PSYCHOPATH

Nature vs. Nurture: The Origins of a Psychopath

Abstract

Dr. Robert Hare in his article “Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Case of Diagnostic Confusion”, “Most psychopaths (with the exception of those who somehow manage to plow their way through life without coming into formal or prolonged contact with the criminal justice system) meet the criteria for ASPD, but most individuals with ASPD are not psychopaths.” The characteristics that indicate psychopath are different than those that indicate the more basic form(s) of ASPD. Psychopaths are compassionless, calculated, and cold. To get an idea of the difference, compare the kid who bullies others after school to a serial killer. This is not to say that all people with ASPD are bullies, or that all psychopaths are killers. But you get the idea.

Nature vs. Nurture: The Origins of a Psychopath

Introduction

The PCL-R uses a semistructured interview, case history information, and specific scoring criteria to rate each item on a 3-point scale (0, 1, 2) according to the extent to which the criteria are judged to apply to a given individual. Total scores can vary from 0 to 40 and reflect the degree to which the individual matches the prototypical psychopath.

There is good evidence that the PCL-R is a very reliable instrument when administered and scored by trained and experienced raters. Internal consistency is high (alpha coefficient is greater than .80). The intraclass correlation (ICC) typically exceeds .80 for a single rater (ICC1) and .90 for the average of two raters (ICC2). The standard error of measurement (SEM) of the PCL-R total score is approximately 3 for a single rating and 2 for the average of two ratings. Imagine meeting someone "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" (Hare). While you may not know it, chances are you have encountered someone like this, as 1 in 25 people are psychopaths. A psychopath can be anyone, be they male or female, violent or nonviolent, prison inmate or CEO.

Discussion

For many years, there has been a debate as to what makes a psychopath. Do the experiences one encounters shape them enough to create the anatomy of a psychopath? Or is it the anatomy that creates the psychopath? Some people say that psychopaths are born that way, and that the genetics that make them up are what create their more than antisocial tendencies. Other people argue that it is the experiences of a person that trigger psychopathic behavior(Gellner, 2005). This never-ending cycle makes it difficult to determine what makes a psychopath. It is more than likely, however, that in order for someone to be (or become) psychopathic, two things must happen. The first is that they be genetically predisposed to psychopathic behavior, and the other is that they have an environmental factor that triggers psychopathic behavior.

In order to determine what factors create psychopaths, one must first be able to distinguish ...