Forensic Psychology For Dummies (96 page)
Read Forensic Psychology For Dummies Online
Authors: David Canter
After you’ve met someone who you know has committed horrific violent crimes, and yet can be charming and helpful, continuing to believe in the Hollywood stereotype of the psychopath (that I describe in the nearby sidebar ‘Beyond the Hollywood stereotypes’) becomes difficult. Without doubt, though, some people seem pleasant and plausible in one situation but can quickly turn to viciousness, and some people can never connect with others and are constantly, from an early age, at war with those with whom they come into contact.
Not all psychopaths end up as vicious criminals. Some experienced businessmen and politicians would probably get a diagnosis of psychopath if they were clinically assessed. For example, Bernard Madoff who defrauded thousands of investors out of billions of dollars had many of the characteristics of the Type 1 psychopath as listed later in this chapter.
The psychopathy checklist
The many ideas surrounding the notion of the ‘psychopath’ led Robert Hare to develop a standard checklist that can be used to measure the degree to which a person exhibits psychopathic traits. It consists of 20 items that can be given a score of 0 if they don’t exist and a score of 2 if they do, with a score of 1 for the possibility that they exist. These scores are then added up. In general a score higher than 30 is taken to indicate a full-blown psychopath.
Beyond the Hollywood stereotypes
The Hollywood psychopath is inevitably a merciless serial killer, often some sort of cross between Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster! Films from the silent 1920s cinema, such as
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
to the more recent
Kalifornia
and
No Country for Old Men
, never really provide any psychological insights into the actions of the monsters who are the anti-heroes of their dramas – they’re presented as pure evil. The rather more psychologically interesting films such as
Psycho
or
The Boston Strangler
do provide explanations for the nastiness of their villains (drawn from a simplistic use of the outdated theories of Sigmund Freud), but still present their anti-heroes as alien individuals who can appear unthreatening but deep down are malevolent.
A further refinement is that two different styles of psychopath can be identified from the scores:
Type 1 psychopaths:
These people have superficial charm, but are pathological liars, callous, remorseless and manipulative. The clearest fictional example of this sort of psychopath is Tom Ripley, who has the central role in many of Patricia Highsmith’s amoral novels.
These people are more obviously criminal, impulsive and irresponsible, with a history of juvenile delinquency, antisocial tendencies, early behavioural problems and whose lives are chronically unstable.
These types are captured in the following items in Hare’s checklist:
• Glibly, but superficially, charming
• Grandiose feeling of self-importance
• Pathological liar – lies even when no need to exists
• Manipulates others; cunning
• Lacks remorse or any feelings of guilt
• Doesn’t really feel strongly about anything
• Lacks empathy
• Doesn’t accept responsibility for own actions
• Easily bored, needs excitement
• Feeds off other people
• No realistic, long-term goals
• Impulsive
• Irresponsible
• Lack of control over actions
• Behavioural problems in childhood
• Juvenile delinquency
• Different types of offending
• Abuses any conditions set by the courts
Perhaps not surprisingly, both styles of psychopathy are also related to: