Psychopathy  

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[[Image:Elagabalus.jpg|thumb|right|200px| [[Image:Elagabalus.jpg|thumb|right|200px|
-This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of [[Psychopathy and psychopathology]] series.+This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of [[psychopathology]] series.
-<br>Illustrated by the head of '''[[Elagabalus]]''', one of the five "[[mad emperors]]" of [[ancient Rome]]]]+<br>Illustration: the head of '''[[Elagabalus]]''', one of the five "[[mad emperors]]" of [[ancient Rome]]]]
 +[[Image:The Remorse of Nero by Waterhouse.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''[[The Remorse of the Emperor Nero after the Murder of his Mother]]'' (1878) by [[John William Waterhouse]]]]
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-:''[[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in film]], [[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in literature]]'' 
-'''Psychopathy''' and '''psychopathology''', are terms in contemporary [[criminology]], [[psychiatry]], [[psychology]] and [[the media]] used for a [[severe]] form of [[antisocial personality disorder]]. A focus of this wiki are [[fictional portrayals of psychopaths]]. A good introduction to the subject is ''[[The Mask of Sanity]]''. +'''Psychopathy''' is a [[personality disorder]] characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others. It is defined in different ways, but can involve a lack of empathy or remorse, false emotions, selfishness, grandiosity or deceptiveness; it can also involve impulsiveness, irritability, aggression, or inability to perceive danger and protect one`s self.
-== Psychopathology ==+However, there is no consensus about the symptom criteria for psychopathy, and no psychiatric or psychological organization has
 +sanctioned a diagnosis of “psychopathy” itself.'
-'''Psychopathology''' is a term which refers to [[either]] the study of [[mental illness]] or mental distress, or the manifestation of behaviors and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological [[impairment]].+The current version of the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] includes a diagnosis of [[antisocial personality disorder]] (ASPD), and states that this is also known as psychopathy. Nevertheless, the [[DSM-V]] working party is recommending the addition of a subtype specifically termed 'psychopathic'. The [[ICD-10]] diagnostic criteria of the [[World Health Organization]] has a [[Dissocial personality disorder]], which it states includes the psychopathic personality. The term '[[sociopathic]]' is also often treated as equivalent, having been introduced as an alternative term indicating social causation. However, most psychopathy measures are different from the criteria for ASPD in that ASPD focus on observable behavior while psychopathy measures also include more indirect personality judgements.
-===See also===+
-* [[Delusion]]+
-* [[Abnormal psychology]]+
-* [[Animal psychopathology]]+
-* [[Biological psychopathology]]+
-* [[Child psychopathology]]+
-* [[Mental illness]]+
-* [[Psychiatry]]+
-* [[Glossary of psychiatry]]+
-* [[Biological psychiatry]]+
-* [[Chemical imbalance theory]]+
-== Psychopathy ==+Psychologist [[Robert Hare (psychologist)|Robert Hare]] has been a particular champion of the concept of psychopathy, based largely on a characterization introduced by Hervey Cleckley mid 20th century. The [[Hare Psychopathy Checklist]] is a standard ratings tool most often used in forensic settings to assess psychopathy. A study by Hare and colleagues suggested that one to two percent of the US population score high enough on a screening version of the scale to be considered potential psychopaths The diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder covers two to three times as many prisoners as are rated as psychopaths on Hare's scale.
-:Though in widespread use as a psychiatric term, psychopathy has no precise equivalent in either the DSM-IV-TR, where it is most strongly correlated with antisocial personality disorder, or the ICD-10, where it is correlated with dissocial personality disorder. --Jahsonic, Nov 2006+
-===History===+
-The current concept of psychopathy has been thematically linked to writings by [[Theophrastus]], a student of [[Aristotle]] in Ancient Greece, whose description of ''[[The Unscrupulous Man]]'' is said to embody the characteristics of psychopathy:+
-:"The Unscrupulous Man will go and borrow more money from a creditor he has never paid ... When marketing he reminds the butcher of some service he has rendered him and, standing near the scales, throws in some meat, if he can, and a soup-bone. If he succeeds, so much the better; if not, he will snatch a piece of tripe and go off laughing."+According to some, there is little evidence of a cure or effective treatment for psychopathy; no medications can instill empathy, and psychopaths who undergo traditional [[talk therapy]] might become more adept at manipulating others and more likely to commit crime. Others suggest that psychopaths may benefit as much as others from therapy. According to [[Robert Hare (psychologist)|Hare]], psychopathy stems from as yet unconfirmed genetic neurological predispositions and as yet unconfirmed social factors in upbringing. A review published in 2008 indicated multiple causes, and variation in causes between individuals.
