The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 1 Running head: THE COMMON PSYCHOPATH IN TODAYS SOCIETY

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society M. Flannery O. Kuhn University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Spring 2014

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Introduction Todays society has changed some of its focuses and started dipping its feet into a much more psychological interest. Though we all have gathered a small bit of knowledge in the area of pathology through books, television shows, psychology classes, and old magazines, what do we really know about what goes on in the mind in a psychopath? Current television shows now portray main characters as well as people with different mentalities compared to the ordinary protagonist who gets the girls and all the fame. Today shows like Breaking Bad, Sherlock, Dexter, House, and Monk support the not so average Joe and create characters that fascinate viewers and increase their curiosity. This method charms the viewer into continuing the time consuming but ever so pleasing series they once tried to avoid while scrolling through their Netflix list. A show called Dexter recently became popular on Netflix. Being a fan of shows like Law and Order: SVU, I immediately found a new obsession with the television series. The show follows a character that has a secret he has to hide from even the closest of friends and family; he is a psychopath and serial killer. Dexter is a forensic blood spatter analyst and works with the Miami Police Department solving crimes and ridding Miami of the mayhem throughout the show. This show however, is not like any other crime scene investigation shows. The viewers learn to be sympathetic towards Dexter for they see throughout the show how his past life has made him who he is in his adult life. Found at a very traumatic crime scene at the age of two, Dexter realizes that he is not quite a normal child. As his foster father becomes more like a therapist to him, he learns to cope with his so-called urges you see throughout the show, in other words, his killing sprees. Many are unaware of his true nature, he has to go

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 3 through life hiding who he truly is underneath the good looking, sweet natured man that works in the police department. Dexter exemplifies many emotions a psychopathic serial killer may obtain and as viewers, we gain more knowledge of how a psychopath may live out his or her life on a daily basis. I was very fascinated with this show, and my captivation for Dexter led me to my line of inquiry because very few of us really think about how many types of psychopaths there truly are in the world and what they are capable of. I conducted research on childhood traumas and the way they affect children in the long run, the aspect of nature vs. nurture, as well as how we are raised determines who we become in adulthood. Furthermore I researched how psychopaths such as Dexter himself fit in to society and learn how to function within a normal environment.

Literature Review Terms: Psychopathy: Psychopathy is a disorder found in a person and is hard to detect. A psychopath may appear normal but they have very manipulative features that can often lead to criminal-like actions. This disorder is extremely resistant to treatment. Psychopaths and Sociopaths are related terms, and in the early 1800s doctors who worked with mental patients began to notice that some of their patients who appeared outwardly normal had what they termed moral depravity or moral insanity, in that they seemed to possess no sense of ethics or of the rights of other people. (Hirstein 2013). Psychopath: A psychopath is a term used to describe a person with the disorder of psychopathy. It is someone that is affected by the personality disorder marked by aggression, violence, antisocial thought and behavior and a lack of remorse or empathy.

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 4 Sociopath: A sociopath is another term used to describe someone with the personality disorder. Morally Insane: A state of madness or insanity consisting in a dark falsification of the natural feelings, affections, inclinations, temper, habits, moral dispositions, and delusions one might have. Pathology: Pathology is the science of the causes and effects of diseases. Childhood Trauma: Allen, Rosse, and Osofsky all speak about the affects that childhood trauma has on the future of the child. Because of the violence that children in the world are introduced to at a young age, this triggers something in their minds that can cause a defect on the child and change their perception on certain situations. Osofsky states that the homicide rate among young people ages 15 to 24 has more than doubled since the 50s to a rate of 37 homicides per 100,000 people in 91 (Osofsky 2000). Of course these traumas are across the board and include physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and frequently occurs within U.S. families. Some children are exposed to violence on a daily basis and this included exposure to guns, knives, drugs, and random violence going on in their own neighborhood (Osofsky 2000). These random acts of violence are more likely to incorporate these same items and actions in their lives growing up. With children, they learn most of what they know by seeing how it is used or recognizing the reputation of the item or action. Also, Allen and Rosse clearly explain that the vulnerability of children to the effects of trauma may lead that child to have specialized interventions during there recovery, or very exhaustive counseling for years following the traumatic event. These children develop a higher risk for both short-term and long-term negative emotional reactions. Studies have shown after events such as Hurricane Marilyn

