Although many of the mentally ill are trying to contribute positively to society, there are some individuals who suffer from a mental illness that become a menace to society. The main group of people that fall under that category are considered psychopaths. A psychopath is “an individual in whom the normal processes of socialization have failed to produce the mechanisms of conscience and habits of law-abidingness that normally constrain antisocial impulses” (Lykken 6). They are usually unable to determine wrong from right and this causes them to make poor decisions. According to the seminal 2012 FBI report, fifteen to twenty percent of the prisoners in the United States are considered psychopaths. While not all psychopaths can be considered violent, these statistics show describe that many of them are capable of committing terrible crimes. Most of these crimes include assault, rape, and murder. If the individual has committed the crime more than once, they are then considered a serial criminal. In regards to murder, there are certain signs that allow detectives to determine what type of killer they have:
Those signs have been referred to as characteristics of symbolism or ritualism—not ritualistic in the satanic sense or indicative of a specific kind of religious or cult ceremony—but a kind of psychological ritualism or internal psychodrama directly related to an attempt to fulfill the killer’s perverted fantasies. This is a ritual the killer may carry out every time he kills. In this ritual he’s acting out or working out the elements of a script in his own mind, which gratify his immediate lust at the kill and follow-up and satisfy his recurring psychosexual compulsion that drives him from victim to victim (Keppel and Birnes 12). When psychopaths are convicted for a crime, they are required to take an assessment called the Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R) which contributes to the type of sentencing they will receive. The PCL-R is used to determine the presence of psychopathy in individuals and to show how strong it is. According to the Handbook of Psychopathy, judges would have to rely on their feelings or instincts if they did not have tools such as PCL-R, meaning they wouldn’t have enough reliable evidence to help them determine the proper punishment for the criminals (Patrick 481). This could entail that some individuals would be sentenced for a shorter amount of time than those without the presence of psychopathy, ultimately making the justice system unfair and weak. While it may seem cruel to punish someone who is not as mentally stable as others, it is necessary to enforce the law and protect everyone living within the nation. …show more content…
In order to ensure the punishment of a psychopath is both fair and safe, “an order may be made by the court that he or she serve the sentence in a psychiatric hospital” (Malatesti and McMillian 32). Institutions like these aren’t always as promising as they might sound. In fact, it is there where an individual will develop a stronger disliking towards other members of society, as well as engage in more aggressive and antisocial behaviors. Psychiatric hospitals have shifted more from the one on one with a patient towards the reliance on medication to keep them calm. With two contradicting ideas on a controversial topic, proponents and critics turn to science for a deeper understanding of psychopath. When taking everything into consideration, physicians and sociologists were able to
Those signs have been referred to as characteristics of symbolism or ritualism—not ritualistic in the satanic sense or indicative of a specific kind of religious or cult ceremony—but a kind of psychological ritualism or internal psychodrama directly related to an attempt to fulfill the killer’s perverted fantasies. This is a ritual the killer may carry out every time he kills. In this ritual he’s acting out or working out the elements of a script in his own mind, which gratify his immediate lust at the kill and follow-up and satisfy his recurring psychosexual compulsion that drives him from victim to victim (Keppel and Birnes 12). When psychopaths are convicted for a crime, they are required to take an assessment called the Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R) which contributes to the type of sentencing they will receive. The PCL-R is used to determine the presence of psychopathy in individuals and to show how strong it is. According to the Handbook of Psychopathy, judges would have to rely on their feelings or instincts if they did not have tools such as PCL-R, meaning they wouldn’t have enough reliable evidence to help them determine the proper punishment for the criminals (Patrick 481). This could entail that some individuals would be sentenced for a shorter amount of time than those without the presence of psychopathy, ultimately making the justice system unfair and weak. While it may seem cruel to punish someone who is not as mentally stable as others, it is necessary to enforce the law and protect everyone living within the nation. …show more content…
In order to ensure the punishment of a psychopath is both fair and safe, “an order may be made by the court that he or she serve the sentence in a psychiatric hospital” (Malatesti and McMillian 32). Institutions like these aren’t always as promising as they might sound. In fact, it is there where an individual will develop a stronger disliking towards other members of society, as well as engage in more aggressive and antisocial behaviors. Psychiatric hospitals have shifted more from the one on one with a patient towards the reliance on medication to keep them calm. With two contradicting ideas on a controversial topic, proponents and critics turn to science for a deeper understanding of psychopath. When taking everything into consideration, physicians and sociologists were able to