-In 1801, [[Philippe Pinel]] described patients who were mentally unimpaired but nonetheless engaged in impulsive and self-defeating acts. He saw them as ''la folie raisonnante'' ("insane without delirium") meaning they fully understood the irrationality of their behavior but continued with it anyway.+Despite being unused as the main term in diagnostic manuals, the term 'psychopath' is still used by some [[mental health professionals]] and by the general public, popular press and in [[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths|fictional portrayals]]. Despite the similarity of the names, psychopaths are rarely [[psychotic]]. Although psychopathy is associated with and in some cases defined by conduct problems, criminality or violence, most psychopaths are not violent.
 +== Etymology ==
 +The word "psychopathy" is a joining of the [[Greek language|Greek]] words psyche ψυχή (mind, mental) and pathos πάθος (suffering, feeling). The first documented use is from 1847 in [[Germany]] as ''psychopatisch'', and the noun ''psychopath'' has been traced to 1885.
-The scientific study of individuals thought to lack a conscience flourished in the latter half of the 19th century. Notably, [[Cesare Lombroso]] rejected the view that criminality could occur in anyone and instead sought to identify particular "born criminals" whom he thought showed certain physical defects.+In medicine, ''patho-'' has long had a specific meaning of [[disease]]. Thus ''[[pathology]]'' has meant the study of disease since 1610, and ''[[psychopathology]]'' the study of [[mental disorder]] since 1847. A sense of "worthy to be a subject of pathology, morbid, excessive" is attested from 1845, including the phrase ''[[pathological liar]]'' from 1891 in the medical literature.
-By the turn of the 20th century, [[Henry Maudsley]] had begun writing about the "moral imbecile", and was arguing such individuals could not be rehabilitated by the correctional system. Maudsley included the psychopath's immunity to the reformational effects of punishment, owing to their refusal to anticipate further failure, and punishment. In 1904, [[Emil Kraepelin]] described four types of personalities similar to antisocial personality disorder. By 1915 he had identified them as defective in either affect or volition, dividing the types further into different categories, only some of which correspond to the current descriptions of antisocial personality disorder.+''[[Psychosis]]'' was also used in Germany from 1841, including in a general sense of any mental derangement. The suffix -ωσις (-osis) meant in this case 'abnormal condition'. This term or its adjective ''psychotic'' would come to refer specifically to mental states or disorders characterized by [[hallucinations]], [[delusions]] or being in some other sense out of touch with [[reality]].
-In 1909, [[Birnbaum]] introduced the term "[[sociopathic]]", intended to emphasize the social causes of antisocial behavior.+The term psychopathy initially had a very general meaning too, referring to all sorts of mental disorders. Some medical dictionaries still define it in the narrow and broad sense, for example [[MedlinePlus]] from the US [[National Library of Medicine]]. Others, such as [[Stedman's Medical Dictionary]], define it only as an outdated term for an antisocial type of personality disorder.
-''[[The Mask of Sanity]]'' by [[Hervey M. Cleckley]], [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]], first published in 1941, is considered a seminal work which provided a vivid series of case studies of individuals (mostly prisoners) described by Cleckley as psychopathic. Cleckley proposed 16 characteristics of psychopathy. The title refers to the "mask" of normality that Cleckley thought concealed the disorganization or [[mental disorder]] of what he saw as the psychopathic person.+The [[slang]] ''psycho'' has been traced to 1936 as a shortening of the adjective psychopathic, and from 1942 as a shortening of the noun psychopath,
 +and it can also be short for psychotic.
-A 1977 study, however, found little relationship with the characteristics commonly attributed to psychopaths and concluded that the concept was being used too widely and loosely.+The label ''psychopath'' has been described as strangely nonspecific but probably persisting because it indicates that the source of behavior lies in the [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]] rather than in the situation. The media usually uses the term to designate any criminal whose offenses are particularly abhorrent and unnatural, but that is not its original or general psychiatric meaning. In the alternative term ''sociopath'', [[Socii|socio]] has been common in compound words since around 1880, referring to [[social]] or [[society]].
-The [[American Psychiatric Association]]'s [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] incorporated various concepts of psychopathy/sociopathy/antisocial personality in early versions but, starting with the DSM-III in 1980, used instead a diagnosis of [[antisocial personality disorder]]. This was based on some of the criteria put forward by Cleckley but [[operationalize]]d in behavioral terms and more specifically related to conduct and criminality. The [[World Health Organization]]'s ICD incorporates a similar diagnosis of Dissocial Personality Disorder. Both the DSM and the ICD state that psychopathy (or sociopathy) are [[synonyms]] of their diagnosis.+==History==
 +:''[[history of psychopathy]]''