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 5 in 1995, researchers were able to find out that parental stress levels are related to their childrens stress level and this variable may be the more salient variable when studying child stress levels (Allen/Rosse 2004). Each article delves into the idea of a child potentially having lifetime affects even after months or years of therapy. Essentially, the parents reaction plays a major role on the childs reaction to whatever trauma they have been around. Childhood Trauma Leaving a Trace: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Esterman, and Genius each had interesting things to say about what occurs to a child when they are young. Each article agrees with the affect of childhood trauma and the life of a child when they are adults. Many tests and experiments have been run and the results have all been somewhat the same. They all say that any kind of harm on the brain to a child whether it is psychical or emotions has a neurological effect on that child and in the long run children have side effects. Many of these side effects include aggressive behavior that can be caused from an abusive childhood and too much visual violence. Due to the altercation in the brain, that alone adds difficulty to the therapeutic rehabilitation. In the show Dexter, his childhood trauma left a trace and even with therapeutic rehabilitation he was unable to rid himself of the neurological change that caused him to become the way he is.

Psychopathy: Ells, Harris, Bower, Killing and Rice all speak about the hardwiring of the common psychopath. In Harriss article he claims that the psychological construct of the mind has gone through many changes over the decades to get to where we are in modern day. It has existence in woman, men, children, and all racial and ethnic groups. Since its

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 6 manifestation in todays world has increased, these so-called psychopaths or mentally disturbed and morally insane folk have comprised a natural class of individuals. Ells makes a claim that psychopaths are often hard to point out from ordinarily normal people. They also easily harm those that they are closest with because they have made connections with them throughout their lives. Of those men, women, children, and racial groups, only a small population actually fit the psychopathic personality profile of the population of those in prison. Each article explains the difficulties in curing this disorder. Some have deemed it incurable and permanent. Their emotions are so strong and so wide-ranged that they need extra care when placed in hospitals. In Bowers article he states that there are two varieties of psychopaths. They are manipulative and quite charming, however in their manipulative and charming ways they take what they want do as they please. Due to their actions, some psychopaths are put in jail, which seems fair to those that harm is done upon. But, in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology researchers report finding that the psychopaths who evade the law may constitute a separate breed of psychopaths. In other studies, psychopaths that have been imprisoned express little emotion when in front of a camera (Bower, 2001). Also in recent studies on psychopaths or sociopaths, they have difficulties in planning ahead, thinking flexibly, and controlling their impulses, which had an overall affect on each person. Not to mention the beginning stages of psychopathy in young children. Nature vs. Nurture: In Santaularia, Esterman, and Geniuss articles they seek the nature vs. nurture aspect in a psychopaths life and how DNA plays a role in peoples psychoses. Esterman shares in his article that the idea of Nature vs Nurture was not only popular when the Greek philosopher, Plato stated that our morality and capability

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 7 of intelligence was inherited but is also a common idea today. Being aware of the saying the apple doesnt fall far from the tree demonstrates to us the idea that in a psychopaths mind, something occurred for them to become who they are today. In other words, our DNA plays a role in the way we are, so essentially, the way we are raised and what is in our genetic code give reasons to be sane and insane. In Santaularias article he shares that in the show Dexter, Dexter the psychopath, claims he does not know what made him the way he is. There are plenty of reasons that back up his psychotic state of mind, some relation to the trauma he witnessed in his childhood, some from his genetic makeup and then some from the way he was raised. Supporting the Nature vs. Nurture aspect once more. Without Dexters foster father there to lessen the urges that took over Dexter so frequently, Dexter would have been more dangerous and violent that he appears in the television series. In the Nature vs. Nurture aspect of life, Dexter was affected majorly by how he was raised.

