficulties such as
▪ parental neglect
▪ abuse
▪ antipathy
▪ indifference

• poor parental monitoring

Have been identified in the backgrounds of psychopaths
• discipline

• Children with the following symptoms resemble psychopathic adults

o Hyperactivity
o Impulsivity
o attention problems
o conduct problems

• Childhood of the psychopath [little evidence to support a STRONG genetic influence; however, a possible
biological predisposition which requires certain psychosocial factors such as neglectful abusive parenting,
other factors such as nervous system that interferes with rapid conditioning between right and wrong;
genetics, toxicity, temperament, birth difficulties etc.)
• Motivating factors probably due to early childhood attachment disruptions, severe psychopathy, other
personality disorder, and trauma genic abuse history.
 Treatment of psychopaths
Adult psychopaths

❖ There is no know treatment for psychopathy

❖ Adult psychopaths are not responsive to treatment whether
o In prison
o In psychiatric treatment centers
o In the community
❖ Adult psychopaths are either
o Completely nonresponsive to treatment
o Or they play the treatment game well – thus pretending to cooperate but in actuality conning
the treatment provider

❖ FARRINGTON – states it is believed that psychopaths are difficult to treat because

o 1- they are an extreme qualitatively distinct category
o 2- psychopathy is extremely persistent throughout life
o 3- psychopathy has biological causes which cannot be changed by psychosocial interventions
o 4- the lying, conning and manipulativeness of psychopaths make them treatment resistant

Criminal psychopaths

❖ Criminal psychopaths tend to be

o Evasive
o Verbally combative
o Hostile
o Prevaricating
o Disruptive
o Less ready to change
o Less committed to adjunct activities
▪ Work
▪ Education
o They are very likely to be removed from the treatment or leave treatment prematurely
❖ It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of programs because
o Of their ability to manipulate the system
o In the same vein it would be very difficult to know if treatment is even effective given the fact that
psychopaths are typically very manipulative and charming people and there is no reason to assume
that they wouldn’t just lie and deceive their therapist into making them believe that treatment has
been effective.

❖ Psychopaths are skillful at convincing therapists, councilors and parole boards that they have changed

❖ There is a high probability that they will reoffend

❖ Research suggest that a therapeutic community is not the treatment of choice for psychopaths specifically
those with extreme criminal histories

❖ Group therapy and insight-orientated treatment programs may help psychopaths to develop better ways
of manipulating and deceiving others

Treatment of children and adolescents with psychopathic features

❖ There is little know about the effectiveness of preventing and treating methods for child and adolescent
psychopaths

❖ It is said that children and adolescents with psychopathic features would respond more positively to
prevent and treatment strategies because of their developmental malleability

❖ Researchers have begun to evaluate the effectiveness of

o 1- treatment programs designed specifically for juveniles with psychopathic characteristics
o 2- programs for youthful offenders that include those with psychopathic characteristics