 +In very general terms, behaviors related to a modern concept of 'antisocial personality' have been informally noted in a brief [[Vignette (literature)|vignette]] by [[Theophrastus]] in [[Ancient Greece]], whose ''[[The Unscrupulous Man]]'' "will go and borrow more money from a creditor he has never paid ... When marketing he reminds the butcher of some service he has rendered him and, standing near the scales, throws in some meat, if he can, and a soup-bone. If he succeeds, so much the better; if not, he will snatch a piece of tripe and go off laughing". Figures of [[insanity]] (e.g. [[Vagabond (person)|vagabonds]], [[libertines]], the '[[mad]]') have often, at least since the 18th century, represented an image of darkness and threat to society, as would later 'the psychopath', a mixture of concepts of dangerousness, evil and illness.
-However, there remained no international agreement on the diagnosis of psychopathy. One author referred to it in 1987 as an "infinitely elastic, catch-all category". In 1988, Blackburn wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry that the concept as commonly used in psychiatry is little more than a [[moral judgement]] masquerading as a clinical diagnosis, and argued that it should be scrapped.+Clinical concepts that might in some aspects be related to theories of psychopathy today are thought to have emerged in the early 19th century. In 1801, [[Philippe Pinel]] described, without moral judgement, patients who appeared mentally unimpaired but who nonetheless engaged in impulsive and self-defeating acts. He described this as ''[[Manie sans délire]]'' (insanity without confusion or delusion) or ''la folie raisonnante'' (rational insanity), and his anecdotes generally described people carried away by ''instincte fureur'' (instinctive fury). [[Benjamin Rush]] wrote in 1812 about individuals with an apparent 'perversion of the moral faculties' which he saw as a sign of innate defective organization. He also saw such people as objects of compassion whose mental alienation could be helped, even if that needed to be in prisons or what he referred to as the 'christian system of criminal jurisprudence'. In 1835 [[James Cowles Prichard]] developed a broad diagnostic category [[moral insanity]], referring to 'madness' of emotional or moral dispositions without significant delusions or hallucinations. Prichard generally referred more to eccentric behavior than out of control passions, though his diagnosis became widely used. None of these concepts are directly comparable to later diagnostic categories of psychopathy in the specific sense, or even to personality disorders. Moreover, 'moral' did not necessarily refer at that time to morality, it could just mean psychological or emotional.
-[[Robert Hare (psychologist)|Robert Hare]] developed a [[PCL-R|Psychopathy Checklist]] in 1980 based on the psychopath [[Constructivist epistemology|construct]] advanced by Cleckley, and later revised it in the 1990s (including the removal of two items). While the official diagnostic manuals had moved away from the concept as being too vague and difficult to reliably assess, Hare's questionnaire would be increasingly used in research studies on psychopathy mainly in forensic (criminal) settings.+The (pseudo) scientific study of individuals thought to lack a conscience flourished in the latter half of the 19th century. Notably, [[Cesare Lombroso]] rejected the view that criminality could occur in anyone and sought to identify particular "[[born criminal]]s" whom he thought showed certain physical signs, such as proportionately long arms or a low and narrow forehead. Towards the turn of the 20th century, [[Henry Maudsley]] had begun writing about the "moral imbecile", moral insanity and 'criminal psychosis'. He saw these as genetic disorders for which individuals could be neither punished nor reformed by the correctional system, and applied the concepts to what he saw as a lower [[Social class|class]] of chronic offenders who he described in various negative ways by comparison to "the higher industrial classes".
 +In 1891 [[Julius Ludwig August Koch]] formally introduced the concept of 'psychopathic inferiority' (psychopathischen minderwertigkeiten). This also referred to diverse kinds of dysfunction or strange conduct in the absence of obvious mental illness or retardation. Koch was a [[Christian]] and influenced by the [[degeneration]] theory popular at the time, though he referred to both congenital and acquired types. Habitual criminality was only a small part of his concept, but the public soon used the shortened version 'inferiors' to refer to anyone supposedly suffering from an inherent disposition toward crime.
 +===20th century===
 +[[Emil Kraepelin]] included a section on moral insanity in his psychiatric classification scheme but by 1904 was referring to psychopathic conditions. Also influenced by degeneration theory, Kraepelin eventually included several categories involving antisocial or criminal behavior, as well as a dissocial type, including: born criminals (inborn delinquents), liars and swindlers, [[querulous]] persons, and driven persons (including [[vagabonds]], [[spendthrifts]], and [[dipsomaniacs]]). After World War I psychiatrists dropped the term 'inferiors' (minderwertigkeiten) and used psychopathisch instead, and its derivatives psychopathie and psychopathen. This was an attempt to avoid assumptions of inferiority and degeneracy, and to be neutral and scientific, and referred not just to antisocial behaviors but a wide range of issues. [[Kurt Schneider]] and [[Karl Birnbaum]] were also influential in attempting a more scientific classification of psychopathy, defined broadly in terms of abnormal personalities. Schneider proposed a 'compassionless' type and a 'willenlos' (weak-willed) type; Birnbaum an 'amoral' type and a 'haltlos' (lacking resilience or stability) type. Birnbaum also used the term 'sociopathic', which would become influential from the late 1920s in America.
