The Concept of The History of a Psychopath

Introduction

Our research team's goal is to provide important insight through research articles and sources on the history of the concept of a psychopath. The key idea here is not just about how the psychopath functions and how a psychopath is diagnosed with varying methods of treatment. The importance of our research is the identification and evolution of how the psychopathic concept has made its mark on society and the academic community. The concept of a psychopath has a rich history in media and clinical fields. Constant portrayal in film as a cold and efficient killer has left its mark on how society perceives the concept of a psychopath. Even the word "psychopath" is shortened to "psycho" and used leniently in everyday discussion. In the medical and academic fields the concept of a psychopath has evolved greatly. Varying clinical treatments that range of brutal and harsh to tame and understanding have all left their impact on the psychopathic concept. The development of a psychopath in society is is also a key topic to be covered in our research. What creates a psychopath? How is a psychopath developed through childhood? These are questions we will answer through our research.

Psychopathy

Psychopathic Development Throughout Time and Psychopathic Origins

This article by Donald R. Lynam and Lauren Gudonis identifies the concept and psychopathy throughout history as well as exactly what psychopathy is. The article begins with the direct definition of psychopathy throughout the ages and how its definition has changed. It goes into detail on how a psychopath has been defined and what society has considered psychopaths are capable of. The article continues on with how psychopathy has developed through time as well as what kinds of scales and tests were used to identify psychopaths. The article contains information on how these tests work and have changed over time. Mental stability of psychopaths is also touched upon within the article. The articles second section entails important information on directly identifying the origins of psychopathy and where it comes from. Adevelopmental and developmental models in the study of psychopathy used to uncover causes as well as the evidence used within these models are brought to attention in the article. The article concludes with objections and concerns for the use of these models. This article is relevant for research due to its focus on the historical aspect of psychopathic development.

Lynam, D. R., & Gudonis, L. (2005). The development of psychopathy. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 381-407. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144019

Psychopathy and Historical Origins

This article aims to explain the historical differences on the term psychopathy. It explores historical diagnoses, and what previous problems were linked to psychopathy which now are not. The authors go on to address that the historical interpretations and the varying clinical community's understanding of the term that are linked to the problems faced in the past. The researchers provide in depth analytical reviews on the transitions that psychopathy has faced throughout history, and the varying definitions it once had. It also explores how prognosis, treatment and social views on the subject has changed. We believe that this article is key in your research as it provides you with a in depth review on the history of the term, social aspects, and treatments that psychopathy has gone throughout the years, which allows you to view, as a whole, the social and clinical evolution of psychopathy.

Arrigo, B. A. (2001). The Confusion Over Psychopathy (I): Historical Considerations. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45(3), 325-344.

This book features a variety of authors, and wide range of topics all regarding the psychopath. However, while there are many topics, we believe that this book's value comes from the extensive historical conceptions of the psychopath. The book starts is historical element from the early 19th century, and continues up until the present day, exploring the notions of psychopathy, their treatment, and views throughout history. Apart from its historical value, the book also has a wide range of researches for the biological component of psychopathy, which would be a helpful aid if attempting to tackle the nature vs nurture debate. Lastly the book attempts to explain the relationship of violent crimes, serial killers, and sadist with psychopathy. We believe this book to be a beneficial addition to your research material as it provides a detailed overview in many of the topics covered in our page.

Millon, T. (1998). Psychopathy: antisocial, criminal, and violent behavior. New York: Guilford Press.

Psychopaths and Decision Making

This article by Gregory W. Stevens, Jacqueline K. Deuling and Achilles A. Armenakis outlines the thought process and decision making abilities of psychopaths. The article begins with a section on the theoretical background of psychopathic decision making. It touches up gauging psychopathy using the PCL-R and other methods of identifying psychopaths. The article then shifts its focus on psychopaths in the general population and gauging whether or not they are successful despite their psychopathic symptoms. The article touches upon discovering exactly what allowed for their success and if their psychopathic mental processes helped benefit the achievement of their goals. The article then focuses on the unethical decisions made by psychopaths and exactly how psychopathic behavior lead to this. The article moves on and focus on the term of moral disengagement. This phenomenon allows for one such person to disengage from their moral understandings (similar to the super ego) and make unethical and immoral decisions. The article then focuses on a study for uncovering moral disengagement. The procedure is outlined and the results are displayed. The article concludes with future limitations of the results as well as the theoretical and practical implications that the study resulted in. This article proves useful due to its display of how the study of psychopathic decision making has developed through time.

