What are the key differences between a psychopathic person and a psychotic person? give examples

Psychopathy: Misunderstandings and Misconceptions What name comes to mind when you hear the word "psychopath"? Often, the answer is a historical figure such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, or Saddam Hussein, or a serial killer such as Charles Manson, David Berkowitz (the "Son of Sam" killer), Ted Bundy, or Clifford Olson. Examples of movie and television characters abound: Norman Bates (Psycho)H, annibal Lecter (Silenceo f the Lambs),M r. Blonde (ReservoiDr ogs),t he title character from Dexter, and Walter White from Breaking Bad (for more on psychopaths in the media, see Blair, Mitchell, & Blair, 200S; Cleckley, 1964; and Hare, 1993). It has been suggested that in the business world, people such as Bernie Madoff and Steve Jobs are psychopaths. Some have even claimed that political figures such as Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush resemble psychopaths based on their calculating natures and lack of empathy in certain situations. However, after learning more about the definition of psychopathy and the psychopathy checklist, you will realize that very few if any of these examples really fit the profile of a psychopath (Blair, Mitchell, & Blair, 200S; Dutton, 2012). One of the foremost experts on psychopathy, Robert Hare (1993) provides the following advice: Psychopathikcil lers ... are not mad, according to accepted legal and psychiatric standards. Their acts result not from a deranged mind but from a cold, calculating rationality combined with a chilling inability to treat others as thinking, feeling, human beings .... As disturbing 2019 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved. psychopathy Ap ersonadliitsyo rdcehr aracterized bya l acko fe mpatheyg,o centrism, manipulatoiofo nt herasn, da tendentcoyw aradn ti-social andc riminbael bheahviaovuior.u r 168 ParTt wo TheorioefsC rime anti-socipael rsonality disorde(Ar PD) Ap ersonadliitsyo rdcehr aracterized bya l acko fm oralitiym, pulsivity, anda ggressbiveeh aviour; individuwalisth A PDof tenh ave ah istoroyf c riminbael bheahviaovuior.u r as this is, we must be careful to keep some perspective here, for the fact is that the majority of psychopaths manage to ply their trade without murdering people. By focusing too much on the most brutal and newsworthy examples of their behavior we run the risk of remaining blind to the larger picture: psychopaths who don't kill but who have a personal impact on our daily lives. We are far more likely to lose our life savings to an oily-tongued swindler than our lives to a steely-eyed killer. (p. 6) The notion of a psychopathic personality has been around for at least a century, and it was a common theme in early psychiatric work (Rafter, 2008; Ser in et al., 2011 ). John Johns and Herbert Quay (1962, p. 18) famously remarked that psychopaths hear the words, but not the music. This means that on an intellectual level, psychopaths can understand that people have emotions and can feel pain; however, they fail to fully comprehend empathy and have an inability "to put themselves in another person's shoes." Other key characteristics of psychopaths include glib and superficial charm, egocentricity or egotism, lack of guilt, deceitfulness, impulsiveness, and interest in risk-taking activity (Cleckley, 1964; Hare, 1993). Psychopaths have been described as intraspecies predators that manipulate, intimidate, and sometimes use violence to control others and fulfill their own selfish goals. It is important to keep in mind that not all psychopaths are criminals; psychopaths are found in politics, the legal profession, and the business world (Bablak & Hare, 2006; Dutton, 2012; Hare, 1996). At the beginning of this section, one important misconception about psychopathy was identified: Psychopaths are not all serial killers, or even violent; many work in more subtle ways. A number of other common misunderstandings exist about this phenomenon. First, psychopaths are not psychotic, mentally ill, or"sick" in the legal sense of the term (Hare, 1993); that Is, the disorder does not "[render) the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong" (Criminal Code, s. 16). In contrast, psychotics refers to people who are mentally ill in a legal sense and often have hallucinations and delusions that spur on their abnormal behaviours; for example, they may suffer from schizophrenia. Second, the terms "psychopathy,""anti-social personality disorder," and "sociopathy" are often used interchangeably (often by criminologists who should know better), despite the fact that they refer to different (and sometimes outdated) classifications (Bablak & Hare, 2006). Psychopathy and sociopathy were once considered to be the same disorder; however, this idea changed when revisions were made to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II) in 1968 (Hare & Cox, 1978). "Sociopathy" was changed to anti-social personality disorder (APO). Later, psychiatrists attempted to distinguish psychopathy from APD (Hare, 1996). It should be noted that the term "sociopathic personality disorder" is no longer in use; however, the term "sociopath" is sometimes used to refer to those with APD. The main difference between individuals with APD and those with psychopathy is that APD is thought to result from one's environment, whereas true psychopaths seem to have physical and mental abnormalities (such as lower resting heart rates, less fear response, and structural brain abnormalities). The varying prevalence of psychopathy and APD also helps set them apart. According to Hare (1996), psychopaths represent about 1 percent of the general population and may comprise as much as 25 percent of the prison population. Meanwhile, APD is seen in about 6 to 9 percent of the general population and roughly SO to 75 percent of inmates. These figures imply that psychopaths represent a small subset of people with APD. Thus, 2019 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved. almost all psychopaths have APD, but only a small subset of those diagnosed with APD would qualify as psychopaths (Hare, 1996). The modern conception of the psychopath was heavily influenced by Hervey Cleckley's seminal work, The Mask of Sanity (1964). Hare (1970; Hare & Cox, 1978) used this research to develop his psychopathy checklist, a scale that can reportedly measure levels of psychopathy in individuals. This scale has been revised and adjusted numerous times (see, for example, Hare, 2003) and is commonly used in corrections work to estimate risk of reoffending. However, the scale has also been used in other arenas, such as university campuses