What is a Psychopath?

"Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret. Their bewildered victims desperately ask, 'Who are these people?'"

We often think of psychopaths as the disturbed criminals who capture headlines and crowd the nation's prisons. But not all psychopaths are killers. They are more likely to be men and women you know who move through life with supreme self-confidence -- but without a conscience.

"What makes them the way they are? How can we protect ourselves?"
Robert D Hare, "Without Conscience"

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us

Robert Hare, in his 1993 book says: "Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets."

"Completely lacking in conscience and feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."

"He will choose you, disarm you with his words, and control you with this presence. He will delight you with his wit and his plans. He will show you a good time, but you will always get the bill. He will smile and deceive you, and he will scare you with his eyes. And when he is through with you, and he will be through with you, he will desert you and take with him your innocence and your pride. You will be left much sadder but not a lot wiser, and for a long time you will wonder what happened and what you did wrong. And if another of his kind comes knocking at your door, will you open it?"

Web Site of Dr. Hare

Terminology:

In order to keep all of us on the same page we would like to point out that for purposes of discussion the term used here at this forum is Psychopath, not socio-path. we respect the work of Dr. Hare and feel that he has worked tirelessly to communicate the proper terminology according to his many years of research. I know the term psychopath gets people thinking it only applies to the Bundy's of the world. What we are discussing here are those Psychopaths who are walking amongst us.

The nomenclature problem is a pit of vipers. There seems to be no standard usage. Research psychologists and those involved in the correctional system seem to prefer the Hare construct of 'Psychopath'. Psychiatrists seem more likely to refer to the ASPD definition in DSM-IV-TR

Here's what Hervey Cleckley has to say in the Preface to the 5th Edition of "The Mask of Sanity"

"Since the first edition of this book, revisions of the nomenclature have been made by the American Psychiatric Association. The classification of psychopathic personality was changed to that of sociopathic personality in 1958. In 1968 it was changed again to antisocial personality. Like most psychiatrists I continue to think of the people who are the subject of this book as psychopaths and will most often refer to them by this familiar term

Dr. Michael Conner
The Psychopathic Personality
Revised: August 02, 2002



The Psychopathic Personality continues... The Psychopathic Personality continues...


Link from the Resource Section titled What is a Psychopath

http://www.psychopath-research.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=230#Post230

Psychopathy vs. ASPD

Psychopathy vs. ASPD (Antisocial Personality Disorder)

There has been much confusion and debate over the issue of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in recent years. The term psychopath has been used in everyday conversation to describe a person who deviates from the norms of society. While this term may be suitable for conversation it adds a degree of confusion when speaking in psychological terms. This term is not only confused by laypersons, but can be confused by clinical psychologists. Some psychologists and psychiatrists have used the terms psychopath and ASPD interchangeably in recent years. This is a likely source of confusion.

What is a Psychopath?

Hervey Cleckley initially described the term psychopath in clinical terms in his book The Mask of Sanity, first published in 1941. Cleckley described the primary traits of a psychopath as the tendency to say one thing and do another, incapacity for love, guiltlessness, impulsivity, emotional shallowness, superficial social charm, and the inability to profit from life experiences. This early conceptualization of the psychopath lead to work by Otto Kernberg, Aaron Beck, Robert Hare, and others. Hare has done the most extensive research concerning psychopathy and has developed the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The PCL-R is a highly scientific screening device that is widely used throughout North America and Europe. Hare's concept of the psychopath is similar to the one proposed by Cleckley, but with some additions. In addition to Cleckley's description, Hare states that psychopaths have a narrow range of emotion, lead a parasitic lifestyle, have a grandiose sense of self-worth, are criminally versatile, lack realistic long term plans, are pathological liars, are highly manipulative, lack impulse control, are prone to boredom, and are superficially charming. As one may imagine a psychopath is not an easy person to get along with.

What is Antisocial Personality Disorder?

ASPD is a mental disorder that is officially recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Psychopathy, at this time, is not recognized as a formal mental disorder. The diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of ASPD indicates that there must be a pattern of disregard for the rights of others evident before the age of 15. This disregard must be manifest by impulsivity, aggressiveness, repeated lying for personal pleasure or profit, reckless behavior, consistent irresponsibility, or lack of remorse for hurting others. To be diagnosed with ASPD the patient must be at least 18 years old and there must be evidence of a conduct disorder before 15 years of age. As one can see, people with ASPD are also difficult patients. The model of a typical psychopath is really an extreme form of ASPD. For example, the lying that an ASPD patient does is manipulative, but the psychopath lies pathologically. The typical psychopath has several more "active" lies at one time than the typical ASPD patient. They often carry themselves in a nature that makes others think that they truly care and have sympathy for others. This cannot be further from the truth. Psychopaths have been known to manipulate others into marriage or business deals with the sole purpose of living off the generosity of their partners and then taking every hard-earned penny from their bank account. This not only has financial implications but emotional ones as well. The psychopath's victim often feels manipulated, belittled, and emotionally raped.

Psychopathy vs. ASPD...continues...

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY, SOCIOPATHY, AND PSYCHOPATHY

"When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better." (Mae West)

People who cannot contain their urges to harm (or kill) people repeatedly for no apparent reason are assumed to suffer from some mental illness. However, they may be more cruel than crazy, they may be choosing not to control their urges, they know right from wrong, they know exactly what they're doing, and they are definitely NOT insane, at least according to the consensus of most scholars (Samenow 2004). In such cases, they usually fall into one of three types that are typically considered aggravating circumstances in addition to their legal guilt -- antisocial personality disorder (APD), sociopath, or psychopath -- none of which are the same as insanity or psychosis. APD is the most common type, afflicting about 4% of the general population. Sociopaths are the second most common type, with the American Psychiatric Association estimating that 3% of all males in our society are sociopaths. Psychopaths are rare, found in perhaps 1% of the population.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) is practically synonymous with criminal behavior. It's so synonymous, in fact, that practically all convicted criminals (65-75%) have it, with criminologists often referring to it as a "wastebasket" category. Antisocials come is all shapes and sizes, but psychologists consider the juvenile version of it to be a juvenile conduct disorder. The main characteristic of it is a complete and utter disregard for the rights of others and the rules of society. They seldom show anxiety and don't feel guilt. There's really no effective treatment for them other than locking them up in a secure facility with such rigid rules that they cannot talk their way out. A full list of APD traits would include:

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