Example Of A Psychopath Essay

Improved Essays
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
…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

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    `Psychopathic personality' was once widely used but was superseded by `sociopathic personality' to indicate the social aspects of the disorder, but now `antisocial personality disorder' is the preferred term. The term psychopath is commonly used incorrectly in the media to describe someone who has done something considered “evil.” Terrorists, mass killers and bombers often get labeled with this term before anyone has caught them, let alone had time to make an assessment of them. It’s become shorthand for people who do terrible things, and that disconnect from the reality of the situation is a problem in the way we view people and their actions. By labeling someone a psychopath, it’s easy to write them off as evil and never look at the actual factors that go into their actions.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rather than taking the time to understand the mind of individuals who participate in criminal activity and helping to break reoccurring cycles, the criminal justice system is quick to criminalize these individuals, thus failing to realize that, in reality, these acts are just cries for help. Typically, when a person commits a crime, it is because some crime has been committed to them. There is something from their past that haunts their present and, ultimately, their future. However, no one takes the time to consider this. Crimes such as domestic violence, drug abuse, and theft are not looked into as actual mental illnesses that could illicit this type of behavior but just as a wrongdoing that must be…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pfeiffer’s article “A Death in the Box” discusses the unfortunate reality that the mentally ill are forced to face within the criminal justice system by detailing the life and tragic suicide of a young mentally ill woman named Jessica Roger. The article centers on the debate about the punishments given to mentally deficient inmates and reveals the main underlying problem the system faces in that “when people with mental illness end up in prison, the need to treat them collides with the need to keep prison order, and everything about the system favors the latter” (Pfeiffer 3). While maintaining order may seem to be more important at first glance, misinformation and improper treatment of the mentally ill inmates can lead to a worsening of the condition, behavior, or even physical and psychological harm to the people involved. Even worse that the neglectful actions the prisons exhibit when treating the patients, the disciplinary action enforced on those suffering from illness are unjust as the “mentally ill inmates are punished for exhibiting symptoms of illness that the system has failed to treat” (Pfeiffer 3). Therefore, not only does the criminal justice system neglect to provide the mentally ill with assistance and treatment, but also forces disciplinary action upon those they fail in the process leading to a population of mentally deficient inmates slowly having their life sucked away by a corrupt…

    • 1267 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The New Asylums Essay

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After viewing “The New Asylums”, there are many systematic problems, societal shifts, and/or changes in policies that have contributed to “The New Asylums”. One of the main societal shifts that have contributed to the “The New Asylums” is the nation’s shut down of psychiatric centers. This led to the police department to handle the mentally ill that were left on the streets leading to many arrests. However, a prison’s function is not to treat mentally ill patients; their role in society is to provide safety and security to the community. Nonetheless, the prisons do provide many services and treatments to accommodate the mentally ill.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Running head: Mental Illness and Crime Mental Illness And Correspondence To Crime Daniel Costeira Criminolgy CRM 360 Dr. Jaeckle Flagler College Abstract Individuals with mental illness affect the United States criminal justice system, as at least one quarter of the general population, including those in prisons, jails, or on probations is mentally diseased. Most inmates have reported symptoms or a history of a mental health disorder. There are concerns regarding the growing population of the mentally afflicted and the significant need for treatment within in system. The well being of mentally ill individuals who are involved within institutions is being questioned along with the quality of safety that is provided within facilities.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Frontline video documentary, “The Released,” is a follow-up film of Frontline’s “The New Asylum” which is a documentary about how correctional facilities became a dumping ground for our society’s mentally ill criminals after state psychiatric hospitals closed down in the 1970’s. The movie, “The Released” however, focuses on what happens to people with chronic mental health issues after being released from prisons and jails. The film shows us that most of these mentally ill inmates end up repeating the same cycles that ultimately result in a life-time of recidivism. The conclusion of “The Released” clearly conveys that deinstitutionalization and our mental health system currently in place is a failure.…

