In some cases, you may be able to use the psychopath’s “win at all costs” philosophy to your advantage. For example, in a local case a woman and her psychopathic ex-husband were engaged in a prolonged and bitter custody dispute over their two children. The lawyer for the woman, realizing that the man was dangerous, was intent on winning, and didn’t actually care about the welfare of the children, advised his client to agree to a joint custody arrangement. This is what the ex-husband had wanted all along, and having “won the battle,” he lost all interest in the children. Although the lawyer’s tactics worked in this case, he ran a great risk of having the man decide to exercise his right of joint custody, with potentially disastrous consequences for the children.
• Set firm ground rules. Although power struggles with a psychopath are risky at best, you may be able to set up some clear ground rules—both for yourself and for the psychopath—to make your life easier and begin the difficult transition from victim to a person looking out for yourself. For example, this may mean that you will no longer bail him or her out of trouble, no matter what the circumstances.
A woman I know was caught in a web of financial manipulation and deceit woven by a glib “consultant.” Every time she confronted him, he convinced her that he was working on the problem and that she would soon get back the money he supposedly had invested for her. Finally, in desperation, she decided not to discuss anything with him unless there was a third party present or everything was in writing. It soon became clear to her that she was getting nowhere with him, and she began legal proceedings to recover her money.
Reasonable but firm ground rules—“what you have to do to live here”—may be the only way to preserve your sanity when dealing with a psychopathic son or daughter. These rules must be clear and consistently enforced if they are to stand any chance of having an impact. Specific parenting skills and strategies are outside the scope of this book, but the books listed in the Notes for chapter 12 provide helpful information.
• Don’t expect dramatic changes. To a large extent, the personalities of psychopaths are “carved in stone.” There is little likelihood that anything you do will produce fundamental, sustained changes in how they see themselves or others. They may promise to change and may even show short-term improvements in their behavior, but in most cases you will face years of disappointment if you believe that permanent changes for the better have occurred. Although some psychopaths do “mellow” a bit with age, and as a consequence become somewhat easier to live with, in most cases they remain what they have always been.
The problem is particularly tragic when it is a son or daughter who is psychopathic. In a frantic search for help and understanding, the parents typically find themselves shunted from one professional or agency to another, seldom with satisfactory results. The bewildered parents use an enormous amount of energy and resources in generally unsuccessful attempts to understand and control their child. In most cases, they face years of frustration and demands to bail their son or daughter out of trouble.
• Cut your losses. The psychopath may succeed in shattering your self-confidence and may convince you—and your friends—that you are unworthy of his or her time or even that you are “losing it.” The more you give in, the more you will be taken advantage of by the psychopath’s insatiable appetite for power and control.
Rather than make fruitless attempts to adapt to a hopeless situation—usually by giving in, accepting your lot in life, or losing your self-identity—it may be better to recognize that your emotional and physical survival requires that you take charge of your life. This can be a tricky move—even a dangerous one—and it requires good professional advice, both clinical and legal.
Of course, if you are the parent of a young psychopath, you cannot simply give up on your child. You will have to work closely with teachers, counselors, and clinicians experienced in dealing with psychopathic children, no matter how modest the expected results.
• Use support groups. By the time your suspicions have led you to seek a diagnosis, you already know that you’re in for a very long and bumpy ride. Make sure you have all the emotional support you can muster.
Many organizations and groups are devoted to helping victims of crime to understand and cope with their plight. In most cases the victim learns that he or she is not alone and is able to share experiences with other victims. For example, most urban areas have crisis centers and support groups concerned with domestic violence, emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children, and victims’ rights. Depending on the nature of the problem, one or more of these established groups may be of real benefit to you. But what we really need are support groups specifically designed for the victims of psychopaths. Perhaps this book will help to encourage the development of such groups.
Epilogue
After they have reviewed the literature on a topic it is customary for scientists to conclude with the statement that more research is needed. I will do so, for two reasons.
