Risks of Harm from Psychopathic Individuals by Robert Henley Woody

Author:Robert Henley Woody
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783030209988
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

7.Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.

B.The individual is at least age 18 years.

C.There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.

D.The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders. (p. 659)

Although not determinative, the DSM-5 acknowledges a frequent lack of empathy and, “These individuals may blame the victims for being foolish, helpless, or deserving their fate” (p. 660), which seems to imply absence of empathy .

When attempting to identify the presence of APD it is important to determine “which of two or more diseases or disorders with overlapping symptoms a particular patient has” (VandenBos 2015, p. 312), also known as differential diagnosis. This is, of course, a scholarly complex and sophisticated undertaking.

Gender may be misleading: “Antisocial personality disorder is much more common in males than in females. There has been some concern that antisocial personality disorder may be underdiagnosed in females, particularly because of the emphasis on aggressive items in the definition of conduct disorder” (DSM-5, p. 662). Our society has moved to a stage in which an assured gender identity cannot be determined by a simple observation of external characteristics.

Given that psychopathy is subject to influence or reinforcement by social values, it is noteworthy that modern times may be leading “emancipated” females to engage in more criminal and violent conduct than in the past. Bartol and Bartol (2019) say that: “more recent research reports that—compared to male psychopaths—female psychopaths tend to be more subtle and skillful in their aggression, exploitative relationships, and manipulations of others, which results in their harmful acts going largely unnoticed by the authorities” (p. 274).

My research and clinical experiences support that, in accord with earlier speculation, males tend to receive a diagnosis of ASD or APD, whereas a female with many of the same characteristic would be more apt to be diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder (DSM-5, Diagnostic Criteria 301.83, see p. 663).

Also, there is only limited research available on culture- and race-related issues. The DSM-5 recommends: “In assessing antisocial traits, it is helpful for the clinician to consider the social and economic context in which the behaviors occurs” (p. 662). In a recent case in which a young African-American (A-A) man was pummeled to death by other A-A young men in a hazing incident, I was told by a mature and intelligent A-A man that, “there should not be prosecution, hitting a person in a hazing ritual is common in the Black community” (which may or may not be true or generalizable).

This chapter has provided a review of terminologies relevant to psychopathy, along with specific characteristics. I pointed out that, although the terms changed over time, the characteristics remained much the same. As said early on, I consider the term psychopath to include the wide range of terms discussed here, and if one of the other terms is used, the substance of the term presented will be clarified. The Mask

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