-'''Psychopathy''' is currently defined in [[psychiatry]] and [[clinical psychology]] as a condition characterized by lack of [[empathy]] or [[conscience]], and poor [[Deferred gratification|impulse control]] or [[manipulation|manipulative]] behaviors. It is a term derived from the Greek [[Psyche|psyche]] (''soul, breath hence mind'') and [[pathos]] (''to suffer''), and was once used to denote any form of [[mental illness]], often being confused with [[psychosis]].+Nevertheless, in the first decades of the 20th century, 'constitutional psychopathic inferiority' became a commonly used term in the US, implying the issue was inherent to the genetics or makeup of the person, an [[organic disease]]. As a category it was used to target any and all dysfunctional or antisocial behavior, and in psychiatric categorization it labeled a broad range of alleged mental deviances, including [[homosexuality]]. Some courts began to develop 'psychopathic laboratories' for the classification and treatment of offenders; the term psychopathic was chosen to avoid the [[social stigma]] of 'lunacy' or 'insanity', while emphasizing variance from normality rather than simply a [[mental hygiene]] issue. Nevertheless, at least one such laboratory issued a report on [[eugenic]] [[sterilization]] initatives. From the 1930s, '[[sexual psychopath]]' laws (a term going back to [[Richard von Krafft-Ebing]]) started to be implemented in many US states, allowing for the indeterminate psychiatric commitment of [[sex offender]]s.
 + 
 +[[George Partridge]], while narrowing the definition of psychopathy to antisocial personality, emphasized that at least some types appeared to be about social maladjustment due to social learning, and argued that the term sociopath should be used. [[David Henderson]] published in 1939 a theory of 'psychopathic states' which, although he described different types and unusually suggested that psychopaths might not all be criminals, included a violently antisocial type which ended up contributing to that being the popular meaning of the term. In the 1940s a diagnosis of [[History of Asperger syndrome|autistic psychopathy]] was introduced, later coming to wider notice and renamed [[Asperger syndrome]] to avoid the stigma of the term psychopathy.
 + 
 +''[[The Mask of Sanity]]'' by [[Hervey M. Cleckley]], [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]], first published in 1941, is considered a seminal work which provided a vivid series of case studies of individuals described as psychopaths. Cleckley proposed 16 characteristics of psychopathy, derived mainly from his work with male [[psychiatric hospital|psychiatric patients]] in a locked institution. The title refers to the "mask" of normal functioning that Cleckley thought concealed the disorganization, amorality and disorder of the psychopathic personality. This marked the start in America of the current clinical and popularist conception of psychopathy as a particular type of antisocial, emotionless and criminal character. Cleckley would produce five editions of the book over subsequent decades, including a substantial revision in 1950, expanding his case studies and theories to more non-prisoners and non-criminals.
 + 
 +The first version of the [[American Psychiatric Association]]'s [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] in 1952 did not use the term psychopath, but instead 'sociopathic personality disturbance', although it included many of Cleckley's criteria. The diagnosis had antisocial or dyssocial subtypes, though the latter was deleted in the DSM-II. The diagnosis was only one within a broader category that would be termed [[personality disorders]].
 + 
 +Cleckley's concept of psychopathy, particularly in the sense of a [[conscience]]-less man beneath a mask of normality, caught the public imagination. However, the book fell out of favor, and when he died in 1984 Cleckley was better remembered for a vivid case study of a female patient published in 1956, turned into a movie ''[[The Three Faces of Eve]]'' in 1957, which had (re)popularized in America another controversial diagnosis, [[Multiple Personality Disorder]].
 + 
 +A distinction was proposed by [[psychoanalyst]] [[Benjamin Karpman]] from the 1940s between psychopathy due to psychological problems (e.g. psychotic, hysterical or neurotic conditions) and [[idiopathic]] psychopathy where there was no obvious psychological cause. He concluded that the former could not be attributed to a psychopathic personality and that the latter appeared so absent of any redeeming features that it couldn't be be seen as a personality issue either, but must be a constitutional 'anethopathy' ([[amorality]] or [[antipathy]]).
 + 
 +Various theories of distinctions between primary and secondary psychopathy remain to this day. Meanwhile, criminologist [[sociologists]] William and Joan McCord were influential in narrowing the definition of psychopathy to an antisocial lack of the guilt emotion and reactive aggression. On the other hand, various analysts purported to identify 'successful' psychopaths in society, some even suggesting it was but an adaption to the social or economic [[mores]] of the age, others noting they could be hard to spot either because they were so good at hiding their lack of conscience, or because many people showed the traits to some degree.
 + 
