The psychopath is one of the most fascinating and
distressing problems of human experience.
For the most part, a psychopath never remains attached to anyone or
anything. They live a "predatory" lifestyle. They feel little or no
regret, and little or no remorse - except when they are caught. They need
relationships, but see people as obstacles to overcome and be eliminated. If not,
they see people in terms of how they can be used. They use people for
stimulation, to build their self-esteem and they invariably value people in
terms of their material value (money, property, etc..).
A psychopath can have high verbal intelligence, but they
typically lack "emotional intelligence". They can be expert in
manipulating others by playing to their emotions. There is a shallow quality to
the emotional aspect of their stories (i.e., how they felt, why they felt that
way, or how others may have felt and why). The lack of emotional intelligence
is the first good sign you may be dealing with a psychopath. A history of criminal behavior in which they
do not seem to learn from their experience, but merely think about ways to not
get caught is the second best sign.
The following is a list of items based on the research of
Robert Hare, Ph.D. which is derived from the "The Hare Psychopathy
Checklist-Revised, .1991, Toronto: Multi-Health Systems."
These are the most highly researched and recognized characteristics of
psychopathic personality and behavior.
• glibness/superficial
charm • grandiose sense of self worth
• need for
stimulation/prone to boredom • pathological
lying
• conning/manipulative • lack of remorse or guilt
• shallow
emotional response • callous/lack of empathy
• parasitic
lifestyle • poor behavioral controls
• promiscuous
sexual behavior • early behavioral problems
• lack of
realistic long term goals • impulsivity
• irresponsibility • failure to accept
responsibility for their
own actions
• many
short term relationships • juvenile delinquency
• revocation
of conditional release • criminal
versatility
There is no actual diagnosis of Psychopathy in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), but it is a
highly studied area. A psychopath is not the same as an antisocial personality.
Antisocial personalities may or may not be psychopathic. The antisocial personality is primarily a
problem involving a failure to respect the right of individuals, the law and
rules of society. Psychopathy involves
poor emotional intelligence, the lack of conscience, and an inability to feel
attached to people except in terms of their value as a source of stimulation or
new possessions. There are many
expressions and forms of psychopathy.
For instance, a sexual psychopath is one form of a psychopath.
There is a significant amount of evidence to suggest
that:
•there may be a genetic influence that creates a
psychopathic personality
•adult psychopaths do not benefit from traditional
counseling therapy and may in fact offend again and sooner because of it
•the brain of a psychopath may function and process
information differently from those of non-psychopaths
•less intelligent psychopaths end up in prisons (highly
intelligent psychopaths can run companies)
•psychopathic behavior may have once had a strong genetic
"survival of the species" value
•psychopathic personalities are much more common than
most of us realize
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