By Casey Jones, February 2011
In the early 19th century, French psychiatrist Philippe Pinel was one of the first to write about Psychopaths. He described them as “insanity without delirium”. Pinel also, believed that they were “morally neutral”. Today’s experts call the Psychopath “morally insane” and the purest human form of evil.
In 1941, Hervey Cleckley wrote the book The Mask of Sanity, which is now the cornerstone of the study of Psychopaths. Cleckley describes the Psychopath as being charming, even brilliant, but completely lacking in conscience.
Cleckley emphasized his subjects’ deceptive and predatory nature. He wrote that the Psychopath is capable of “concealing behind a perfect mimicry of normal emotion, fine intelligence, and social responsibility, a grossly disabled and irresponsible personality.” This mimicry allows Psychopaths to function, and even thrive, in normal society. Indeed, as Cleckley also argued, the individualistic, winner-take-all aspect of American culture nurtures Psychopathy. He was deeply concerned that we were paying too little attention, even ignoring one of our country’s biggest threats and the devastation which they cause.
For many years, the psychiatric profession wanted little to do with Psychopathy. Many considered it to be an incurable condition. Not only does the talking cure fail with Psychopaths, but several studies suggested that talk therapy makes the condition worse, by enabling Psychopaths to practice the art of manipulation.
Cleckly concluded that the Psychopath was a social parasite, lacking in empathy for others. The Psychopath’s need for immediate gratification at any cost, leaves anyone in their path destroyed financially or emotionally.
Cleckly’s book was published just as Europe was exploding with WWII. The Nazi killing machine was in full throttle during the next few years. After the war ended, noted Psychiatrists began asking themselves, two fundamental questions. First, how could human beings go from acting normal to the epitome of evil? Or worse, how could one psychotic individual lead an entire nation into the depths of pure EVIL? And secondly, how could the American military avoid enlisting such deviant individuals? These questions are still being studied.
Brigadier General Elliot Cooke wrote the book All But Me and Thee in 1946. He discusses a study of more than 2,000 inmates in a post WWII, American military garrison, along with his assistant Colonel Ralph Bing. They took on the investigation of why these inmates had taken a wrong turn. Their conclusion was that almost all of the inmates were incapable of following any rules and cared nothing about their follow GIs. Instant gratification was their primary goal and punishment had zero meaning to them. Their extreme lack of caution made them easy targets for the sniper’s bullet.
In our present day psychiatric world, many of the leading experts are studying the brains of Psychopaths in our prison population. By studying the PET brain scan of prison volunteers, the experts see an on-going similar pattern in the brains of Psychopaths. There is very little activity in the orbital cortex. This area is believed to put a brake on the amygdala, which is involved with aggression and appetites, such as rage, violence, eating, sex and other addictions. This condition can be caused by a brain injury or heredity.
Another discovery while studying the brain scans concludes that Psychopaths showed activity only in the front of the brain, in the language center. They chose their words carefully, in order to pretend to be trustworthy.
Their emotions are virtually non-existent, except for the satisfaction in immediate gratification. Some experts theorize that Psychopaths lack fear of personal injury and, more important, moral fear—fear of punishment. David Lykken pioneered this theory in the nineteen-fifties.
Dr. Robert Hare, with his students created the Psychopathy Checklist (revised in 1991). This checklist is presently used worldwide to evaluate with almost certainty, a true Psychopath. He studied prison populations, not with self-evaluating tests, but refined detailed interviews with close study of the prisoner’s actual criminal history.
For example, a Psychopathic prisoner may state feelings of remorse for a violent rape or murder, but when asked to clarify, their response is fickle and unemotional. Their words portray a well crafted response, which has little connection to actual feelings.
The study of Psychopaths will continue as our society becomes more aware of their existence and of their destructive natures. Hopefully, one day a cure will be found. But few Psychopaths are unhappy with their shallow existence. Since they are not insane, our current legal system may find it nearly impossible, to convince the Psychopath to seek professional help.
References:
Without Conscience insane” by Dr. Robert Hare, 1993.
1941, Hervey Cleckley author of The Mask of Sanity