 +However, there remained no international clinical agreement on the diagnosis of psychopathy. A 1977 study found little relationship with the characteristics commonly attributed to psychopaths and concluded that the concept was being used too widely and loosely. [[Robert Hare (psychologist)|Robert D. Hare]] had published a book in 1970 summarizing research on psychopathy, and was subsequently at the forefront of psychopathy research. Frustrated by a lack of agreed definitions or rating systems for psychopathy, including at a ten-day international [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] conference in 1975, Hare began developing his [[PCL-R|Psychopathy Checklist]]. Produced in 1980, it was based partly on the list of traits advanced by Cleckley and partly on the theories of other authors and on his own experiences with clients in prisons. Meanwhile, also in the wake of the NATO conference, a DSM-III task force instead developed the diagnosis of [[antisocial personality disorder]], published in the DSM in 1980. This was based on some of the criteria put forward by Cleckley but [[operationalize]]d in behavioral rather than personality terms, more specifically related to conduct. APA was most concerned to demonstrate inter-rater reliability rather than necessarily validity.
 + 
 +Nevertheless, one author referred to the concept of psychopathy in 1987 as an "infinitely elastic, catch-all category". In 1988, Blackburn wrote in the ''[[British Journal of Psychiatry]]'' that as commonly used in psychiatry it is little more than a [[moral judgement]] masquerading as a clinical diagnosis, and argued that it should be scrapped. Ellard argued similarly in the same year in the ''[[Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry]]'', describing the concept as 'a reflection of the customs and prejudices of a particular social group. Most psychiatrists are from that group and therefore fail to see the incongruity.' By the 1970s and 80s the sexual psychopath laws were falling out of favor in many states; the [[Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry]] called them a failure based on a confusing label mixing law and psychiatry.
 + 
 +Hare revised his checklist ([[PCL-R]]) as a draft in 1985 (removing two items) and then finalised it as the first edition in 1991. Meanwhile, following some criticism over the lack of psychological criteria in the DSM, further studies were conducted leading up the DSM-IV in 1994 and some personality criteria were included as 'associated features' which were outlined in the text. The [[World Health Organization]]'s ICD incorporated a similar diagnosis of Dissocial Personality Disorder. Both state that psychopathy (or sociopathy) may be considered [[synonyms]] of their diagnosis.
 + 
 +Hare updated the PCL-R with extra data in a 2nd edition in 2003. He has also written two bestsellers on psychopathy, 'Without Conscience' in 1993 and 'Snakes in Suits' in 2006. Cleckley had described psychopathic patients as 'carr[ying] disaster lightly in each hand' and 'not deeply vicious', but Hare presented a far more [[malevolent]] picture, and the 'mask of sanity' acquired a more sinister and [[Machiavellian]] meaning.
 + 
 +== Sex differences ==
 +:''[[female psychopath]]''
 +Research on psychopathy have largely been done on men and the [[PCL-R]] was developed using mainly male criminal samples raising the question how well the results apply to [[female criminal]]s. There have also been research investigating the sex differences. Men score higher than women on both the PCL-R and the PPI and on both of their main scales. The differences tend to be somewhat larger on the interpersonal-affective scale than on the antisocial scale. Most but not all studies have found broadly similar [[Factor analysis|factor structure]] for men and women.
 + 
 +Many associations with other personality traits are similar although in one study the antisocial factor was more strongly related with impulsivity in men and more strongly related with [[openness to experience]] in women. It has been suggested that psychopathy in men manifest more as an antisocial pattern while it in women manifests more as a [[Histrionic personality disorder|histrionic]] pattern. Studies on this have shown mixed results. PCL-R scores may be somewhat less predictive of violence and recidivism women. On the other hand, psychopathy may have stronger relationship with suicide and possibly internalizing symptoms in women. A suggestion is that psychopathy manifest more as externalizing behaviors in men and more as internalizing behaviors in women.
== See also == == See also ==
 +*[[Monoamine oxidase A]]
 +* [[Antisocial personality disorder]]
* ''[[Psychopathia Sexualis]]'' * ''[[Psychopathia Sexualis]]''
* ''[[The Psychopathology of Everyday Life]]'' ([[1901]]) - [[Sigmund Freud]] * ''[[The Psychopathology of Everyday Life]]'' ([[1901]]) - [[Sigmund Freud]]
-*''[[The Mask of Sanity]]''+* ''[[The Mask of Sanity]]''
-*[[Criminology]]+* [[Abnormal psychology]]
-*[[Antisocial personality disorder]]+* [[Animal psychopathology]]
-*[[Sociopath]]+* [[Biological psychopathology]]
-*[[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in film]]+* [[Child psychopathology]]
-*[[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in literature]]+* [[Criminology]]
 +* [[Delusion]]
 +* [[Mental illness]]
 +* [[Psychiatry]]
 +* [[Glossary of psychiatry]]
 +* [[Biological psychiatry]]
 +* [[Chemical imbalance theory]]
 +* [[Sociopath]]
 +* [[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in film]]
 +* [[Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in literature]]
 +* [[Low fear hypothesis]]
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

