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Criminal behaviour biological and psychological
Criminal behaviour biological and psychological
Criminal behaviour biological and psychological
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Not all psychopaths are killers, despite how they are portrayed in popular culture. There are numerous successful qualities that can be found in psychopaths. For example, charm and courage as well as confidence are often considered useful traits to have in the workplace. Also, psychopaths have the ability to be decisive and keep calm under pressure. ("Harness Inner Psychopath"). Politicians tend to have qualities similar to that of a psychopath. Both have charisma and are bold. There are careers besides politicians that are also perfectly suited for psychopaths like spies, Special Forces, police officers, physicians and lawyers. Some of the most influential workers in society have the same tendencies as the most destructive citizens. It 's …show more content…
Even as a child he had a clever façade he had built, but beneath it there was darkness. He did various things to amuse himself. He liked to play tricks on people and spent his time imagining how much money he would get when his parents died. At eight years old, he was bored with such childish antics. Skip 's actions escalated and he started mutilating frogs. He stabbed them but, eventually, even that was not enough. He blew the frogs up by putting fireworks in their mouths. No, he did not become a killer. He became a successful business man with a wife a kids (Stout). Maybe he was a killer, but he didn 't kill humans, only …show more content…
There are killers who kill for reasons other than just the thrill. The Son of Sam diverges from being a psychopath because he felt remorse for what he did. In 1977, David Berkowitz went on a killing spree under the guise of "Son of Sam". He spread terror throughout New York City. He killed six and injured seven people. He seems very akin to a psychopathic killer, but it is important to note that he has expressed what seems like genuine remorse. In 1987, he became a Christian after another inmate nearly killed him. With his new found faith came regret for what he had done. One may say that his remorse is just for show and that he wants something in return for his rehabilitation. In 2012, however, he refused parole because he believed he was where he was supposed to be. He shows concerns for the people he affected - something a psychopath wouldn 't have done. He was a brutal killer but not a psychopath (Bonn). The Angel of Mercy killer puts his victims out of their misery. Charles Cullen was a nurse who killed 40 patients to spare them misery. There have been other nurses who have committed similar crimes. Some do so because they have a perverse belief they are helping the victim. Others commit the crime because they have a disorder called Munchausen by proxy, a disorder where the sufferer causes an ailment on another person to draw attention to himself. Regardless, Cullen 's crimes were devastating, but not psychopathic
It’s not that uncommon for people to kill each other, and it happens every day. What is not common, is for someone to kill for no apparent reason. Typically there has to be some sort of benefit behind the murder. Whether that may be to get that out of their way for some reason, or to get something that they want. This article was meant to show resemblance between serial killers and your average everyday murderers. He brings up serial killer Lou Ford as an example of someone who acts as if they are normal, yet deep inside are very dangerous minded. Instead of using his physical attributes to murder people, he satisfies his needs by psychologically tormenting people. He does this as long as he possibly can, but there is only so much they can take of
According to the “Hare Psycopathy Checklist” a psychopath is a person who knows right from wrong in our society but often feels no guilt, remorse or empathy when they engage in wrong actions. They lie easily, blame others for their actions and often hurt people who are close to them. David Berkowitz meets the criteria of Hare’s checklist and is believed to be a true psychopath. Berkowitz is known as the “Son of Sam”, a thrill seeking serial killer who terrorized the city of New York for over a year. Information about David Berkowitz’s background, personality traits and lifestyle and his serial killer profile help to prove that he is in fact a psychopath. In conclusion, this essay will prove to readers that David Berkowitz is a notorious serial killer that is also a psychopath.
...words of Ted Bundy, one of the most ruthless serial killers of our time: "Most serial killers are people who kill for the pure pleasure of killing and cannot be rehabilitated. Some of the killers themselves would even say so" (qtd. in Holmes and Deburger 150).
The psychopath know the reasons behind acting a certain way and just don't think about the consequences. Even in the DSM-IV clear definitions of a psychopath doe not exist but the closes to diagnose is anti-social personality disorder. Dr. Hare instead developed the Psychopathy Checklist for people to diagnose psychopathy. The first part of the Psychopathy Checklist looks at the emotional and interpersonal traits of the disorder(Hare, 1993). Some of the emotional qualities that the clinician would look for is as followed: glib/superficial, egocentric/grandiose and lack of empathy.
Psychopaths are strict when committing a crime. They plan there crime before they do it. Because they think there crimes through, they are hardly found about. In the article, “Psychopath vs sociopath” it says “tendency to participate in schemes and take calculated risks to minimize evidence or exposure.” People portray them to be very violent people but it is rare for them to do violent crimes. They tend to do smaller crimes but they can be serial killers. As they feel no guilt when doing the crime, although, when they do a big crime they can be undetected for a long
A psychopath is “calculating and measured in their actions” which makes is harder for one to be identified ("Characteristics of a Sociopath."). Although there is no clinical diagnosis for a psychopath one can be determined through their characteristics and actions for one is more “likely to construct a complex scheme or plan and to carry it out” if they suffer from this mental disorder ("Characteristics of a Sociopath."). They are the most dangerous personalities in society as they have the capacity for extreme violence and the intelligence to blend into a community as an average citizen. It is the personality Iago from Othello that could be diagnosed as a psychopath as he is cold, calculating, manipulative, and is elaborate in his plans. Iago
Taking the life of another person is one of the worst infractions of the law to commit. The Bureau of Justice defines serial killing as “[involving] the killing of several victims in three or more separate events” (“Michigan” 1). Serial killers often commit extremely violent crimes; they usually become infamous for these crimes. The first recorded serial killers are probably Jack the Ripper in 1888 and Fritz Haarmann in 1924 (“Michigan” 1). Jack the Ripper is also one of the most well-known criminals, almost everyone knows who he is or has at least heard of him. Most people know what he is famous for and associate him with being a bad person. Serial killers are typically sadistic and sociopathic, meaning that they are unable to feel empathy for people who are suffering (“Michigan” 1). Whimsical sociopaths who have sadistic tendencies are very dangerous. They inflict pain because they do not care that someone else is suffering, they only care that it makes t...