First, in spite of more than a century of clinical study and speculation and several decades of scientific research, the mystery of the psychopath still remains. Some recent developments have provided us with new insights into the nature of this disturbing disorder, and its borders are becoming more defined. But the fact is, compared with other major clinical disorders, little systematic research has been devoted to psychopathy, even though it is responsible for far more social distress and disruption than all other psychiatric disorders combined.
Second, rather than try to pick up the pieces after the damage has been done, it would make far greater sense to increase our efforts to understand this perplexing disorder and to search for effective early interventions. The alternatives are to continue devoting massive resources to the prosecution, incarceration, and supervision of psychopaths after they have committed offenses against society, and to continue to ignore the welfare and plight of their victims. The criminal justice system spends billions of dollars every year in a vain attempt to “rehabilitate” or “resocialize” psychopaths and other persistent offenders. But these terms—popular with politicians and prison administrators—are little more than buzzwords. We have to learn how to socialize them, not resocialize them. And this will require serious efforts at research and early intervention.
The social and financial costs to society of failing to solve the deadly mystery of the psychopath will be staggering. It is imperative that we continue the search for clues.
Chapter Notes
Introduction
1. Tim Cahill (1987). Buried Dreams. New York: Bantam Books.
2. Richard Neville and Julie Clarke (1979). The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj. London: Jonathan Cape.
3. Joe McGinniss (1989). Fatal Vision. New York: New American Library.
4. James Clarke (1990). Last Rampage. New York: Berkley.
5. Darcy O’Brien (1985). Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers. New York: New American Library.
6. Clifford Linedecker (1991). Night Stalker. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
7. Ann Rule (1987). Small Sacrifices. New York: New American Library.
8. _____ (1980). The Stranger Beside Me. New York: Signet.
9. Ian Mulgrew (1990). Final Payoff. Toronto, Ontario: Seal Books.
10. Sue Horton (1989). The Billionaire Boys Club. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
11. Joseph Wambaugh (1987). Echoes in the Darkness. New York: Bantam Books.
12. Harry MacLean (1988). In Broad Daylight. New York: Dell.
13. Joseph Wambaugh (1989). The Blooding. New York: Bantam.
14. Peter Maas (1990). In a Child’s Name. New York: Pocket Books. Television movie, CBS, November 17, 1991.
15. Gary Provost (1991). Perfect Husband. New York: Pocket Books.
16. Dirk Johnson (February 17, 1992). “Jury weary after gruesome testimony.” N.Y. Times News Service.
17. Robert Gollmar (1981). Edward Gein. New York: Pinnacle Books.
18. Margeret Cheney (1976). The Co-ed Kil
ler. New York: Walker & Company.
19. Lawrence Klausner (1981). Son of Sam. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chapter 2. Focusing the Picture
1. Robert H. Gollmar (1981). Edward Gein. New York: Windsor Publishing Corp. The author was the judge in Gein’s trial.
2. American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: Mental Disorders (rev. 3d ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author. The fourth edition (DSM-IV) was published in 1994.
3. The problem was not resolved with the publication of the fourth edition of the DSM in 1994. The American Psychiatric Association conducted field trials to reevaluate the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder. An essential part of the field trial was the use of a ten-item version of the Psychopathy Checklist, described in the next two chapters. Although the field trial confirmed that personality traits could be rated reliably, the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder in DSM-IV are much as they were in DSM-III-R. The DSM-IV field trial is described by R.D. Hare, S.D. Hart, and T.J. Harpur (1991). Journal of Abnormal Psychology 100, 391–98. More detailed accounts and critiques of the field trial can be found in W.J. Livesley (ed.) (1995). The DSM-IV Personality Disorders. New York: Guilford.
4. The historical development of the concept of psychopathy has been described in detail by many authors. I have found the following particularly useful: Hervey Cleckley (1976; 5th ed.). The Mask of Sanity. St. Louis, MO: Mosby; William McCord and Joan McCord (1964). The Psychopath: An Essay on the Criminal Mind. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand; Theodore Millon (1981). Disorders of Personality. New York: Wiley.