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 This page Psychopathy is part of psychopathology series. Illustration: the head of Elagabalus, one of the five "mad emperors" of ancient Rome
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Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others. It is defined in different ways, but can involve a lack of empathy or remorse, false emotions, selfishness, grandiosity or deceptiveness; it can also involve impulsiveness, irritability, aggression, or inability to perceive danger and protect one`s self.

However, there is no consensus about the symptom criteria for psychopathy, and no psychiatric or psychological organization has sanctioned a diagnosis of “psychopathy” itself.'

The current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), and states that this is also known as psychopathy. Nevertheless, the DSM-V working party is recommending the addition of a subtype specifically termed 'psychopathic'. The ICD-10 diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization has a Dissocial personality disorder, which it states includes the psychopathic personality. The term 'sociopathic' is also often treated as equivalent, having been introduced as an alternative term indicating social causation. However, most psychopathy measures are different from the criteria for ASPD in that ASPD focus on observable behavior while psychopathy measures also include more indirect personality judgements.

Psychologist Robert Hare has been a particular champion of the concept of psychopathy, based largely on a characterization introduced by Hervey Cleckley mid 20th century. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist is a standard ratings tool most often used in forensic settings to assess psychopathy. A study by Hare and colleagues suggested that one to two percent of the US population score high enough on a screening version of the scale to be considered potential psychopaths The diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder covers two to three times as many prisoners as are rated as psychopaths on Hare's scale.

According to some, there is little evidence of a cure or effective treatment for psychopathy; no medications can instill empathy, and psychopaths who undergo traditional talk therapy might become more adept at manipulating others and more likely to commit crime. Others suggest that psychopaths may benefit as much as others from therapy. According to Hare, psychopathy stems from as yet unconfirmed genetic neurological predispositions and as yet unconfirmed social factors in upbringing. A review published in 2008 indicated multiple causes, and variation in causes between individuals.

Despite being unused as the main term in diagnostic manuals, the term 'psychopath' is still used by some mental health professionals and by the general public, popular press and in fictional portrayals. Despite the similarity of the names, psychopaths are rarely psychotic. Although psychopathy is associated with and in some cases defined by conduct problems, criminality or violence, most psychopaths are not violent.

Contents

Etymology

The word "psychopathy" is a joining of the Greek words psyche ψυχή (mind, mental) and pathos πάθος (suffering, feeling). The first documented use is from 1847 in Germany as psychopatisch, and the noun psychopath has been traced to 1885.

In medicine, patho- has long had a specific meaning of disease. Thus pathology has meant the study of disease since 1610, and psychopathology the study of mental disorder since 1847. A sense of "worthy to be a subject of pathology, morbid, excessive" is attested from 1845, including the phrase pathological liar from 1891 in the medical literature.

Psychosis was also used in Germany from 1841, including in a general sense of any mental derangement. The suffix -ωσις (-osis) meant in this case 'abnormal condition'. This term or its adjective psychotic would come to refer specifically to mental states or disorders characterized by hallucinations, delusions or being in some other sense out of touch with reality.

The term psychopathy initially had a very general meaning too, referring to all sorts of mental disorders. Some medical dictionaries still define it in the narrow and broad sense, for example MedlinePlus from the US National Library of Medicine. Others, such as Stedman's Medical Dictionary, define it only as an outdated term for an antisocial type of personality disorder.

The slang psycho has been traced to 1936 as a shortening of the adjective psychopathic, and from 1942 as a shortening of the noun psychopath, and it can also be short for psychotic.

The label psychopath has been described as strangely nonspecific but probably persisting because it indicates that the source of behavior lies in the psyche rather than in the situation. The media usually uses the term to designate any criminal whose offenses are particularly abhorrent and unnatural, but that is not its original or general psychiatric meaning. In the alternative term sociopath, socio has been common in compound words since around 1880, referring to social or society.

History

history of psychopathy

In very general terms, behaviors related to a modern concept of 'antisocial personality' have been informally noted in a brief vignette by Theophrastus in Ancient Greece, whose The Unscrupulous Man "will go and borrow more money from a creditor he has never paid ... When marketing he reminds the butcher of some service he has rendered him and, standing near the scales, throws in some meat, if he can, and a soup-bone. If he succeeds, so much the better; if not, he will snatch a piece of tripe and go off laughing". Figures of insanity (e.g. vagabonds, libertines, the 'mad') have often, at least since the 18th century, represented an image of darkness and threat to society, as would later 'the psychopath', a mixture of concepts of dangerousness, evil and illness.

Clinical concepts that might in some aspects be related to theories of psychopathy today are thought to have emerged in the early 19th century. In 1801, Philippe Pinel described, without moral judgement, patients who appeared mentally unimpaired but who nonetheless engaged in impulsive and self-defeating acts. He described this as Manie sans délire (insanity without confusion or delusion) or la folie raisonnante (rational insanity), and his anecdotes generally described people carried away by instincte fureur (instinctive fury). Benjamin Rush wrote in 1812 about individuals with an apparent 'perversion of the moral faculties' which he saw as a sign of innate defective organization. He also saw such people as objects of compassion whose mental alienation could be helped, even if that needed to be in prisons or what he referred to as the 'christian system of criminal jurisprudence'. In 1835 James Cowles Prichard developed a broad diagnostic category moral insanity, referring to 'madness' of emotional or moral dispositions without significant delusions or hallucinations. Prichard generally referred more to eccentric behavior than out of control passions, though his diagnosis became widely used. None of these concepts are directly comparable to later diagnostic categories of psychopathy in the specific sense, or even to personality disorders. Moreover, 'moral' did not necessarily refer at that time to morality, it could just mean psychological or emotional.