Stevens, G. W., Deuling, J. K., & Armenakis, A. A. (2012). Successful psychopaths: Are they unethical decision-makers and why? Journal of Business Ethics, 105(2), 139-149. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0963-1

The Concept of the Term "Psychopath"

This Article by Michael Cavadino expresses many concerns when using the term "psychopath" to classify a mental patient. Cavadino explains that when someone uses the term psychopath, we are not only giving the patient an idea that he/she cannot be cured, but also giving the public an unnecessary scare by using a word that lacks official definition and has become associated with criminals and serial killers. Furthermore, Cavadino explains that the patient's paranoia of being labelled a psychopath is not entirely unwarranted, for the label has the effect of denying the patient psychiatric services because "everyone knows psychopaths can't be successfully treated", and doctors would rather spend their time on "genuinely ill patients"(Cavadino, 7). Cavadino goes on to explore the definition of the psychopath in the law, dating back to 1983, its use in the Mental Health Act, and its stigmatism in society. He goes on to explain that word itself has become muddled by stereotypes and generalization, explains why the term is too broad to be used today for classifying mental health patients and explores the ineffective court decisions for those classified as psychopaths.

Cavadino, M. (1998). Death to the psychopath. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 9(1), 5-8. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/619327692?accountid=15182

What is interesting about this article is while Schroeder does aim to criticize the definition, he does not aim to abolish it like we can see in the Cavadino article. Schroeder aims to narrow down the term "Psychopath" and seeks to paint the so called psychopaths in a more forgiving light. Schroeder claims that these psychopaths can be understood. He goes into great detail in order to exclude psychopathy from biology, physiology, and other branches associated with mental health explain that it is a first and foremost, a mental condition, meant to be dealt with by psychologists. He goes on to explain that the term itself is extremely broad, and it is the responsibility of psychologists to seek to understand them more fluently. We believe that this article makes a valuable addition when attempting to explain the definition of a psychopath, and addressing criticism of the term itself.

Schroeder, P. (1934). Der psychopath vor dem strafrichter. Monatsschrift Für Kriminalpsychologie, 25, 106-114. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/615027419?accountid=15182

Psychopaths in Society

How Society Now Perceives Psychopaths due to Film

This essay by Morten Hesse contains information on how Hollywood has portrayed psychopaths in film. Since the public's exposure to the theatrical psychopath will more than likely be their only one, the portrayal of psychopaths to everyday society may be skewed. The article explains the research of Robert Hare and his PCL-R. The psychopathy checklist revised, which is the now commonly used identifier of psychopathic behavior. The article then further delves into the narrative told through psychopaths. Hesse writes about the "move psychopath" and delves into the famous cold, collected and calculated psychopath with no ounce of remorse that is commonly displayed through film. Hesse further extends his thoughts with the limitations of this portrayal of psychopathy and how this portrayal is very limited. Hesse explains three aspects of this theatrical psychopath that film fails to portray accurately. Impulsivity, the lack of correlation between intelligence and psychopathy and finally the ability to make changes in behavior are all traits that movie psychopaths fail to display, all in order to create interesting characters. The article concludes with the statement that film psychopaths are unrealistic and in order for their portrayal to be more realistic, a more personal portrayal must be utilized. A display of interpersonal relationships and behavioral development will both provide a more realistic psychopath in film. This article is useful due to film being a constant form of media and portrayal in society. This image of psychopath has been with society for quite some time now and continues to be a constant even today.

Hesse, M. (2009). Portrayal of psychopathy in the movies. International Review of Psychiatry, 21(3), 207-212. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540260902747441

Psychopaths Among Us

This article by C.A. Kirkman contains information on clinically diagnosed psychopaths who live among members of society and who are in fact productive members of society themselves. Kirkman states that although 25% of incarcerated criminals are diagnosed as psychopaths, 1 percent of the free population are in fact psychopaths and they are represented well in the competitive business world. The bulk of the paper contains discussion of the debates surrounding psychopathy and psychopathy treatment. The article also contains the definition of a psychopath as well as 16 key characteristics that are used to identity psychopathic behavior. The article also identifies the issues with studying non incarcerated psychopaths as well as what can be learned from them. This article stresses the importance in the study of incarcerated and non incarcerated psychopaths.
This article is useful because it identifies characteristics of psychopaths in every day society and how these differ from those with psychopathic characteristics who are incarcerated. From a historical perspective, this article is relevant because it includes information on how psychopaths are perceived in everyday life as well as those who are incarcerated.

