Psychopath Definition

Researchers and people in the public conceptualize the term psychopathy in different ways. Definitions of psychopathy have been around for centuries and researchers have found psychopathic references in the bible. For many people, a psychopath represents an individual who commits horrific crimes. However, even though some individuals hold certain psychopathic traits, the individual may not meet the diagnostic criteria for a psychopath. Researchers and scholars have provided different definitions of what a psychopath represents. Some definitions, such as the ‘Hare psychopath’ state that a psychopath is an individual who lacks empathy, loyalty, guilt, and engage in impulsive behavior. Overt the centuries, the definitions of what represents a psychopath have greatly increased leading to new factors researchers can analyze to detect an individual with psychopathic traits. For example, the ‘Cleckley’s psychopath’ refers to an individual who fails to follow a life plan, is unresponsive to interpersonal relations, has poor judgment and is unreliable among other traits.
Definitions of antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy have all evolved over the years; however, as the …show more content…
However, theorists such as Lykken suggest that individuals are sociopaths because they lack emotional support and attachment from their family and peers. Some children also lack parental affection and as they grow older, they become aggressive and isolated from society. However, there is much confusion in developing the term sociopath and there has not been an appropriate way to empirically validate or measure the term sociopath, making it more difficult to analyze the differences between a psychopath and a sociopath. Therefore, when mental health professionals treat or diagnose patients, it is important for them to have the correct diagnoses, otherwise a wrong diagnoses may be detrimental to someone’s