Content area
Full text
Over the years, Hollywood has provided many examples of psychopaths. As a result, psychopaths often are identified as scary people who look frightening or have other ofT-putting characteristics. In reality, a psychopath can be anyone - a neighbor, coworker, or homeless person. Each of these seemingly harmless people may prey continually on others around them.
Psychopathy and Personality Disorder
The term psychopathy refers to a personality disorder that includes a cluster of interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial traits and behaviors.1 These involve deception; manipulation; irresponsibility; impulsivity; stimulation seeking; poor behavioral controls; shallow affect; lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse; sexual promiscuity; callous disregard for the rights of others; and unethical and antisocial behaviors.2
Psychopathy is the most dangerous of the personality disorders. To understand it, one must know some fundamental principles about personality. Individuals' personalities repre- ' '; sent who they are; they result from genetics and upbringing and reflect how persons view the world and think the world views them. Personalities dictate how people interact with others and how they cope with problems, both real and imagined. Individuals' personalities develop and evolve until approximately their late 20s, after which they are well-hardwired in place, unable to be altered.
Traits and Characteristics
Psychopathy is apparent in a specific cluster of traits and characteristics (see table 1 ). These traits, ultimately, define adult psychopathy and begin to manifest themselves in early childhood.3 The lifelong expression of this disorder is a product of complex interactions between biological and temperamental predispositions and social forces - in other words, the ways in which nature and nurture shape and define each other.4
Many psychopaths exhibit a profound lack of remorse for their aggressive actions, both violent and nonviolent, along with a corresponding lack of empathy for their victims. This central psychopathic concept enables them to act in a cold-blooded manner, using those around them as pawns to achieve goals and satisfy needs and desires, whether sexual, financial, physical, or emotional. Most psychopaths are grandiose, selfish sensation seekers who lack a moral compass - a conscience - and go through life taking what they want. They do not accept responsibility for their actions and find a way to shift the blame to someone or something else.
Chameleons and Predators
In general,...