NCJ Number
65562
Journal
CRIMINOLOGICAL Volume: 1 Issue: 6 Dated: (MAY 17, 1978) Pages: 9-38
Date Published
1978
Length
30 pages
Annotation
DRAWING ON MEDICAL, PSYCHIATRIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOURCES, THIS ARTICLE ANALYZES IN DEPTH THE RELATED PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY AND ANTISOCIAL CONDUCT, INDICATING CAUSES AND SOME REMEDIES.
Abstract
DEFINITIONS OF THE PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY ARE STILL CONTRADICTORY. THE PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TRACED TO FORMS OF MENTAL ILLNESS OR TO SPECIFIC LESIONS, MALFORMATIONS, OR DEGENERATIVE PROCESSES OF THE BRAIN. ALTHOUGH NOT DEFINED IN CLINICAL TERMS, SUCH PERSONALITIES COULD, PERHAPS, BE DEFINED IN TERMS OF THEIR EFFECTS (I.E., THE TYPES OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR OR CRIMES CAUSED BY THEM) OR IN TERMS OF THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFIGURATION. NEVERTHELESS, THERE IS NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OR PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THE PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY, AND IT IS IN NO WAY RELATED TO LOW INTELLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE IRRATIONAL AND DISORGANIZED BEHAVIOR. THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE DEFINITION IS THAT OF 'MORAL INSANITY,' BECAUSE PSYCHOPATHS HAVE NO FEELINGS OF RIGHT OR WRONG OR OF GOOD OR EVIL; THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WORDS MEAN TO THE REST OF MANKIND, BUT THE WORDS REMAIN A PURELY COGNITIVE PHENOMENON, TOTALLY UNRELATED TO THEIR LIVES AND ACTIONS. DEVOID OF ALL NATURAL AFFECTIONS, KNOWING NO OTHER LOVE BUT THAT OF SELF, THESE PSYCHOPATHS CAN BE QUITE RATIONAL, EVEN SHREWD IN THEIR ACTIONS WHEN THEY ARE DIRECTED AT ACHIEVING THE IMMEDIATE SATISFACTION OF THEIR DESIRES, ALTHOUGH THEIR AGGRESSION IS NOT RESTRAINED WHEN OBSTACLES ARE PLACED IN THEIR PATH. ALSO, THEY ARE IMMUNE TO ANY FEELING OF GUILT AND REGARD THEMSELVES AS ABOVE THE LAW. HOWEVER, DESPITE ITS ELUSIVENESS, PSYCHOPATHY IS A REAL FORM OF INSANITY. OFTEN WITH ABOVE-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE, PSYCHOPATHS ARE LIKE CHILDREN IN THEIR TOTAL LACK OF AWARENESS OF PAST AND FUTURE. OTHER TRAITS OF THE PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY INCLUDE ITS BEING TOTALLY UNRELATED TO SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, OR ANY OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES AND ITS BEING IMPELLED ONLY BY ITS OWN WHIMS AND DESIRES. SO FAR IT HAS BEEN IMPERVIOUS TO ANY PHYSICAL TREATMENT (LOBOTOMY, ELECTROSHOCK, INDUCED COMAS, INSULIN, PSYCHOTROPIC AGENTS) OR PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL (THE LATTER WITH CHILDREN) PERSUASION. PSYCHOPATHIC CRIMINALS HAVE PROVED EQUALLY RESISTANT TO REHABILITATION BY IMPRISONMENT BECAUSE THEY THRIVE IN A PRISON ENVIRONMENT, WHERE THEY BECOME RINGLEADERS AND MANIPULATORS OF FELLOW INMATES, WHOM THEY CAN BRUTALIZE AND TERRORIZE. PERHAPS PSYCHOPATHS COULD BE HANDLED BY SOME FORM OF FORCED LABOR, STRICT SUPERVISION, AND SOME RESTRAINTS ON THEIR FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, TO KEEP THEM FROM REVERTING TO VAGRANCY AND OTHER TYPICAL FORMS OF DEVIANCE, WHILE REDUCING THEIR DANGEROUSNESS TO THE COMMUNITY AND, PERHAPS, MAKING THEM MORE RECEPTIVE TO SOME FORM OF PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT. --IN SPANISH. (LGR)