PSY 3173 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Paul Bernardo, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Psychopathy
28 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March 15, 2017
Psychopathy
Guest Lecturer
Psychopathy
Personality disorder characterized by:
-An arrogant, deceitful interpersonal style
•Personal characteristics
-Deficient affective experiences
-Impulsive and irresponsible behaviours
-Early onset and diverse antisocial social behaviours
Disorder because it is harmful to individuals and societies
-Some argue that it’s an adaptive life strategy, not a disorder
-Evolutionary psych: manipulation increases changes of getting mates
Prevalence:
-0.6% of general population are psychopaths
-4% of CEOs are psychopaths
Psychopathy and Serial Killing
Serial killers are often descried as psychopathic
-Ex. Ted Bundy, Ken Bianchi, Paul Bernardo, John Gacy
Many serial killers are psychopaths, but most psychopaths aren’t serial killers
-Most killers aren’t psychopaths
Study by Michael Stone: found that 90% of serial killers are psychopaths
-NB: this value is an overestimate - only looked at published books, but extreme cases are more likely to be
published
-More likely 20-25% in maximum security, 1-20% in medium security
Assessment Issues
Experienced impressions: “in my clinical opinion”
-Can lead to unstructured clinical judgment
Self-report inventories: SRP, YPI, PPI
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March 15, 2017
-People can provide misleading answers, might want to downplay symptoms
•Won’t report their symptoms to be more socially acceptable
-Might not be able to recognize symptoms in yourself
Observer rating: CPS, APSD
-Observation might not be accurate
Structural clinical interview: DSM-5, Psychopathy Checklist Revised
Media Portrayals
Likes to sensationalize serial killers
Psychopathy in Youth: Concerns
Scores on measures of psychopathy may be inflated by general characteristics of adolescence
-Some may be normal, developmental, transient features (ex. risk taking)
“Sticky” issue: psychopath label has negative connotations and will stay with the child throughout life
“Damning” issue: never good to be called a psychopath
-Potential for stigma
-Juveniles branded as psychopaths are more likely to be viewed as incorrigible and are less likely to receive
rehabilitation
-They are also more likely to be transferred to the criminal justice system and be tried as adults and face possibility
of adult sanctions (ex. Death penalty)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R)
20 items scored using semi-structured interview and patient file information
3 point scale: 0 (does not apply) to 2 (applies)
*Total score ranges from 0 to 40: 30 or greater is considered to be a psychopath
Men tend to be rated higher
-Male criminals: average score is 22
-Female criminals: average score is 19
Psychopathy
Factor 1:
-Facet 1: interpersonal
2
Document Summary
An arrogant, deceitful interpersonal style: personal characteristics. Early onset and diverse antisocial social behaviours. Disorder because it is harmful to individuals and societies. Some argue that it"s an adaptive life strategy, not a disorder. Evolutionary psych: manipulation increases changes of getting mates. Ted bundy, ken bianchi, paul bernardo, john gacy. Many serial killers are psychopaths, but most psychopaths aren"t serial killers. Study by michael stone: found that 90% of serial killers are psychopaths. Nb: this value is an overestimate - only looked at published books, but extreme cases are more likely to be published. More likely 20-25% in maximum security, 1-20% in medium security. People can provide misleading answers, might want to downplay symptoms: won"t report their symptoms to be more socially acceptable. Might not be able to recognize symptoms in yourself. Scores on measures of psychopathy may be in ated by general characteristics of adolescence. Some may be normal, developmental, transient features (ex. risk taking)