The (pseudo) scientific study of individuals thought to lack a conscience flourished in the latter half of the 19th century. Notably, Cesare Lombroso rejected the view that criminality could occur in anyone and sought to identify particular "born criminals" whom he thought showed certain physical signs, such as proportionately long arms or a low and narrow forehead. Towards the turn of the 20th century, Henry Maudsley had begun writing about the "moral imbecile", moral insanity and 'criminal psychosis'. He saw these as genetic disorders for which individuals could be neither punished nor reformed by the correctional system, and applied the concepts to what he saw as a lower class of chronic offenders who he described in various negative ways by comparison to "the higher industrial classes".

In 1891 Julius Ludwig August Koch formally introduced the concept of 'psychopathic inferiority' (psychopathischen minderwertigkeiten). This also referred to diverse kinds of dysfunction or strange conduct in the absence of obvious mental illness or retardation. Koch was a Christian and influenced by the degeneration theory popular at the time, though he referred to both congenital and acquired types. Habitual criminality was only a small part of his concept, but the public soon used the shortened version 'inferiors' to refer to anyone supposedly suffering from an inherent disposition toward crime.

20th century

Emil Kraepelin included a section on moral insanity in his psychiatric classification scheme but by 1904 was referring to psychopathic conditions. Also influenced by degeneration theory, Kraepelin eventually included several categories involving antisocial or criminal behavior, as well as a dissocial type, including: born criminals (inborn delinquents), liars and swindlers, querulous persons, and driven persons (including vagabonds, spendthrifts, and dipsomaniacs). After World War I psychiatrists dropped the term 'inferiors' (minderwertigkeiten) and used psychopathisch instead, and its derivatives psychopathie and psychopathen. This was an attempt to avoid assumptions of inferiority and degeneracy, and to be neutral and scientific, and referred not just to antisocial behaviors but a wide range of issues. Kurt Schneider and Karl Birnbaum were also influential in attempting a more scientific classification of psychopathy, defined broadly in terms of abnormal personalities. Schneider proposed a 'compassionless' type and a 'willenlos' (weak-willed) type; Birnbaum an 'amoral' type and a 'haltlos' (lacking resilience or stability) type. Birnbaum also used the term 'sociopathic', which would become influential from the late 1920s in America.

Nevertheless, in the first decades of the 20th century, 'constitutional psychopathic inferiority' became a commonly used term in the US, implying the issue was inherent to the genetics or makeup of the person, an organic disease. As a category it was used to target any and all dysfunctional or antisocial behavior, and in psychiatric categorization it labeled a broad range of alleged mental deviances, including homosexuality. Some courts began to develop 'psychopathic laboratories' for the classification and treatment of offenders; the term psychopathic was chosen to avoid the social stigma of 'lunacy' or 'insanity', while emphasizing variance from normality rather than simply a mental hygiene issue. Nevertheless, at least one such laboratory issued a report on eugenic sterilization initatives. From the 1930s, 'sexual psychopath' laws (a term going back to Richard von Krafft-Ebing) started to be implemented in many US states, allowing for the indeterminate psychiatric commitment of sex offenders.

George Partridge, while narrowing the definition of psychopathy to antisocial personality, emphasized that at least some types appeared to be about social maladjustment due to social learning, and argued that the term sociopath should be used. David Henderson published in 1939 a theory of 'psychopathic states' which, although he described different types and unusually suggested that psychopaths might not all be criminals, included a violently antisocial type which ended up contributing to that being the popular meaning of the term. In the 1940s a diagnosis of autistic psychopathy was introduced, later coming to wider notice and renamed Asperger syndrome to avoid the stigma of the term psychopathy.

The Mask of Sanity by Hervey M. Cleckley, M.D., first published in 1941, is considered a seminal work which provided a vivid series of case studies of individuals described as psychopaths. Cleckley proposed 16 characteristics of psychopathy, derived mainly from his work with male psychiatric patients in a locked institution. The title refers to the "mask" of normal functioning that Cleckley thought concealed the disorganization, amorality and disorder of the psychopathic personality. This marked the start in America of the current clinical and popularist conception of psychopathy as a particular type of antisocial, emotionless and criminal character. Cleckley would produce five editions of the book over subsequent decades, including a substantial revision in 1950, expanding his case studies and theories to more non-prisoners and non-criminals.