Kirkman, C. A. (2002). Non-incarcerated psychopaths: Why we need to know more about the psychopaths who live amongst us. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 9(2), 155-160. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2850.2002.00462.x

This article examines the psychopaths that live among us, and an area where psychopaths tend to thrive: the business world. The article states that every corporation holds the presence of psychopaths. The article explores a different kind of psychopath however, one unrelated to the common perception of a criminal psychopath, this article examines the "corporate psychopath". The article explains who and what a corporate psychopath is, how to identify them and their effect on the business structure. The article goes into detail about the highly significant negative effects that the psychopaths have on corporate social responsibility. It also tells us that employees are less likely to view the business as socially desirable, environmentally friendly, and one that benefits the community when working under a corporate psychopath. We believe that this article is valuable because not only does it provide us with a window to psychopaths interactions in the real world, it also provides testimonies of how regular people feel when dealing with these corporate psychopaths. Not only does it explain the complex business environment of working with a psychopath, it also explains the long term effects a psychopath can have on a business structure and employees, and explains the need to properly address this problem.

Boddy, C. R., Ladyshewsky, R. K., & Galvin, P. (2010). The influence of corporate psychopaths on corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment to employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(1), 1-19. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0492-3

This article includes an in depth study on the experiences of 20 women who have been victimized by their partner (always male) which has been classified as a psychopath or possessed many or all of the characteristics associated with psychopathy. The researchers used questionnaires, biographical and narrative data as the tools in their research. The main idea in this experiment was to obtain a sample group of females who had "normal" relationships with their last partner, and a group of females who had experienced a relationship with a psychopath (classified by the Hare P scan). During the interviews researches gathered data in order to have a closer look as to what triggered the abuse in a relationship with a psychopath. We believe this article to be invaluable in your research as it provides a closer look at psychopaths living in society and how they function within a close female relationship, and also what may trigger certain emotional and psychical responses.

Kirkman, C. A. (2005). From soap opera to science: Towards gaining access to the psychopaths who live amongst us.Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 78(3), 379-396. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/147608305X26666

Psychopaths, Responsibility and Morals

This article by Ishtiyaque Haji includes important information on how psychopaths view morality and taking responsibility for their actions. Another important inclusion in this article however, is how society views how responsibility is pinned onto psychopaths in legal situations. The article points out how psychopaths lack moral culpability or any sorts of remorse. The major argument of Haji's article is whether or not psychopaths should be held responsible for their actions taking their mental state into consideration. Haji argues that psychopaths are not responsible for their actions due to how their mind lacks the distinct ability to feel empathy and remorse. The article explores different views on ethical perception. The depth that the article goes into when describing different ethical situations is impressive and will undoubtedly prove useful. This article will prove useful for research due its vast exploration on how psychopaths view responsibility and moral culpability. How this phenomenon has developed through history will prove most useful.

Haji, I. (2010). Psychopathy, ethical perception, and moral culpability. Neuroethics, 3(2), 135-150. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12152-009-9049-5

Nature vs. Nurture

Biology of Psychopathy

This book intends to separate the fact from fiction within psychopathy. It describes the societal expectation of the psychopath and the relation with serial killers. The book dives into many critical issues such as the official definition of the psychopath, the number of them living in society, whether or not they can be treated, and the interesting discussion of nature vs. nurture. Secondly, this book provides information and research on brain development, which the authors believe may lead to early diagnosis of psychopathy. We believe this book to be helpful to you as it does provide a variety of useful information, ranging from pyschopaths role in society to the nature vs nurture debate. While this book was difficult to classify, we believe it belongs in the nature vs nurture section of our page, as the second portion of the book is almost solely based on brain development and early diagnosis.

