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Revision as of 00:29, 26 December 2005 by MPD (talk | contribs) (addt'l content; wikify)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Psychopathy is a three-faceted psychological disorder involving interpersonal, affective and behavioral characteristics:
- interpersonally, psychopaths are manipulative, grandiose, egocentric and forceful
- affectively, they are shallow and non-empathetic; they do not experience empathy, guilt, or remorse
- behaviorally, they are impulsive, irresponsible, and sensation seeking.
In contemporary research and clinical practice, psychopathy is most commonly assessed with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R), which is a clinical rating scale with twenty items. Each of the items in the PCL-R is scored on a three-point scale according to specific criteria through file information and a semi-structured interview. Score 0 if the trait is absent, 1 if it is possibly or partially present and 2 if it is present. The item scores are summed up to yield a total score ranging from 0 to 40 which is then considered to reflect the degree to which they resemble the prototypical psychopath. A score greater than 30 supports a diagnosis of psychopathy.
The items are as follows:
Interpersonal dimension
- glibness/superficial charm
- grandiose sense of self-worth
- pathological lying
- conning/manipulative
- lack of remorse or guilt
- shallow affect
- callousness/lack of empathy
- failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Affective dimension
- need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
- parasitic lifestyle
- poor behavioral controls
- early behavioral problems
- lack of realistic, long-term goals
- impulsivity
- irresponsibility
- juvenile delinquency
- revocation of conditional release
Behavioral dimension
- promiscuous sexual behavior
- multiple short-term marital relationships
- criminal versatility.
It should be noted that the test must be administered by a trained mental health practitioner under controlled conditions for it to have any validity. Psychopaths themselves question the characterization of their condition as an "illness," and point out that their behavior is far more rational than that of so-called "normals." Psychopaths may point out that the incidence of "good" versus "evil" psychopaths remains unknown, since only the "evil" ones are eventually brought to the attention of science and the state through their activities, including homicide and theft. Psychopaths who have no desire to commit crimes, and who indeed, pursue socially constructive or neutral goals, may remain undetected for their entire life.
Psychopathy and Popular Culture
As an "interesting" mental illness, psychopathy has the object of study in many works of art. American Psycho is the book and later film examining the life and times of a undiagnosed psychopath who has ascended to a position of great power in the corporate world. The implied thesis, that corporate values and psychopathy share a dangerous correlation, has been confirmed by clinical psychologists, and remains the subject of study by scientists and cultural critics alike. In The Silence of the Lambs, an imprisoned psychopath and cannibal is the only person the FBI can contact in order to gain insight into a dangerous serial killer.