The Complexity of the Psychopathic Mind
The psychopath holds a special place in our society because of our fascination with the dark side of humanity. We are attracted by physical appearance that it trumps everything else about the individual and we evaluate this person by how he or she looks, dresses and talks.They are charming, which makes them easily misjudged or simply misunderstood instead of being considered dangerous. Psychopaths use their winning smile and captivating body language to play into our emotions, that make us weak and vulnerable, deceiving us from their true intentions.
These people are not your typical “psychopath” that conjures up images of famous serial killers or murderers. On the surface they can appear to be genuine and personable but just below the surface they are deceitful and manipulative. What makes them so captivating says, Dr. Raine, Professor of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, is, “their larger than life characteristics, they are charming, fun to talk to and they are the life of the party.” (Mallard 2018) Their charismatic behavior and hand gestures often distracts the listener from identifying their psychopathic nature says Dr. Woodworth. They have the ability to “perform convincingly in one – on – one setting which are all qualities that can help one get ahead” and into positions of power. (Forbes 2013) Robert Hare, Paul Babiak and Craig Neumann conducting a study on those who worked in corporate companies and found that 3% scored in the psychopathy range. This was disturbing to them as it is “well – above the incidence of 1% in the general population” but these results show; psychopathic behaviors are valued and at times commended. (The Conversation 2018)
The media has re – established the image of a psychopath by portraying them as the anti – hero. The “Hollywood psychopath” is someone with anti-social personality disorder or psychotic features and possess overdramatized traits that are common among psychopaths. (Perry 2014) Due to the lack of a diagnostic tool or a presence in the DSM V, it has led to the inaccurate media image of a psychopath. The psychopath on the big screens is seen as someone with high intelligence, charming, sophisticating and able to deceive the authorities by staying one step ahead. They are criminal masterminds who use their good looks to evoke empathy while lacking any themselves.
While the media does exaggerate psychopathic traits there is some truth in their behaviors. In terms of a successful psychopath, “we see a strong parallelism between what happens in our society and what happens in film.” (Perry 2014) While the prevalence of psychopathy in prisons is high but the majority of psychopaths are not criminals. The perception that psychotic and psychopathic are one in the same, simply is not accurate. They are not mentally ill rather masters at deception by appearing normal. They are not psychotic and have not lost touch with reality, they quickly weigh the risks and benefits but focusing mainly on the reward. They don’t feel emotion, they do what other people say is associated with a particular emotion and mimic those expressions, acting as if they do.
The psychopathic criminal makes up between 15 and 25 percent of the prison population. There is an alluring attraction in understanding how psychopaths think as our insight into neuroscience progresses. What makes psychopaths so dangerous is their ability to deceive the professionals whose jobs involve regular interactions with psychopaths. Their charm and deception have led to the misidentification by mental health professionals or their ability to coerce the criminal justice system. Psychopaths are very adept at imitating emotions such as remorse or guilt in the courtroom, the illusion of sincerity. As psychopathic behaviors continue to present themselves across our legal system will a neuroscientific defense become “my brain made me do it.” (New Atlas 2017) It has become evident that there are a variety of neurological mechanisms that affect thought process which influence our decisions. Research into the traits and neurology of psychopathology, brings us closer to explaining why they behave the way that they do and it has also given us insight into why we all do what we do.
Work Cited:
Haridy, R. (2017, July 07). Inside the brains of psychopaths. Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/psychopath-brain-mri-study/50365/
Lipman, V. (2018, December 03). The Disturbing Link Between Psychopathy And Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/04/25/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership/#687009974104
Lilienfeld, S. O., & Watts, A. (2018, September 19). Not all psychopaths are criminals – some psychopathic traits are actually linked to success. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/not-all-psychopaths-are-criminals-some-psychopathic-traits-are-actually-linked-to-success-51282
Miller, A. (2014, February). The Criminal Mind. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/criminal-mind.aspx
Perry, S. (2014, January 17). Why psychopathic film villains are rarely realistic – and why it matters. Retrieved from https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/01/why-psychopathic-film-villains-are-rarely-realistic-and-why-it-matters/
Woodworth, M. (2012, July 01). The Language of Psychopaths: New Findings and Implications for Law Enforcement. Retrieved from https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/the-language-of-psychopaths-new-findings-and-implications-for-law-enforcement