The first version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1952 did not use the term psychopath, but instead 'sociopathic personality disturbance', although it included many of Cleckley's criteria. The diagnosis had antisocial or dyssocial subtypes, though the latter was deleted in the DSM-II. The diagnosis was only one within a broader category that would be termed personality disorders.

Cleckley's concept of psychopathy, particularly in the sense of a conscience-less man beneath a mask of normality, caught the public imagination. However, the book fell out of favor, and when he died in 1984 Cleckley was better remembered for a vivid case study of a female patient published in 1956, turned into a movie The Three Faces of Eve in 1957, which had (re)popularized in America another controversial diagnosis, Multiple Personality Disorder.

A distinction was proposed by psychoanalyst Benjamin Karpman from the 1940s between psychopathy due to psychological problems (e.g. psychotic, hysterical or neurotic conditions) and idiopathic psychopathy where there was no obvious psychological cause. He concluded that the former could not be attributed to a psychopathic personality and that the latter appeared so absent of any redeeming features that it couldn't be be seen as a personality issue either, but must be a constitutional 'anethopathy' (amorality or antipathy).

Various theories of distinctions between primary and secondary psychopathy remain to this day. Meanwhile, criminologist sociologists William and Joan McCord were influential in narrowing the definition of psychopathy to an antisocial lack of the guilt emotion and reactive aggression. On the other hand, various analysts purported to identify 'successful' psychopaths in society, some even suggesting it was but an adaption to the social or economic mores of the age, others noting they could be hard to spot either because they were so good at hiding their lack of conscience, or because many people showed the traits to some degree.

However, there remained no international clinical agreement on the diagnosis of psychopathy. A 1977 study found little relationship with the characteristics commonly attributed to psychopaths and concluded that the concept was being used too widely and loosely. Robert D. Hare had published a book in 1970 summarizing research on psychopathy, and was subsequently at the forefront of psychopathy research. Frustrated by a lack of agreed definitions or rating systems for psychopathy, including at a ten-day international North Atlantic Treaty Organization conference in 1975, Hare began developing his Psychopathy Checklist. Produced in 1980, it was based partly on the list of traits advanced by Cleckley and partly on the theories of other authors and on his own experiences with clients in prisons. Meanwhile, also in the wake of the NATO conference, a DSM-III task force instead developed the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, published in the DSM in 1980. This was based on some of the criteria put forward by Cleckley but operationalized in behavioral rather than personality terms, more specifically related to conduct. APA was most concerned to demonstrate inter-rater reliability rather than necessarily validity.

Nevertheless, one author referred to the concept of psychopathy in 1987 as an "infinitely elastic, catch-all category". In 1988, Blackburn wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry that as commonly used in psychiatry it is little more than a moral judgement masquerading as a clinical diagnosis, and argued that it should be scrapped. Ellard argued similarly in the same year in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, describing the concept as 'a reflection of the customs and prejudices of a particular social group. Most psychiatrists are from that group and therefore fail to see the incongruity.' By the 1970s and 80s the sexual psychopath laws were falling out of favor in many states; the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry called them a failure based on a confusing label mixing law and psychiatry.

Hare revised his checklist (PCL-R) as a draft in 1985 (removing two items) and then finalised it as the first edition in 1991. Meanwhile, following some criticism over the lack of psychological criteria in the DSM, further studies were conducted leading up the DSM-IV in 1994 and some personality criteria were included as 'associated features' which were outlined in the text. The World Health Organization's ICD incorporated a similar diagnosis of Dissocial Personality Disorder. Both state that psychopathy (or sociopathy) may be considered synonyms of their diagnosis.

Hare updated the PCL-R with extra data in a 2nd edition in 2003. He has also written two bestsellers on psychopathy, 'Without Conscience' in 1993 and 'Snakes in Suits' in 2006. Cleckley had described psychopathic patients as 'carr[ying] disaster lightly in each hand' and 'not deeply vicious', but Hare presented a far more malevolent picture, and the 'mask of sanity' acquired a more sinister and Machiavellian meaning.

Sex differences

female psychopath

Research on psychopathy have largely been done on men and the PCL-R was developed using mainly male criminal samples raising the question how well the results apply to female criminals. There have also been research investigating the sex differences. Men score higher than women on both the PCL-R and the PPI and on both of their main scales. The differences tend to be somewhat larger on the interpersonal-affective scale than on the antisocial scale. Most but not all studies have found broadly similar factor structure for men and women.

Many associations with other personality traits are similar although in one study the antisocial factor was more strongly related with impulsivity in men and more strongly related with openness to experience in women. It has been suggested that psychopathy in men manifest more as an antisocial pattern while it in women manifests more as a histrionic pattern. Studies on this have shown mixed results. PCL-R scores may be somewhat less predictive of violence and recidivism women. On the other hand, psychopathy may have stronger relationship with suicide and possibly internalizing symptoms in women. A suggestion is that psychopathy manifest more as externalizing behaviors in men and more as internalizing behaviors in women.

See also




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