5. Unless otherwise indicated, references to Cleckley’s work are from the most recent edition his book: Hervey Cleckley (1976; 5th ed.). The Mask of Sanity. St. Louis, MO: Mosby. The book is no longer available from Mosby but can be obtained from Emily S. Cleckley, Publishers, 3024 Fox Spring Road, Augusta, GA 30903.
6. Drafts of the Psychopathy Checklist first were made available to researchers in 1980 and 1985. The most recent version was published in 1991 (see note 1 for chapter 3).
Chapter 3. The Profile: Feelings and Relationships
1. The Psychopathy Checklist is published by Multi-Health Systems (908 Niagara Falls Blvd, North Tonawanda, NY 14120–2060; in Canada, 65 Overlea Blvd, Toronto, Ontario M4H 1P1) and is available to qualified users. The items in the Psychopathy Checklist are scored by combining interview, case-history, and archival data. However, some investigators have obtained valid scores solely from extensive, good quality file and archival information (e.g., G.T. Harris, M.E. Rice, & C.A. Cormier. Psychopathy and violent recidivism. Law and Human Behavior, 1991, 15, 625–637).
2. Joseph Wambaugh (1987). Echoes in the Darkness. New York: Bantam Books.
3. Joe McGinniss (1989). Fatal Vision. New York: Signet.
4. Ann Rule (1988). Small Sacrifices. New York: New American Library, p. 468.
5. Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth (1989). Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer. New York: New American Library.
6. “The Mind of a Murderer.” Frontline. PBS, March 27, 1984. Also see D. O’Brien (1985). Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers. New York: New American Library; and J. Reid Meloy (1988). The Psychopathic Mind: Origins, Dynamics, and Treatments. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc.
7. Quotes are from Tim Cahill (1987). Buried Dreams. New York: Bantam.
8. Peter Maas (1990). In a Child’s Name. New York: Pocket Books.
9. Robert Rieber (1997). Manufacturing Social Distress: The Psychopathy of Everyday Life. New York: Plenum.
10. Paul Ekman (1985). Telling Lies. New York: Norton.
11. Michaud and Aynesworth (1989), p. 3.
12. From the television program A Current Affair, October 10, 1991.
13. From the television program The Oprah Winfrey Show, September 26, 1988.
14. J. H. Johns and H.C. Quay (1962). The effect of social reward on verbal conditioning in psychopathic and neurotic military offenders. Journal of Consulting Psychology 36, 217–20.
15. Jack Abbott (1981). In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison. New York: Random House, p. 13.
16. One of the earliest studies was conducted by David Lykken (1957). A study of anxiety in the sociopathic personality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology and Social Psychology 55, 6–10. For a review of the research literature see R. D. Hare (1978). Electrodermal and cardiovascular correlates of psychopathy. In R. D. Hare and D. Schalling (eds.). Psychopathic Behavior: Approaches to Research. Chichester, England: Wiley. The most recent study was by J. Ogloff and S. Wong (1990). Electrodermal and cardiovascular evidence of a coping response in psychopaths. Criminal Justice and Behavior 17, 231–45. In most of these studies palmar sweating and heart rate were recorded while the subject awaited delivery of a painful electric shock or a loud noise.
Chapter 4. The Profile: Lifestyle
1. William McCord and Joan McCord (1964). The Psychopath: An Essay on the Criminal Mind. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, p. 51.
2. Playboy, May 1977, p. 80.
3. McCord and McCord (1964). p.9.
4. Diabolical Minds. NBC, November 3, 1991. The television program was an Unsolved Mysteries special.
5. Ann Rule (1988). Small Sacrifices. New York: New American Library.
6. Daniel Goleman. The New York Times, August 7, 1991.
7. For example, see D. Olweus, J. Block, and M. Radke-Yarrow (eds) (1986). Development of Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior. New York: Academic Press.
8. Diabolical Minds. NBC, November 3, 1991.
9. Daniel Goleman. The New York Times. July 7, 1987.
Chapter 5. Internal Controls: The Missing Piece
1. Robert Hare (1970). Psychopathy: Theory and Research. New York: Wiley; Gordon Trasler (1978). Relations between psychopathy and persistent criminality. In R.D. Hare & D. Schalling (eds.). Psychopathic Behavior: Approaches to Research. Chichester, England: Wiley.
