The Evolution of the ”Bad Seed” Psychopathy

What is Psychopathy? Personality disorder, characterized by  Callousness  Lack of empathy  Self-centredness  Remorselessness Persistent antisocial behaviour  “Against” society, social norms

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised Measures criminal psychopathy 20 items, scores range from 0-40 Items include glibness & superficiality; impulsive behaviour; lack of remorse; early behaviour problems Two-factor structure  Selfish, callous, & remorseless use of others  Chronically unstable & antisocial lifestyle Hare (1991)

Two Case Examples John Wayne Gacy was a contractor, Junior Chamber of Commerce “Man of the Year,” Pogo the Clown, and raped and murdered 32 young boys Kenneth Bianchi was one of the “Hillside Stranglers,” who raped, tortured, and murdered 12 women, & fooled experts into believing had had multiple personality disorder Hare (1996)

Historical Perspectives (1) Pinel: Manie sans délire  Construed psychopathy as “moral insanity”  Began the “mad or bad” debate Cleckley’s Mask of Sanity  Most influential of the classical texts  Described the syndrome of psychopathy and gave the impetus for the research that followed

Psychopathy vs. Antisocial Personality Disorder  Considerable overlap between constructs  APD is over-inclusive  If scored similarly, they correlate highly Psychopathy vs. Sociopathy  Psychopathy is not synonymous with psychosis  “Sociopathy” differs with regard to etiological underpinnings Historical Perspectives (2)

Theories of Etiology Developmental delay  EEG pattern similarity between psychopaths and normal adults Early brain damage or dysfunction  Primarily to frontal lobes Poor socialization and psychological trauma  Poverty, emotional instability, inconsistent punishment, abuse

Evolutionary Theories Adaptationist perspective on psychopathy  Not a result of pathology, but an adaptive strategy (obligate genetic causes)  Antisocial behaviour is maintained in the population through frequency-dependent selection  Taxometric analyses reveal discrete classes “Genetic Dregs” hypothesis (Figueredo, 2002)

Recent Research (1) Psychopathy is related to a general tendency to deceive, not just in sexual arenas (Seto et al, 1997) MAOA polymorphism moderates antisocial behaviour in maltreated adolescents (Caspi et al, 2002) Antisociality is correlated with earlier sexual experiences; unrelated to neuro- developmental insults (Krupp, 2001)

Recent Research (2) Two-path model Criminal Violence Antisocial Parents Neuro- developmental Insults Psychopathy Harris, Rice, & Lalumière (2001)

Risk Assessment Canada is at the forefront of risk assessment research  PCL-R, LSI, VRAG, VRS  Psychopathy appears to be an important predictor of recidivism  Considerable debate surrounding Clinical judgment “Static” vs. “dynamic” factors

Therapy? Most therapeutic intervention has been unsuccessful with psychopaths  Therapeutic community had an iatrogenic effect in one study (Harris et al., 1991)! The model of psychopathological behaviour is problematic; rather, psychopathy appears to be a life-history strategy Perhaps most appropriate therapy will focus on self-interest of psychopaths

The Wrap-Up The construct of psychopathy defined Historical perspectives Etiological theories Psychopathy as a frequency-dependent, life- history strategy Recent evolutionarily-relevant research Risk assessment and therapy

Things to Come Pedophilia  Definitional and practical issues  Etiology  WHR and pedophilic sexual preference  Implications