Entering the Conversation: This paper focuses on the affects childhood trauma can cause in adulthood, the pathology of the psychopathic mind such as Dexters, as well as how our surroundings and the people we surround ourselves with affect the person we become in the future. If I asked you to tell me what you know about the pathology of a psychopath based on what television and the media has displayed for you, what would you say? Most of us have gathered our information on what we know about psychopaths based on numerous television shows such as the classic CSI, NCIS, Dexter, Sherlock, and many more crime scene investigation shows. You would probably tell me that psychopaths are insane,

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 8 mentally ill, manipulative, dangerous, unstable and you shouldnt associate yourself with them. I would have to agree with all of these descriptions that go along with your general psychopath. Over the past few decades, television shows with violence have increased and managed to gain the fascination of teenagers and young adults. But how far will they continue to go until it becomes excessive? In popular shows on television these days main characters have been given pathological illnesses because it strays away from the normal protagonist of a series. This grasps the viewers attention and creates an interest in that specific character. We begin to ask ourselves, what will they do next? Will they harm someone they love? Will they harm themselves? These characters leaves us questioning their every move in anticipation that some twist will occur in the next five minutes of watching. I believe that the increase of all of these shows and movies about people with psychopathic issues will soon have a higher demand and a larger population of viewers. Excessiveness of this portrayal will become an issue. I personally think that the amount of exposure of corrupt standards has become too popular in the media and on television.

So What?/Conclusion There are many sides to one single person and we are all raised differently. Despite some psychical ailments of a person you do not know what goes on in the mind of that one person until you get to know them. They could be the sweetest person or perhaps the rudest, most atrocious human you have ever met. Many of us have a healthy mind and good head on our shoulders, could you say the same for a psychopath or a sociopath? We learned over the years that these types of people could be harmful and we

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 9 should keep our distance, but what about psychopaths that mean well they just are judged to harshly by society? As I spoke about Dexter previously, we know he is a psychopathic serial killer but what I failed to mention is how kind and gentle his heart truly is. Now, not every psychopath out there can be sweetheart like Dexter but it was the way he was raised despite the trauma he went through as a very small child. We are all affected by what we see, have seen, the unknown, and known. We are also affected differently by everything that is around us. Think about how we all have the fear of fitting in, we all want to belong. Like Dexter, we too look for that happy place where we can be ourselves and for him that was something that was very hard to find. Some people can never find that happy place. You can act normal on the outside and be completely insane on the inside. The psychological interest of todays population can change what researchers desire to focus on. Each day the fascination of psychopaths and sociopaths grow and we learn more about this specific personality disorder.

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References Burkley, M. (2009, September 13). Is Dexter a Successful Psychopath?. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-social-thinker/201009/is-dextersuccessful-psychopath

Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne. (2013, January 15). Childhood Trauma Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 17, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130115090215.htm

Osofsky, Joy D. (2000). The Future of Children. Domestic Violence and Children. 9(3), 33-49 Hirstein, William. (2013, January 30). What Is a Psycopath? Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindmelding/201301/what-ispsychopath-0 Allen, Richard D., Rosse, William. (2004) Children, Youth and Environments. Collected Papers. 14(1), 234-242. Santaularia, Isabel. (2010, December). Atlantis. 32(2), 57-71 Harris, Grant T., Skilling, Tracey A., Rice, Marine E. (2001). Crime and Justice. 28, 197264. Ells, Lisa. (2005, January). Columbia Law Review. 105(1), 158-208.

The Common Psychopath in Todays Society 11 Stevens, Gregory W., Deuling, Jacquline K., Armenakis, Achilles A. (2012, January). Journal of Business Ethics. 105(2), 139-149. Bower, Bruce. (2001, August 25). Science News. 160(8), 117. Esterman, J., Genius, S., (2012). Nature vs. Nurture. Kuhn, Flannery. (2014). Assignment One Observations.