Psychopathy: what goes on in the mind of a psychopath?

The behavior and thoughts of psychopaths differ from those of a healthy person.

What is a psychopath? In his work "Antisocial Personalities" (1994), David Lykken explores psychopathic and sociopathic personalities, the different subtypes that exist and the role played by personal and socialization factors that intervene in the genesis of violence in children who from a very young age aim to become delinquents.

Throughout this work it becomes clear what for him is one of the most decisive components in the future of a child most likely to develop an antisocial personality style. antisocial personality stylethe parents.

The mind of the Psychopath: severe difficulties to socialize

People affected by this psychological disorder have not developed a conscience or habits of respect for the laws and norms that dissuade others from committing antisocial acts, due to inherent peculiarities that make socialization difficult or impossible. They are characterized by character traits that render them totally or partially incapable of socializing, or by intermittent periods of socialization and antisocial behavior.

There are three components of socializationLet us see what they are:

1. Scrupulosity

It is the natural tendency to to avoid criminal behavior.. It is usually a consequence of the fear of punishment, both that which involves a social rejection of the crime itself, as well as that self-inflicted by guilt and remorse felt a posteriori.

This does not mean that the temptation to commit crime is continuous, since prosocial behaviors have become a habit that keeps most members of society away from the more reprehensible ones. This habit is not consolidated until adulthood, which is why towards the end of adolescence the crime rate reaches its highest level. This component is the result of parental activity and the characteristics of each individual.

Thus, in people with psychopathy, there would be a clear disinhibition in this sense, to the point that they do not feel discomfort at the fact of breaking fundamental rules of coexistence, and if they avoid doing so it is only because it is not instrumental in their life context (because of the material consequences that this would have, such as facing the risk of going to jail).

2. Prosociality

Consists of a general predisposition towards prosocial behavior. prosocial behavior. It develops thanks to the bonds of affection and empathy with the people with whom we relate, which causes us to want to enjoy the benefits of such ties and a genuine willingness to behave in the same way.

The lack of development of the predisposition to prosociality would mean that those who present psychopathy have no incentive to relate to others if this does not bring them benefits that can be enjoyed individually.

3. Acceptance of adult responsibility

This refers to the motivation to participate in the life in society and the assimilation of the work ethicas well as the acceptance of the values of personal effort and self-improvement as a means to achieve personal goals.

However, we should not lose sight of the fact that there are well-socialized people who in certain circumstances will commit crimes, while others, even if they are not criminals, are lazy or of bad character and can be considered bad citizens.

Causes and manifestations of Psychopathy

Cleckley (1955) proposed that the emotions resulting from the lived experiences of psychopaths of the "primary" type are weakened in the intensity with which they affect them. Through experience, emotions and feelings guide and reinforce this learning process. learning processthus building up a moral and value system.

But what happens to these individuals is that normal socializing experiences are ineffective for the creation of this morality, which is the mechanism through which we socialize people. Hence, they fail at the level of establishing personal bonds. Due to an innate defect, they can verbalize what they know about emotions without really understanding the meaning of what they are saying.

They can, however, come to feel all those feelings that, if they did not harbor, would not lead them to commit the actions, legal or illegal, that they do. In the words of Gilbert and Sullivan:

"When the criminal is not engaged in his employment, or is not hatching his little criminal schemes, he is as capable of feeling innocent pleasure as any honest man." (p.192)

• If you are interested in the subject of Psychopathy, we recommend the articles "Types of Psychopaths" and "The difference between Psychopathy and Sociopathy".

The myth of psychopathic killers.

It is worth exploring to what extent the concept of psychopathy that psychology and forensic sciences work with, on the one hand, and that which belongs to the popular imagination, on the other, coincide. In the latter, "psychopath" is almost equivalent to criminal or even murderer. But the truth is that this does not fit with reality.

On the one hand, assuming that killing people responds to internal psychological phenomena implies ignoring many contextual aspects that are very important for understanding human behavior (wars, clashes between tribes, etc.). On the other hand, we cannot forget that antisocial behavior is criminalized.partly for this reason many people with a tendency to psychopathy do not flagrantly transgress the rules on a regular basis.

A personality trait or a psychological condition?

There is still an open debate as to whether psychopathy is a spectrum of personality that we are approaching or moving away from in quantitative terms, or whether it is a defined psychological phenomenon with more or less clear boundaries, i.e. an entity qualitatively separate from the rest of personality traits..

In many respects, all psychological phenomena present themselves in different traits of intensity, but it is also true that the concept of psychopathy encompasses various aspects that do not respond to the same criterion of measurement: lack of empathy has little to do with impulsivity, for example, and yet both are present in people with psychopathy. Thus, both logics, that of the qualitative and that of the quantitative, are present in the idea of what being psychopathic consists of.

Bibliographical references:

• Chabrol H.; Van Leeuwen N.; Rodgers R.; Sejourne N. (2009). Contributions of psychopathic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and sadistic personality traits to juvenile delinquency. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(7): pp. 734 - 739.
• Cooke, D. J., Hart, S. D., Logan, C., & Michie, C. (2012). Explicating the Construct of Psychopathy: Development and Validation of a Conceptual Model, the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP). International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 11(4), pp. 242 - 252.
• Gao, Yu; Raine, Adrian (March 2010). "Successful and unsuccessful psychopaths: a neurobiological model". Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 28(2): pp. 194 - 210.
• Lykken, D. (1994) Las personalidades antisociales. Barcelona: Herder.
• Mills, Jeremy F.; Kroner, Daryl G.; Morgan, Robert D. (2011). "Psychopathic Traits". Clinician's Guide to Violence Risk Assessment. Nueva York: Guilford Press.
• Neumann, C.S.; Hare, R.D. (2008). Psychopathic traits in a large community sample: Links to violence, alcohol use, and intelligence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76(5): pp. 893 - 899.
• Vinkers, D. J., de Beurs, E., Barendregt, M., Rinne, T., & Hoek, H. W. (2011). The relationship between mental disorders and different types of crime. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 21, 307-320.