The Making Of A Psychopath: The Effects Of Nature And Nurture

14 Pages 3389 Words

psychopaths are not likely to be truthful. Psychopathy can begin in childhood; often the child starts out being treated cruelly or indifferently. A child growing up in a household where morals aren’t instilled in early childhood grows up without a conscience. Since he was uncared for as a child he doesn’t care, can’t love and does not worry about being good or bad and has no idea what guilt is. Childhood abuse and neglect may cause psychopathy. Without a stable adult the child may very well grow up a psychopath. Donald, a 30-year-old prison inmate suffers from psychopathy. In his youth Donald often misbehaved. He did such things as lying, cheating, petty theft and the bullying of smaller children. He showed no remorse for his actions and was able to talk his way out of things. His father was an alcoholic and would often fly into a rage and beat the children. His mother was a timid woman who always did what the father said. Is the scenario the basis for the forming of a psychopath? To fully understand we must delve further into the minds of the psychopaths.

The psychopath did not come out of nowhere; the changing quality of American life has formed him. Our changing culture, morals and values have helped form the psychopath. Our country is now accustomed to behavior that is obscene and inhuman. But how do you explain the ones who come from a seemingly normal home? Dr. Robert Hare has developed a theory that children from a normal home may in fact have a biological abnormality in the brain. Currently there are studies being done to prove that psychopathy may be of the biological factor. These biological theories are more developed and easier to test. We will be discussing this more since they are more influential to my research.

One of the first researchers to develop a theory of psychopathy is Dr. Quay. Quay’s theory rests on two assumptions. One is that psychopaths are characterized by impairment in...