The psychopath: Emotion and the brain. Blair, James; Mitchell, Derek; Blair, Karina Malden: Blackwell Publishing. (2005). ix 201 pp

Psychopathy in Children

This article by Julie Kotler and Robert McMahon contains information on psychopathic traits in youth. The articles goal is to analyze and summarize how psychopathy in children is assuaged and conceptualized. The article delves into the beginnings of identifying psychopathic traits withing children and adolescents. Initially, the search for what causes antisocial behavior in adults and this research is what lead the way to studying psychopathy in children. The article then identifies the developments of child psychopathy constructs. The article goes into detail with quantitative information to display exactly how gauging psychopathy in children and adolescents through the PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised). The article explains how each measure is utilized and functions in the measure of child psychopathy. The article extends its finding with gauging child psychopathy without the use of the PCL-R. An important section of the article are the sections based on psychopathy and intelligence, psychopathy and gender, psychopathy and ethnicity and finally ethnicity and parenting. These sections are all very useful in the nature vs nurture debate and psychopathy as well as finding correlations in psychopathy and other variables. This article is useful due to displaying the important developments in child psychopathy as well as the history of how it has been gauged in clinical studies.

Kotler, J. S., & McMahon, R. J. (2005). Child psychopathy: Theories, measurement, and relations with the development and persistence of conduct problems. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8(4), 291-325. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10567-005-8810-5

Psychopathy in Adolescents

This article by Daniel Seagrave and Thomas Grisso identifies the development of psychopathy is troubled adolescents and children. The article states the goal of research projects preformed in in the 1990's to uncover possible psychopaths before they mature into adults. The use of varying methods of uncovering these psychopaths of tomorrow include various checklists and tests such as The Psychopathy Checklist (youth version) by Haare, Forth and Kosson) and the Childhood Psychopathy Scale. The article then extends itself to the development of psychopathy is adolescents as well as young psychopaths in the justice system. This section explains how child psychopaths are treated in juvenile incarceration and court. The article questions how these adolescent psychopaths are treated and states a need for concern. The article goes on and explains the importance of being able to identify false positives when treating and identifying adolescent psychopaths as well as the necessary research needed to justify the "acceptance of psychopathy measures for use in juvenile forensic practice" This article can be useful because of its insight on adolescent psychopaths, their development and finally their treatment in the juvenile justice system.

Seagrave, D., & Grisso, T. (2002). Adolescent development and the measurement of juvenile psychopathy. Law and Human Behavior, 26(2), 219-239. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1014696110850

Clinical Psychopathy

Is Treatment Effective?

This article reviews the effectiveness of treatment applied to patients classified as psychopaths between the years of 1983-1993. There is a variety of criteria, including: program focus on adult males and females; a diagnosis of psychopathy/sociopathy, a connection of intervention and treatment method with the data; and program results. The articles aim was to come to conclusions concerning the treatment of psychopaths, and the findings were definitive. Treatments saw improvements when: the treatment did not apply to drug abuse, treatments is applied to patients who remained in the hospital, the subjects were under 30 years old, there is a low level of psychopathy, and when treatment is applied in prison. This article proves to valuable when exploring the past treatments of psychopaths. As this article concerns the years of 1983-93, we are able to compare it with the findings of more recent experiments and past experiment to compare the differences.

Treating Psychopaths

This article suggests ways of treating the clinically diagnosed psychopath. Its objective is to teach the patient basic skills and useful controls that he/she will need in order to function in society. The article maintains that the psychopath often has an inability of exerting these controls and they must be taught to them. The regimen is said to be disciplined, and upon completion, the subject is able to function better in society. We believe that this article will be useful to you, as it was first published in 1967, but claims that it has already fixed the problem of the psychopath functioning in society. This will prove useful when comparing different successful and unsuccessful techniques and remedies throughout the past.

GREENWALD, H. (1967). TREATMENT OF THE PSYCHOPATH. Voices, 3(1), 50-60. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/615500251?accountid=15182

Abnormalities of brain function are the root problem in anti social behavior; Physical intervention is Based on this principle. White (1964) has argued that brain injury, results in the product of Psychopathic Personality, Hindering an individual’s capacity for inhibition and control and Gorenstein (1982) has implicated damage to the frontal lobe and limbic system in some psychopathic conduct. This perspective promotes the use of physical treatments of psychopathy, like electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and psychosurgery. ECT treatment involves inducing a generalized convulsion by placing electrodes on the temples of the patient and giving them a shock lasting about a second In cases of severe depression, bilateral ECT is preferable, since it acts quickly and fewer treatments are needed. In unilateral ECT, an electrode is applied to the non-dominant side of the hemisphere, with the hopes of reducing the potential side effects of memory disruption.