Notably, the media parades psychopaths to be violent and erratic. Although these traits may be true in some cases, many people overlook the fact that there are many other characteristics that attribute to the term psychopath. A few examples of a psychopath
What is a psychopath? What type of person can be characterized by this and how do they come to be? But first before we can answer these questions we must first know what a psychopath is. Psychopaths are people suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviors; clinically it is a person who has a lack of what we would consider a conscience. Psychopaths are seen to suffer from a lack of empathy because of psychological, genetic and environmental factors. Scientists have many theories concerning psychopaths. Scientist do not have a definite clear cut answer on what is the cause for psychopathy but they have many ideas; nature and the nurture of the person. Nature is the genes that the person carries. The nurture of the person when they were a child is simply means how they were treated when they were growing up and/or how they were raised. Some scientists even consider it a possibility that it could be a mixture of the two.
Sociopaths are prevalent among society, and some researchers, like Martha Stout, claim that one out of every twenty-five people is a sociopath. However, this statistic is incorrect. This statistic is based on the assumption that sociopaths and psychopaths are the same people—which is untrue. While the sociopathic and psychopathic traits overlap, sociopaths differ in that they are obviously nervous and agitated, unable to create the illusions that psychopaths are so proud of. They live on the fringes of society, uneducated and unable to keep a steady job. Psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are suave and able to maintain an illusion of conformity and maintain relationships on a superficial level. Both, however, are dominantly male, tend to disregard the rights and social mores of others, and have a tendency display violent and disruptive outbursts without remorse. Unlike psychopaths, who completely lack remorse and the ability to love, sociopaths may attach themselves to certain people, though they still remain contemptuous of the rest of humanity (7).
The study of the psychopath shows someone who is incapable of feeling guilt, remorse or empathy for what they do. They are generally cunning, manipulative and know what is right or wrong but dismisses it as applying to them. Such individuals are incapable of what some would call normal emotions such as love; generally react without thinking about the consequences of their actions and show extreme egotistical and narcissistic behavior. Some of the common characteristics among psychopaths are as follows: superficial charm and an average intelligence, unreliability, untruthfulness and insincerity, lack of shame, antisocial behavior, loss of insight, suicide threats rarely carried out, poverty in major affective reactions, no nervousness or neurotic manifestations, sex life trivial and poorly integrated, and failure to follow any life plan (Berko...
According to the Psychopathy Checklist Revised by Robert Hare, a psychopath is a mentally unstable individual that typically displays insensitive behavior and demonstrates a strong lack of empathy towards others. Psychopaths are described as emotionally shallow and exhibits abnormally violent social behavior. Furthermore, David Berkowitz accurately fits this criterion and is described to be a true psychopath. Berkowitz, recognized as the Son of Sam killer, relentlessly tormented the citizens of New York City for over a year. Throughout his killing spree, Berkowitz murdered six people and injured seven more, amounting to thirteen shootings overall. Consequently, many theories have surfaced in regard to why David Berkowitz murdered his victims, including theories of a possessed canine and a brutal satanic cult. Although theories exist about the Son of Sam killer, evidence shows that David Berkowitz murdered because of psychopathic issues and mental instability.
By 1978, roughly thirty women were dead and mutilated by the same man with little explanation as to why. Ted Bundy, one of the most infamous serial killers in history brutally took the lives of numerous women for seemingly no reason at all. His justification for these murders was simply that he felt like committing them. A serial killer is defined as someone who has killed more than three people over a period of a month or more for seemingly no reason at all. Most serial killers have no real motive for killing; for them it is an urge that they must satisfy. Was Ted Bundy and others like him always a violent psychopath or did certain events cause him to behave this way? One common belief is that abusive childhoods and other environmental factors are the main reason serial killers develop the way they do. The other belief is that serial killers are born with an innate desire to kill. The answer to this question lies within both arguments and there is no secret serial killer formula. Serial Killers are neither born nor made; instead many factors, both biological and psychological, contribute to the making of these destructive monsters.
Psychopathic serial killers are, almost without exception, males who are driven by a sexual or aggressive drive to exert power and control by killing another living, breathing thing. The answer is no. Serial killers are the most extreme form of psychopaths, but are not crazy or insane in any sense of those words. Over ninety percent of serial killers are white males, who have IQ’s in the normal to bright range. Even...
These killers receive commands from voices, or communicate with gods or other beings who demand the offender commit murder. They almost always fall into the FBI’s 'disorganized ' category of serial killers because of the mental illness and impulsivity that drives their criminal offenses. They are not thoughtful planners like their 'organized ' counterparts… Moreover, visionary killers are said to be 'act focused ' because the act of killing itself is their immediate goal. Some visionary killers come to believe that they are someone else while others feel compelled to murder at the behest of entities such as the Devil or God. Both 'God mandated ' and 'demon mandated ' serial killers are fairly common and well documented (Bonn,