Inside a mind of a psychopath: Synopsis
a) Discuss any findings or conclusions in which you agree or disagree
I also agree that there is a need to develop modern methods of treatment and intervention aimed at addressing the emotional and mental makeup of psychopaths. It is interesting to find out that many experts and psychiatrists believed that psychopaths were beyond help. However, using science and technology it is possible to start understanding the causes of the emotional deficiencies noted, as well as, leading to new treatments, medication, and behavioral therapy. As mentioned in the article, one does not need to feel sorry for psychopaths to understand that they need help in the form of treatment. This results from the facts that between 15 and 35 percent of prisoners in the United States are psychopaths and are likely to commit new crimes when released from prison. The article points out that these results result from the high correlation between psychopaths and the likelihood to violate parole.
I also agree that there is a need to address underlying emotional issues affected psychopaths. According to the article, it costs the United States government and taxpayer between $ 250 billion to $ 400 billion a year to prosecute, incarcerate, and jail psychopaths. Therefore, new treatments are critical in ensuring that such costs and damages resulting from the behavior of psychopaths is addressed and saved. Additionally, early intervention may be critical towards preventing future crimes and damages that a psychopath may commit during his or her lifetime. This in turn helps save the government and taxpayer funds that policy makers would redirected to development.
b) Describe any findings or conclusions, which you found particularly interesting or uninteresting
Another interesting finding from the article is that the lack of empathy is a major sign of psychopaths. According to the authors, psychopaths lie, manipulate, and commit heinous acts of which they feel no remorse or regret for committing. In addition, they do not feel deeply about anything and lack the emotional connections considered normal in all human beings. The lack of emotions and empathy is because of significant impairments that influence the psychopath’s ability to feel emotions, as well as, affect their emotional development. This leads to an individual who is devoid of emotions and who exhibits irrational behavior.
Based on the reading it is interesting to find out that the brain of a psychopath’s processes information around him or her in a different way as compared to normal people. This may result from deformities and underdevelopment in different parts of the brain such as the amygdala that is responsible for emotions such as fear, as well as, the paralimbic tissue, which regulates and individual’s emotional states. Differences in perception lead to psychopaths experiencing the world differently as compared to normal people. The article interestingly notes that the brain of a psychopath is oblivious of emotional cues such as fear in other individuals. The article also points out that the psychopath’s brain does not take in new information when their attention is engage in a particular activity. This in turn means that once fixed on a particular goal a psychopath is unable to engage in another task until the initial task is completed.
It is interesting to note that shallow emotions and the lack of caring deeply for anyone or anything leads psychopaths to turn to risky behavior when things do not go their way. From the information presented in the article, it is clear that psychopaths do not show classic signs of mental illness such as hallucinations, anxiety, and over whelming compulsions. In addition, the article note that they are neither socially awkward and have better than average intelligence
c) Describe any content, which you found confusing
d) Which topics (if any) would you like to learn?
“What leads to the emotional deficiencies experienced by psychopaths?”
“Do this emotional deficiencies result from nature of nature?”
“Are the brain underdevelopments biological, hereditary, genetic and is it possible to determine whether an individual is a psychopath based on their parent’s biological makeup?”
“What treatment and intervention options are currently available for psychopaths?”