2. A. R. Luria (1973). The Working Brain. New York: Basic Books.
3. Ethan Gorenstein (1991). A cognitive perspective on antisocial personality. In P. Magaro (ed.). Annual Review of Psychopathology: Cognitive Bases of Mental Disorders, vol. 1. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4. Joanne Intrator. Personal communication, October 1991.
5. Robert Lindner (1944). Rebel Without a Cause. New York: Grune and Stratton. The book went on to become an affecting 1955 movie of the same name, but Lindner’s ideas about psychopathy never made it to the screen.
6. Jose Sanchez. Quoted in The New York Times, July 7, 1989.
Chapter 6. Crime: The Logical Choice
1. Discussions of the causes of crime are presented by James Wilson and Richard Herrenstein (1985). Crime and Human Nature. New York: Touchstone.
2. An analysis of the attractions that crime has for some individuals is given by Jack Kratz (1988). Seductions of Crime. New York: Basic Books.
3. R. D. Hare, K. Strachan, and A. E. Forth (1993). Psychopathy and crime: A review. In K. Howells and C. Hollin (eds.). Clinical Approaches to Mentally Disordered Offenders. New York: Wiley.
4. Tim Cahill (1987). Buried Dreams. New York: Bantam Books.
5. Normal Mailer (1980). The Executioner’s Song. New York: Warner Books.
6. Playboy, May 1977, p. 76.
7. R. D. Hare and L. N. McPherson (1984). Violent and aggressive behavior by criminal psychopaths. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 7, 35–50; D. S. Kosson, S. S. Smith, and J. P. Newman (1990). Evaluating the construct validity of psychopathy on Black and White male inmates: Three preliminary studies. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 99, 250–59; R. C. Serin (1991). Psychopathy and violence in criminals. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 6, 423–31; S. Wong (1984). Criminal and institutional behaviors of psychopaths. Programs Branch Users Report. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Ministry of the Solicitor-General of Canada.
8. Playboy, May 1977, p. 76.
9. S. Williamson, R. Hare, and S. Wong (1987). Violence: Criminal psychopaths and their vict
ims. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 1, 454–62.
10. Quoted by Felicia Lee. N.Y. Times News Service, November 26, 1991.
11. R. Prentky and R. Knight (1991). Identifying critical dimensions for discriminating among rapists. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 643–661.
12. Rapist “might murder.” The Province, Vancouver, B.C., January 28, 1987.
13. T. Newlove, S. Hart, and D. Dutton (1992). Psychopathy and Family Violence. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
14. C. P. Ewing (1983). “Dr. death” and the case for an ethical ban on psychiatric and psychological predictions of dangerousness in capital sentencing proceedings. American Journal of Law and Medicine 8, 407–28.
15. S. D. Hart, P. R. Kropp, and R. D. Hare (1988). Performance of male psychopaths following conditional release from prison. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 56, 227–32; R. C. Serin, R. D. Peters, and H. E. Barbaree (1990). Predictors of psychopathy and release outcome in a criminal population. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2, 419–22.
16. M. E. Rice, G. T. Harris, and V. L. Quinsey (1990). A follow-up of rapists assessed in a maximum security psychiatric facility. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 4, 435–48.
17. The first to do so was Atascadero State Hospital, Atascadero, California. (David Plate, Chief of Psychology, personal communication, November 27, 1991.)
18. J. E. Donovan, R. Jessor, and F. M. Costa (1988). Syndrome of problem behavior in adolescence: A replication. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 56, 762–65; R. Loeber (1988). Natural histories of conduct problems, delinquency, and associated substance abuse: Evidence for developmental progressions. In B. Lahey and A. E. Kazdin (eds.). Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, vol. 11. New York: Plenum; D. Olweus, J. Block, and M. Radke-Yarrow (eds.) (1986). Development of Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior. New York: Academic Press.
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