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   Psychopathy: An Important Forensic Concept for the 21st Century (FBI)    
      
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   Home * 2012 * July * Psychopathy: An Important Forensic Concept for the 21st   
   Century    
      
   Psychopathy    
   An Important Forensic Concept for the 21st Century    
   By Paul Babiak, M.S., Ph.D.; Jorge Folino, M.D., Ph.D.;    
   Jeffrey Hancock, Ph.D.; Robert D. Hare, Ph.D.;    
   Matthew Logan, Ph.D., M.Ed.; Elizabeth Leon Mayer, Ph.D.;   
   J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D.; Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm, Ph.D.;    
   Mary Ellen O'Toole, Ph.D.; Anthony Pinizzotto, Ph.D.;    
   Stephen Porter, Ph.D.; Sharon Smith, Ph.D.;    
   and Michael Woodworth, Ph.D.    
   Depiction of Head with Gears in Brain Area, Large    
      
   Over the years, Hollywood has provided many examples of psychopaths. As a   
   result, psychopaths often are identified as scary people who look frightening   
   or have other off-putting characteristics. In reality, a psychopath can be   
   anyone--a neighbor,    
   coworker, or homeless person. Each of these seemingly harmless people may prey   
   continually on others around them.    
   Psychopathy and Personality Disorder    
   The term psychopathy refers to a personality disorder that includes a cluster   
   of interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial traits and behaviors.1   
   These involve deception; manipulation; irresponsibility; impulsivity;   
   stimulation seeking; poor    
   behavioral controls; shallow affect; lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse;   
   sexual promiscuity; callous disregard for the rights of others; and unethical   
   and antisocial behaviors.2    
   Psychopathy is the most dangerous of the personality disorders. To understand   
   it, one must know some fundamental principles about personality. Individuals'   
   personalities represent who they are; they result from genetics and upbringing   
   and reflect how    
   persons view the world and think the world views them. Personalities dictate   
   how people interact with others and how they cope with problems, both real and   
   imagined. Individuals' personalities develop and evolve until approximately   
   their late 20s, after    
   which they are well-hardwired in place, unable to be altered.    
   Traits and Characteristics    
   Psychopathy is apparent in a specific cluster of traits and characteristics   
   (see table 1). These traits, ultimately, define adult psychopathy and begin to   
   manifest themselves in early childhood.3 The lifelong expression of this   
   disorder is a product of    
   complex interactions between biological and temperamental predispositions and   
   social forces--in other words, the ways in which nature and nurture shape and   
   define each other.4    
   Many psychopaths exhibit a profound lack of remorse for their aggressive   
   actions, both violent and nonviolent, along with a corresponding lack of   
   empathy for their victims. This central psychopathic concept enables them to   
   act in a cold-blooded manner,    
   using those around them as pawns to achieve goals and satisfy needs and   
   desires, whether sexual, financial, physical, or emotional. Most psychopaths   
   are grandiose, selfish sensation seekers who lack a moral compass--a   
   conscience--and go through life    
   taking what they want. They do not accept responsibility for their actions and   
   find a way to shift the blame to someone or something else.    
   Chameleons and Predators    
      
   Open Quotes on Blue Bar    
   Psychopaths can    
   be adept at    
   imitating emotions    
   that they believe    
   will mitigate their    
   punishment.    
   Close Quotes on Blue Bar    
   In general, psychopaths are glib and charming, and they use these attributes   
   to manipulate others into trusting and believing in them. This may lead to   
   people giving them money, voting them into office, or, possibly, being   
   murdered by them. Because of    
   their interpersonal prowess, most psychopaths can present themselves favorably   
   on a first impression, and many function successfully in society.    
   Many of the attitudes and behaviors of psychopaths have a distinct predatory   
   quality to them. Psychopaths see others as either competitive predators or   
   prey. To understand how psychopaths achieve their goals, it is important to   
   see them as classic    
   predators. For instance, they surf the Internet looking for attractive persons   
   to con or, even, murder and target retirees to charm them out of their life   
   savings for a high-risk investment scam, later blaming them for being too   
   trusting. Most    
   psychopaths are skilled at camouflage through deception and manipulation, as   
   well as stalking and locating areas where there is an endless supply of   
   victims.5 The psychopath is an intraspecies predator, and peoples' visceral   
   reaction to them--"they made    
   the hair stand up on my neck"--is an early warning system driven by fear of   
   being prey to a predator.6    
   The psychopath's egocentricity and need for power and control are the perfect   
   ingredients for a lifetime of antisocial and criminal activity. The ease with   
   which a psychopath can engage in violence holds significance for society and   
   law enforcement.    
   Often, psychopaths are shameless in their actions against others, whether it   
   is murdering someone in a calculated, cold-blooded manner, manipulating law   
   enforcement during an interview, or claiming remorse for actions, but blaming   
   the victim for the    
   crime. This particularly proves true in cases involving sexual offenders who   
   are psychopathic.    
   If psychopaths commit a homicide, their killing likely will be planned and   
   purposeful, not the result of a loss of emotional control; their motive more   
   commonly will involve sadistic gratification.7 When faced with overwhelming   
   evidence of their guilt,    
   they frequently will claim they lost control or were in a rage when committing   
   the act of violence. In fact, their violence often is emotionless, calculated,   
   and completely controlled.8 If psychopaths commit a serious crime with another   
   individual (   
   almost always a nonpsychopath), they often will avoid culpability by using the   
   other individual to take the blame for the offense. Evidence suggests that   
   this particular strategy is even more evident in serious multiple-perpetrator   
   offences committed by    
   a psychopathic youth with a nonpsychopathic partner.9    
   Myth Busting    
      
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