    • 1559 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    People with mental illnesses face policing with the lack of funding to help people in need. Liat Ben Moshe addresses this problem in her article, “Institution Yet to come.” Moshe discusses the ill treatment of people who have mental illness due to the lack of support they receive from medicine and law. The creation of prisons has created an environment where all public spaces that proved help mentally and physically to be reduced to mental hospitals. Mental hospitals do not have the same label as prisons but that’s what they ultimately are.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Understanding how human behavior is linked to ¬¬¬different disorders is essential while striving to comprehend crime and its causes. Many professionals often assume psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder are identical, and interchangeably utilize the two terms. Upon further investigation and research, both have been proven to be in fact different, and entail different elements. Psychopathy is a bundle of socially deviant behaviors and personality traits; antisocial personality disorder, on the other hand, is composed of both criminal and antisocial behavior. According to Hare’s article, Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Case of Diagnostic Confusion, most psychopaths meet the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, but…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mental Illness In Prisons

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Mental illness has been increasing in prions and jails in the past decade, as shown by, "more than half of all prison and jail inmates have a mental health problem compared with 11 percent of the general population".(Anasseril) The problem is they are not receiving the help necessary to achieve a normalized life. " Yet only one in three prison inmates and one in six jail inmates receive any form of mental health treatment." (Anasseril) . This illustrates that point that an abundance of the mentally ill are being accused and condemned as prisoners, without even being giving the chance with help.…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States has the highest incarceration rate in all of the world. (Lee, Michelle Ye Hee) This statistic is simply startling taking into consideration that the United States does not have the highest population. In the total population of inmates contained in the United States, about 356,000 suffer from severe mental illness (Torrey EF, Zdanowicz MT, Kennard AD et al.)…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On average, twenty percent of inmates in jails and fifteen percent of inmates in prisons have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness (Z. K. Torrey). In comparison, there are ten times less mentally ill individuals residing in psychiatric institutions than there are in prisons. The fact that the correctional system has become the primary treatment for the mentally ill should be deeply concerning to not only those affected by mental illness, but all of…

    • 1063 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The amount of individual that go through the criminal justice system that have a mental illness has become a growing issue in the criminal justice system. Many individual that enter the criminal justice system are bound to end up in prison, where they have little access to mental health help. The amount of individual that enter the criminal justice system that have a serious mental illness is estimated to be 16.9 percent. These individuals are usually repeat offenders that circulate through the system because they do not receive the treatment that they need. (Almquist & Dodd, 2009).…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    They want to act out of their fantasies. The same fantasies they had had as children are the ones they want to still act out as adults. Once they have had their first kill, they want to continue so they find the kill that is as perfect as their fantasy. There is a lengthy list of some of the motivators as to why children abuse animals. Some of these motivators are the children want something to control or retaliate against, to express aggression through an animal.…

    • 2351 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mental Illness has been a common theme when violence is observed. One common mental illnesses, Schizophrenia, has multiple studies performed to see why violence either has happened to themselves, or why this mental illness is blamed for the cause of their own violence acts. Perpetrators who commit violence acts such as rape, emotional/behavior abuse, physical abuse are looked to see if they have any form of mental illness. According to Nederlof (2013) “Since the 19th century, it has been widely acknowledged that people with a mental illness are more often involved in violent crimes as compared to healthy populations. Nowadays the majority of the community still expect the mentally ill to be at a heightened risk for engaging in violent acts…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sociopath Essay

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Personality disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Although it does not discriminate among socioeconomic parameters or race, mental disorders control how people interact with each other through all areas of life. Sociopathy, a mental disorder which curtails emotional connectivity, such as empathy, guilt, compassion, and shame to society, plagues a behavior, one cannot simply look into present actions, but a person as a whole. It is often confused by nonmedical professionals for psychopathy and other personality disorders; however, predisposition and childhood trauma have to be present to create a full-fledged sociopath which will affect the person’s choices and quality of life in adulthood.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays