Psychopaths

Did you know that about 1 per cent of the worlds

population is thought to be psychopathic? This is
a surprising figure, as most people associate
psychopath with a person to be feared. Should
we fear one out of every 100 people?
There are many stereotypes about psychopaths.
People believe, for example, that all prisoners
must be psychopaths or that all psychopaths are
violent and psychotic.
These are generalisations, and are not fair or
accurate.

What does psychopath mean?

A psychopath is someone who shows certain personality traits and behaviours.
A psychopath suffers from psychopathy, a type of personality disorder that occurs
across all cultures. Psychopaths tend to make good first impressions and often
strike people as being relatively normal. Yet they are dishonest and undependable
and engage in reckless and inappropriate behaviour for no reason other than they
think it is fun.
Importantly, psychopaths seem to experience little empathy or guilt.
Furthermore, they have dysfunctional relationships as they have difficulty loving
others or expressing their love.
Psychopaths are impulsive and rarely learn from their mistakes. Most psychopaths
are male, although the reason for this gender difference is unknown.
Psychologists continue to argue the definition of psychopathy and how it could be
measured.
There are two diagnostic tools that psychologists can use to measure psychopathy.
One is the the PCL-R, or Psychopathy Checklist Revised, created by psychologist Robert Hare in
2003.
The other is the PPI, or Psychopathic Personality Inventory.

Both are valuable diagnostic tools, and have many similarities.

 The PPI was the first tool to be created, and is based on the work of
psychologist Hervey Cleckley, who was the first to study psychopathy in
the 1940s.
The simplest tool for measuring psychopathy, however, is Hares PCL-R.
Hares model argues that psychopathy is a personality disorder with
antisocial tendencies, and has four dimensions:
1. Interpersonal; for example, cunning, conniving,
manipulative/charismatic, pathological lying, glib/superficial, grandiose
self-worth
2. Affective; for example, callousness/lack of empathy, failure to accept
responsibility, lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect (shallow emotion)
3. Lifestyle; for example, impulsive, irresponsible, parasitic, lack of
realistic goals, stimulation seeking
4. Antisocial; for example, early behavioural problems, juvenile
delinquency, poor behavioural control, persistent rule breaking,
criminal versatility.

Four Dimensions of the PCL-R

Psychopaths in the Workplace

It is thought that about 25 per cent of prisoners in Australian
jails meet the criteria for psychopathy. Nearly all research on
psychopaths has been conducted on criminals.
However, the most recent work by Robert Hare is on identifying
psychopaths in the workplace, working with organisational
psychologists to screen for executive psychopaths.
Psychopaths in the workplace can initially be very successful.
Many psychopathic characteristics can be mistaken for
leadership qualities their cool decisiveness, fondness for the
fast lane, charisma and cunning can be seen by employers as
highly valuable characteristics.
Yet psychopaths in the workplace can also be highly destructive,
as they tend to lie and exploit others in order to get what they
want.

 Psychopathic people can live a normal life and

never commit crimes.
It would be wrong to say that all psychopaths are
criminals, or that all criminals are psychopaths.
In fact, we can probably all admit to behaving in a
way characterised by one of the four dimensions
of the PCL-R.
We might manipulate others (eg. when playing
poker or selling cars), act impulsively (eg. run a
yellow light when driving) or be callous (eg. push
through others at a sale).
And we have all been guilty of lying.

 So what distinguishes our questionable behaviour from psychopathy?

It is that a psychopath consistently demonstrates psychopathic
characteristics. It is also not just the characteristics that are present
that make a psychopath, it is also what is absent or missing.
A psychopath might be antisocial (a present characteristic) but they
will also have little to no prosocial behaviour; that is, prosocial
characteristics are missing.
A normal person might have antisocial moments, but still understands
the importance and value of acting prosocially, such as helping others.
While we understand that not all criminals are psychopathic, 25 per
cent is still a significant number.
There are more psychopaths in the prison population than in the
general population. There is also evidence to suggest that criminals
who commit the most horrible of acts, such as serial killers and mass
murderers, are likely to be psychopathic.

Review Questions
1. What is psychopathy? How can it be measured?
2. What are the characteristics of each of the four
dimension of the PCL-R?
3. Are all criminals psychopathic? Why or why not?
4. Are all psychopaths criminals? Why or why not?
5. Can you find an example of a psychopath who is
not criminal? What about them suggests they
could be psychopathic?

Is a Psychopath also
Psychotic?
Psychopathy does not mean psychotic. They are two
separate types of psychological illness.
Psychopathy is a personality disorder, while psychosis
is a mental illness, where a person loses their sense of
reality and cannot function effectively in everyday life.
Psychopaths, by comparison, are rational and
understand(but simply do not care) that their actions
are wrong in the eyes of society.
It might be possible for a psychopath to also be
psychotic, or for a psychotic person to suffer from
psychopathy. But we can not assume that the two go
hand in hand, as it is rarely the case.

Serial killers and mass

murderers
The area of forensic psychology that captures the
general publics imagination the most is the study
of serial killers and mass murderers.
A common misconception is that serial killer
means mass murderer and vice versa.
A mass murderer is an individual who kills
several people in a single event.
In comparison, a serial killer is an individual who
commits a number of murders over a long
duration, with the murders separated by periods
of apparent normalcy.

Mass murderers
A massacre is a single incident in which a large
group of people are killed.
Mass murderers are those responsible for the killing.
There is some debate over what incidents would be
deemed mass murder.
After a war, some historians might refer to mass
killings of people during battles as mass murder.
These days, however, we tend to call such
exterminations of a particular community as
genocide. In 1994, for example, 500 000 Tutsis died
in a space of 5 months in Rwanda (although it is
thought that the figure may reach 1 million).

 Mass murders or massacres, on the other hand,

are where several people are killed at the same
time, or over a very short period of time.
Two of the most well-known and tragic massacres
occurred in the same year, 1996, in Dunblane,
Scotland, and Port Arthur, Tasmania.
The Dunblane massacre and the Port Arthur
massacre occurred within weeks of each other,
causing many forensic psychologists (and the
media) to speculate whether Port Arthur was a
copycat killing.

Dunblane Massacre (Thomas

Hamilton)
On 13 March 1996, Thomas Hamilton walked into the
Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, Scotland, and
opened fire in the schools gymnasium.
In the gym was a Year 1 class with three teachers.
Gwynne Mayor, one of the teachers, died while trying
to shield the children from Hamilton. The other two
teachers were seriously wounded but survived.
Shockingly, Hamilton continued to fire on the group of
5- and 6-year-old children, before walking out into the
school hallway, firing more shots.
Hamilton then returned to the gym and shot and
killed himself, before the emergency services and
police arrived.
This all happened in less than 5 minutes.
Sixteen children and their teacher died and
seventeen other children and two teachers were
badly wounded.

Learning Activity
1. Go online and search for more information about
Thomas Hamilton.
2. Referring back to the four dimensions of the PCLR, did Hamilton have any characteristics that
might suggest he was a psychopath?

 Britain was horrified, and the world was transfixed

by the Dunblane massacre.
The death of children, in particular, struck an
emotional chord.
Sadly, the Dunblane massacre was a precursor for
one of the biggest mass murders in world history
the Port Arthur massacre.

Research Assignment
Comparing Hamilton and Bryant
1. What is a mass murderer?
2. Why are Hamilton and Bryant classified as mass
murderers and not serial killers?
3. Consider the four dimensions of the PCL-R
discussed at the beginning of this chapter. What
characteristics did Bryant show that suggest he
could be psychopathic?

Serial killers
Serial killers are a different type of killer from mass murderers.
A serial killer is an individual who kills on three or more
separate occasions, at three or more separate locations. There
also will be a cooling off period between each killing.
The general public is both horrified and fascinated by serial
killers.
There has been a great deal of extensive research into serial
killers and their murders for hundreds of years.
One of the earliest historical records of a serial killer was the
notorious Gilles de Rais, who allegedly killed hundreds of
children in the 1400s. There is also the famous Jack the Ripper,
who killed five prostitutes and was never caught, the murders
remaining one of the most high-profile unsolved crimes in the
world.

 In Australia, and the United States of America, there tend

to be some common characteristics among serial killers.
They are mostly single Caucasian males who have had a
deeply troubled childhood and dysfunctional family, are
middle class, in their twenties or thirties, and showed
signs of mental health problems from a young age.
Furthermore, it seems that serial killers had similar
experiences and behaviours as children.
Forensic psychologists have identified three key warning
signs known as the psychopathological triad: enuresis
(bedwetting), pyromania (fire starting) and precocious
sadism (childhood delight in torturing animals).

 There are four main types of serial killers:

Review Questions
1. What is a serial killer?
2. How do serial killers differ from mass murderers?
3. What are the common characteristics of serial
killers?
4. What is the psychopathological triad?
5. Research a serial killer and write a short
paragraph on their past history and crime. What
type of serial killer is your criminal? Justify your
answer.

Ivan Milat Serial Killer

Read the information about Ivan Milat on the
website below, then answer the questions on the
following slide.
http://
www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/iv
an-milat/biography.html;jsessionid=342B8F8D6E3
4F2EAF84DA0BE0F37F582

Learning Activity
1. Describe the events leading up to Milats arrest.
2. Why is it thought that Milat could be involved in other
murders?
3. Why is Milat classified as a serial killer and not a mass
murderer?
4. Dr Milton is a forensic psychiatrist. List his possible academic
qualifications.
5. Consider Dr Miltons profile of Milat. What characteristics does
he describe? Are there any he missed?
6. What type of serial killer is Milat?
7. Is Milat an organised or disorganised killer?
8. Consider the four dimensions of the PCL-R discussed at the
beginning of this chapter. What characteristics did Milat show
that suggest he could be psychopathic?