Psychopathy And Antisocial Personalities

Robert Hare

There is no actual diagnosis of Psychopathy in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), but it is a highly studied area. A psychopath is not the same as an antisocial personality. Antisocial personalities may or may not be psychopathic. The antisocial personality is primarily a problem involving a failure to respect the right of individuals, the law and rules of society. Psychopathy involves poor emotional intelligence, the lack of conscience, and an inability to feel attached to people except in terms of their value as a source of stimulation or new possessions. There are many expressions and forms of psychopathy. For instance, a sexual psychopath is one form of a psychopath.

There is a significant amount of evidence to suggest that:

• there may be a genetic influence that creates a psychopathic personality

• adult psychopaths do not benefit from traditional counseling therapy and may in fact offend again and sooner because of it

• the brain of a psychopath may function and process information differently from those of non-psychopaths

• less intelligent psychopaths end up in prisons (highly intelligent psychopaths can run companies)

• psychopathic behavior may have once had a strong genetic "survival of the species" value

• psychopathic personalities are much more common than most of us realize

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