I. Criminality vs Psychopathy
II. The Cleckley Psychopath as an alternative to the DSM-IV concept of Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD)
Cleckley's Notion of the Psychopath
| 1. Superficial charm and good intelligence
2. Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking 3. Absence of "nervousness" or other psychoneurotic manifestations 4. Unreliability 5. Untruthfulness and insincerity 6. Lack of remorse or shame 7. Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior 8. Poor judgment and failure to learn by experience |
9. Pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love
10. General poverty in major affective reactions 11. Specific loss of insight 12. Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations 13. Fantastic and uninviting behavior with drink and sometimes without 14. Suicide rarely carried out 15. Sex life impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated 16. Failure to follow any life plan |
III. The DSM-IV ASPD
A. Diagnostic Criteria:
1. Currently at least age 18
2. Presence of conduct disorder prior to age 15
3. A pattern of disregard for an violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15, as evidenced by at least three of the following:
a. failure to conform to social norms and lawful behaviors (e.g., repeated breaks law)
b. deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, conning others (for fun or profit)
c. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults (including spouse or child- abuse)
d. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
e. reckless disregard for the safety of others
f. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by failure to sustain consistent employment or honor financial obligations
g. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt or mistreated or stolen from another
B. Note that DSM-IV may overdiagnose criminals as psychopaths
IV. Etiology of Psychopathy
A. Early socialization
1. Broken Homes
2. Parental Discipline
B. Genetics of Psychopathy
C. Physiological Theories
1. Hyporesponsive autonomic nervous system
2. Cortical underarousal
3. Poor fear conditioning
D. Deficient Avoidance Learning