PSYCHOPATHY WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HUMANS WAS NOT TRUE..

CONCEPTUALIZING PSYCHOPATHY  Insanity without delirium (Philippe Pinel)  Behaviour w/o remorselessness  The Mask of Sanity (Hervey Cleckley)  An intelligent person  Poverty of emotions  No sense of shame, superficially charming, manipulative, irresponsible behaviour  Without Conscience (Robert Hare)  Intra-species predators  Charming, manipulative, violent  Modern Definition  Psychopathy is a personality disorder  A constellation of symptoms

DEFINING PSYCHOPATHY Psychopaths (10-25%) APD (65-80%) All Offenders (100%) Hart (2000)

DEFINING PSYCHOPATHY Antisocial Personality or Psychopathy  Most (not all) psychopaths are antisocial personalities BUT  Not all antisocial personalities are psychopaths

MEASURING PSYCHOPATHY Factor 1: Interpersonal/ Affective Features Factor 2: Socially Deviant Lifestyle Impulsive & irresponsible Delinquent & antisocial Narcissistic & dominant Low empathy & anxiety S.D.Hart (2000)

DEFINING PSYCHOPATHY Psychopathy Interpersonal * Arrogant * Deceitful Lifestyle * Boredom * Parasitic *Irresponsible Antisocial * Early Beh Prob Juvenile Delinquency Criminal Versatility Affective * Lacks Emotion * Lacks Empathy Factor 1Factor 2

DEFINITIONS Difficulties processing, understanding and using emotional material Deficit in processing emotional information Their linguistic processes seem relatively superficial and the subtle more abstract meanings and nuances of language seem to escape them (Cleckly, 1976, Hare 2003) He knows the words but not the music (Hare, 2003)

MOVIE CLIP

THE PSYCHOPATH Fail to understand the affective meaning of words (emotional words) but understand the dictionary meaning of words They take longer to process emotional words rather than neutral words (like a second language) They have more difficulty recognizing fearful content in spoken language Psychopaths were more likely to attribute happiness to an individual who had committed intentional harm (when evaluating emotional stories and trying to determine how someone would feel) Psychopaths rely on listeners to pay attention to how things are said more than what was said

PERSONALITY DISORDER VS DISTINCT PATHOLOGY Biological studies consistently show differing reactions in brain scans Psychopathy may be associated with anomalies in various structures and circuits in the brain

BIOLOGY OF PSYCHOPATHS Genetic Factors Temperament Brain Structures Dysfunction of the paralimbic system--a system that includes parts of the temporal and frontal lobes (2006, Kiehl) Defects in frontal lobe processing Amygdala dysfunction (abnormal structure, 2011, Boccardi) Differences in temporal gyrus (differences in perceptions of emotions in facial stimuli) Associated with abnormalities of processing conceptually abstract material.

BIOLOGY OF PSYCHOPATHS Peripheral Nervous System Research Low skin conductance (attenuated cues of impending pain or punishment – “I just put it out of my mind”, less reaction to distressing images) Autonomic Nervous System Research Autonomically and cortically underaroused Deficient in avoidance learning (show little fear in anticipation of an unpleasant or painful stimuli) Integration of activities between the two hemispheres may be deficient

CRITERIA FOR PSYCHOPATHY ACCORDING TO HARE (2003) Hare PCL-R most widely used measure for Psychopathy Gold standard for assessment Important element in trials involving serious offenses Conducted by well trained professionals Based on file review or clinical interview (with collateral sources)

DEFINITION ACCORDING TO HARE (PCL-R) FACTOR 1: Interpersonal/ Emotional Glibness/Superficial Charm Grandiose Pathological Lying Conning/Manipulative Lack of Remorse or Guilt Callous/Lack of Empathy Shallow Affect Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions FACTOR 2: Socially Deviant Lifestyle Need for Stimulation Parasitic Lifestyle Poor Behavioural Controls Early Behavioural Problems Lack of Realistic, Long-term Goals Impulsivity Irresponsibility Juvenile Delinquency Revocation of Conditional Release Also…Criminal Versatility; Many Short Term Marital Relationships, Promiscuous Sexual Behavior

PSYCHOPATHY IN CHILDREN? Concerns Labeling at young age More likely to be transferred to adult court system Self-fulfilling prophecy with providers Importance of early identification Treatment Avoid societal and individual repercussions

THE WHITE COLLAR PSYCHOPATH CEO’s, corporate presidents, Stock market, Fraudsters … 4% of corporate professionals had a PCL R score of 30 + (N = 203; Babiak, 2010) If you were a psychopath who wanted to avoid jail where would you go?

OFFENDING PATTERNS #1 Type of Criminality Psychopaths are more likely to commit violent offences  Psychopaths were five times more likely to commit a violent offence (Serin & Amos, 1995).  Psychopathic offender, compared to non-psychopathic offender, more likely to kill males who are strangers. The violence of psychopaths has atypical motivations  Instrumental Violence, Sadistic  Impulsive, Opportunism

OFFENDING PATTERNS #2 Stability of Criminality  About ½ of criminal psychopaths show a reduction in non-violent crime by age 35 or 40 years  Harpur and Hare (1994)  Offenders who ranged in age from 16 to 70 years assessed on the PCL-R  Scores on Factor 2 of the PCL-R decreased with age.  Scores on Factor 1 of the PCL-R were stable  Age-related changes in behaviour are not related with changes in the affective/interpersonal traits.

OFFENDING PATTERNS #3 Frequency of Criminality  Psychopaths are high-density offenders. They commit more crimes, have higher rates of recidivism, and re-offender faster than other offenders.  Hart, Kropp, and Hare (1988):  Administered PCL-R to 231 inmates  High PCL-R – 90% re-offended  Mid PCL-R – 60% re-offended  Low PCL-R – 30% re-offended

RISK Psychopathy is the biggest predictor of violent reoffending High PCL-R offenders are 2.5 Times more likely to get parole (Porter, 2009) SEXUAL DEVIANCE + PSYCHOPATHY = HUGE PROBLEM!

Hart et al. (1988) offenders on conditional release – any reoffense Survival Curves Low High Middle

Quinsey et al. (1993) Survival Curves for male rapists and child molesters Psychopaths Non Psychopaths

WORKING WITH THE PSYCHOPATH DOES TREATMENT WORK? WHAT TO EXPECT? HOW TO REACT? IN PEOPLE WITH A LONG HISTORY OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIORS, RULE OUT PSYCHOPATHY FIRST

TREATMENT AND PSYCHOPATHY Group therapy and insight-oriented therapy make psychopathy worse  Learning about empathy can help them to develop better ways of manipulating, deceiving and using people  Doesn’t help them understand themselves. Other treatment possibilities?  Don’t focus on characteristics that can’t be changed (e.g. not emotional reactions, empathy).  Focus on their motivations (not altruism, but short-term self-interest, excitement, sense of power) (Thronton & Blud, 2007)  Focusing on how behaving prosocially can get them what they want; focus on their strengths (Hare, 2003)  Give them those reinforcements for good behaviors… (make sure that it is a true reinforcement for THEM – not what you would assume would be a reinforcement!)

SELF CARE WHEN WORKING WITH PSYCHOPATHS Recall last clip of movie… Very difficult to not attend to information provided to you by psychopaths Recall their need for manipulation Have a set plan before you enter the room Relaxation, strong inner self-concept, let some things go Identify your vulnerabilities before hand One psychopath a day is lots to deal with …

WANT MORE INFORMATION? for research papers on many facets of Psychopathy