Born or Made? A brief description of the psychopathic mind

By group 5

Psychology is the social science of the human mind and its interaction with the environment. This social science has earned a place over the centuries among other sciences, because it plays a vital role in the study of human behavior, whether in the description, explanation, prediction or modification of such behavior.

One interesting aspect in psychology is the study of the criminal minds. Over the years, we have heard numerous stories of cruel murders committed worldwide, such as the case of Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Murderer, the sadistic Roman emperor Caligula, and many others. All these crimes differ in intensity and the cruelty applied to the victims, as well as in number, and they all have a cause or a reason that triggers these actions, often not justified to the disproportionate aggression.

What are the common personal experiences and psychological processes that lead these individuals to become murderers? What are the psychological characteristics of psychopaths? Many of them were raised in dysfunctional homes or have experienced situations with violent and traumatic physical and psychological abuse, which coupled with antisocial personalities, psychopathic tendencies, personality disorders or mental illnesses predispose them to commit crimes in the future.

Before getting to the little details, we first need to understand what psychopathy is. The dictionary defines psychopathy as a mental or personality disorder in which a person shows amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establishing personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, among other traits.

The interesting aspect of psychopathy is that these people usually seem completely normal to those who live around them. Some are even described as good neighbors, caring fathers, etc. However, sometimes people who have interacted with them seem to feel like there is something “strange” or “out of place” about them, but they usually dismiss it, not paying too much attention to those particularities, and only when confronted with the truth of whichever crime they have committed, they look back and realize that those “strange things” might have been the first signs of their mental disorder.

So, what are the key symptoms of psychopathy? The following list taken from a psychology website may come in handy when facing a potential psychopath. So in case someone around you fits the following description, maybe it is better for you to start running away:

Key Symptoms of Psychopathy

Emotional/Interpersonal:

● Smooth-talking and superficial

● Egocentric and grandiose

● Lack of remorse or guilt

● Lack of empathy

● Deceitful and manipulative

● Shallow emotions

Social Deviance:

● Impulsive

● Poor behavior control

● Need for excitement

● Lack of responsibility

● Early behavior problems

● Adult antisocial behavior

Psychopathic behavior can normally be confused with narcissism behavior. A psychopathic mind hides itself behind a mask in which it can feel safe. The “possessions” of a psychopath, are a way to show this “fake face”, understanding possessions as his family, house, personal properties and everything under his control.

Now we will show you some examples of famous psychopaths in order to analyze some important aspects of their lives.

1- Jeffrey Dahmer:

Known as “Milwaukee’s butcher”, apart from his fame for his number of victims, Dahmer is considered a dangerous cannibal and necrophiliac. Dahmer had a fascination for corpses, key word in his modus operandi. Dahmer’s victims were men, without age limitation, as long as they wanted to have sex with him. He took them to his house, drugged them, had sex with them and then, when the men wanted to go home, he hit them, strangled them and finally dismembered their bodies keeping the head and extremities. People usually think that a psychopath is a person abused in his childhood. But Dahmer family was very kind to him. His parents tried to give him the best education, the best house, and the best economic situation possible. They loved him. The most important fact of Dahmer’s life was his social awkwardness. His father worked as a chemist, so they had to move constantly from one home to another. For that reason, Dahmer was never able to make friends. When he was 10 years old, he killed and tortured a lot of animals. In his school he was considered an eccentric child and had alcohol problems. All of these factors created in him a strong antisocial psychopathic disorder, which years later developed in his insensibility and cruel form of dismembering his victims.

2- Robert Christian Hansen:

Called by the media "Butcher Baker", Hansen was a baker with two hobbies: hunting and prostitutes. Throughout his criminal career, he raped and killed 33 prostitutes, who were hunted in the cold woods of Alaska. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Hansen spent a childhood a bit different from Dahmer’s. His father was extremely authoritarian with him, forcing Hansen to work a lot of hours in the family’s bakery, and when Hansen’s father discovered Hansen was left-handed, he punished him and imposed him to use his right hand. These facts, plus his school problems for his acne, made a hard psychological pressure, and developed in his psychopathic tendencies. Like Dahmer, Hansen kept “trophies” of all of his victims, but that were personal belongings. Hansen was not a sadistic killer, he did not torture his victims, and instead he killed them as fast as possible and then buried them in the woods.

3- Geza de Kaplany:

Nicknamed “The acid doctor”, Kaplany suffered from “black sun effect,” a psychopathic disorder in which the person affected feels that himself is the center of their familiar universe, but instead of giving them energy and light, they absorb the life of the people around them. That was what Kaplany did. Suspecting his wife was cheating on him, he was consumed by jealousy because his “possession” did not follow his familiar plan. For that reason he decided to punish her. Using a sharpened knife, he did a few cleanly cuts in her bare chest and then poured acid in the fresh wounds. This torture continued for 33 days until his young wife died. In Kaplany’s trial, he claimed innocence, justifying himself on having multiple personality disorder and declaring that his alter ego “Pierre de la Roche” committed the murder. This fact was objected by the prosecution and Kaplany was diagnosed completely sane. But, what triggered the psychopathic disorder in Kaplany's life? There are not personal records that show us signs of abuse, neither social facts nor problems in school. There is just one fact that would be significant: his partial loss of vision in his left eye. This psychopath was not influenced by external influences, so could his mental disorder have been inside of himself since he was born?

As you can see, there is a great number and diversity of causes and factors responsible for creating a psychopath. Psychopaths can be anywhere. Some might have not awakened their desire of hurting other people yet, while others might be feeling that criminal drive at this very moment. The tricky personalities of these dangerous villains can be both captivating and scary, and we can only wonder about the ultimate cause behind their psychopathic tendencies.

Have you ever met someone like this before? What do you think is the real origin of their blood-lust? Do you think a psychopath is born or made?