Occupation: Criminal Mastermind
Age: Unknown
Marital Status: Divorced
Much of the Joker’s life remains a mystery. No evidence of his existence in the form of DNA records or fingerprints was available for the Police Department. He speaks of an abusive and alcoholic father and states his hatred of him. Ultimately, no reliable history can be made of the Joker due to constant shifting of his story. We are introduced to the Joker while he and a group of compatriots are robbing a bank. Systematically and calculatedly the accomplices were killed leaving only the Joker to make his escape with the bank money. While leaving the bank he places a grenade in the bank managers mouth and maniacally runs into his getaway vehicle, which is a yellow school bus.
The Joker is unremorseful and belittles the Mafia’s plans to exact revenge from him. While discussing their plans regarding the Joker, he overhears the mobsters and fakes a laugh and states that their plans are just a bad joke. When the mobsters are indisposed to taking The Joker seriously, and then attempt to kill him, The Subject performs a “magic trick,” ultimately making a pencil disappear into the head of the man instructed to kill him. When the mobsters make light of the Jokers cheap suit, he informs them that they should know it wasn’t cheap – implying that the money he stole was used to buy the suit. The Joker proposes to kill batman for half the money that the mob had squirrelled away while saying that the accountant that they used to help launder their money would betray them.
The mob placed a reward for the killing or capture of the joker. In a ploy, the Jokers men go to the mob boss with a body and then turn to attack the boss. After engaging in threats meant to provide psychological torture, they finally kill him, and overpower the rest of the gang. The Joker then makes the remaining gang fight each other to the death, making the last man standing a member of his gang.
Eventually, the rest of the Mob decides that they indeed must use the Joker’s services to kill Batman. The Joker’s first victim is actually a batman impersonator whom he tortures and kills while mocking him and sends the tape to the media. Ultimately, all of Gotham City is given an ultimatum to turn over the real Batman. When Batman is not handed over, the Joker begins to carry out his threats and kills several people. Eventually, the police arrest a politician, Harvey Dent, who claimed to be Batman in order to continue to hide the caped crusaders true identity.
While being transported to jail, the Jokers gang attacks the police motorcade and the Caped Crusader come to the rescue right at the nick of time. Batman didn’t kill the Joker and was nearly killed by him, but a police lieutenant managed to step in with a shotgun at the right moment and arrest the Joker.
With the Joker in jail, Batman was sent to interrogate him. The Joker states that he could never have killed him, because he views Batman as his only equal. Shortly thereafter, most of the police force and Batman left to go save two other hostages that the Joker took – and the Joker makes his escape by killing one of his henchman arrested with him and taking another guard hostage. In the mayhem that ensued, one of the hostages was killed, and the politician that sought to protect Batman was ultimately rescued, but severely injured. Leading the Joker to threaten to blow up city hospitals should a news source reveal the true identity of Batman.
The Joker makes his way to the hospital room holding the politician disguised as a nurse. He tells the politician that people are the truest form of evil in the world and that lives are expendable. The Joker seems to convince the politician about the evils of the world and tries to turn him away from the law, handing him a gun – which is the only true system of justice. The Joker then blows up the hospital while prancing away and he steals a bus to make his getaway. After this, The Joker stated that he would “rule the streets” and all of Gotham would be subject to his rule.
Eventually, Batman discovers The Jokers location and that his henchman are all hostages with unloaded guns taped in their hands. In a final scene of perversion, the Joker maintains that all mankind is as corrupt as himself and attempts to have a group of civilians kill another group of civilians to no avail. While this is panning out, Batman manages to gain the upper hand and captures the Joker, leaving him for the police to capture.
Diagnosis for The Joker: Antisocial Personality Disorder
Justification of Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Evident by the repeated robberies and killing sprees
- Does not conform to any social norms as evidenced by him killing his own henchman
- Repeatedly deceives and lies about his origins and plans as well as true identity
- Severely impulsive as evidenced by his erratic plans to exact revenge on gotham
- Irritable and aggressive as evidence by his repeated physical fights with the mobsters
- Reckless disregard for the safety of self and others as evidenced by his willingness to blow up city hospitals
- Total lack of remorse as evidenced by his rationalizing of his misdeeds as revenge on humanities evil nature
- The Joker appears to be over 18 years of age.
- Evidence of conduct disorder before the age of 15 is assumed by the paternal history stated
- The occurrence of the behavior is independent of schizophrenia as there is no evidence that The Joker has hallucinatory symptoms.
(DSM IV)
Problems/Symptoms
- Persistent plans to rob and murder
- Aggressive
- Doesn’t conform to norms he establishes
- Infidelity to comrades
- Reckless disregard for others
- Lies
- Lack of support systems
Strengths
- Intelligent
- Entertaining
- Resourceful
Goal 1: Stop anti-social behavior
Objectives:
1: Conform to norms that he establishes himself
2: halt the impulse to hurt and maim society at large
Goal 2: Control the aggressive and irritable streaks
Objectives:
1: establish a means of communication that does not involve torture and threats.
2: perform breathing exercises any time that he feels humanities innate evil is the root of the worlds problems
Goal 3: Begin to understand the basic human emotion of remorse
1: write down all the negative and hurtful things that he has done to people
2: if not able to understand the remorse itself, at least to put in words the concept of remorse and why his actions potentially hurt others
Works Cited:
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Nolan, C., Thomas, E., Roven, C. (Producers), & Nolan, C. (Director). (2008). The Dark
Knight [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.