Psychosurgery represents the most dramatic form of physical intervention and is by far the most controversial of the medical. In an early study conducted by Green, Silverman and Geil (1944), for example, which involved administering low level mal electro-shock therapy to 24 psychopathic prisoners on an average of 11 occasions, the majority of subjects didn’t show any response. But right after the experiment, patients were described as being able to sleep more comfortably and less nervous. at six-month follow-up, four patients were considered to have improved, while the rest were unchanged. According to McCord (1982), there is more revealing evidence for the effective use of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depressed patients. A study on ECT conducted by Fink (1978) it was discovered that for psychotic-depressive and manic patients, success rates with ECT ranged from 60 to 90% and that suicide was not as common in ECT treated patients than among those who only received psychotherapy. Electroconvulsive therapy therefore could be useful for psychopathic patients who have developed severe depressive illness.

Therapeutic Treatments

Therapeutic treatment is another popular method for the rehabilitation of psychopaths. Hare (1970) said that the altered social milieu of therapeutic community might change the basic personality traits and behavior of psychopaths. (Barker & Mason 1968; Copas, O’brien, Roberts & Whiteley, 1984; Copas & Wheatley, 1976; Kiger, 1967.) therapeutic community for mentally damaged patients classified as psychopaths. Over a decade in a maximum security hospital, a peer operated group therapy of both criminals (psychopath and non-psychopaths) that taught empathy and responsibility to its members. There people learned about feelings of others, seeing things from another’s point of view, using emotional language, behaving in socially skilled ways and delaying gratification. These skills helped them (non-psychopaths) behaving in pro social and non criminal ways. But for the psychopaths it taught the m how to manipulate and exploit others.

Treatment of Psychopathy A Review of Empirical Findings GRANT T. HARRIS MARNIE E. RICE

Conclusion

Our goal as a team was to identify and list scholarly articles and documents that pertain to the history of the concept of a psychopath. The articles we have compiled as a team all contain important information that will be a benefit towards creating a well researched scholarly essay on the history of psychopathy. We have explored the definitions and history of psychopaths, how psychopaths function in society and are viewed publicly as well has how psychopaths function in clinical environments and treatments both old and new for the psychological condition. We hope that this collection of research information will prove most useful to the development of your thesis.

Citations

Arrigo, B. A. (2001). The Confusion Over Psychopathy (I): Historical Considerations. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45(3), 325-344

Cavadino, M. (1998). Death to the psychopath. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 9(1), 5-8. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/619327692?accountid=15182

Garrido, V., Esteban, C., & Molero, C. (1995). The effectiveness in the treatment of psychopathy: A meta-analysis. Issues in Criminological & Legal Psychology, 24, 57-59. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/619356864?accountid=15182

Green, E., Silverman, D. & Geil, G. (1944) Petit mal electro shock therapy of criminal psychopaths. Journal of Criminal Psychopathology, 5, 667-695.

GREENWALD, H. (1967). TREATMENT OF THE PSYCHOPATH. Voices, 3(1), 50-60. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/docview/615500251?accountid=15182

Haji, I. (2010). Psychopathy, ethical perception, and moral culpability. Neuroethics, 3(2), 135-150. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12152-009-9049-5

Hesse, M. (2009). Portrayal of psychopathy in the movies. International Review of Psychiatry, 21(3), 207-212. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540260902747441

Lynam, D. R., & Gudonis, L. (2005). The development of psychopathy. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 381-407. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144019

Millon, T. (1998). Psychopathy: antisocial, criminal, and violent behavior. New York: Guilford Press.

Seagrave, D., & Grisso, T. (2002). Adolescent development and the measurement of juvenile psychopathy. Law and Human Behavior, 26(2), 219-239. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1014696110850

The psychopath: Emotion and the brain. Blair, James; Mitchell, Derek; Blair, Karina Malden: Blackwell Publishing. (2005). ix 201 pp

The Treatment of Psychopathic and Antisocial Personality Disorders: A Review Jessica H Lee, BSc., MSc., M.Phil.

White, R. W. (1964) The Abnormal Personality. New York: Ronald Press

page revision: 33, last edited: 08 Apr 2014 19:33

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