Psychopath attorneys

[nesty]

"When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better." (Mae West)

People who cannot contain their urges to harm (or kill) people repeatedly for no apparent reason are assumed to suffer from some mental illness. However, they may be more cruel than crazy, they may be choosing not to control their urges, they know right from wrong, they know exactly what they're doing, and they are definitely NOT insane, at least according to the consensus of most scholars. In such cases, they usually fall into 1 of 3 types that are typically considered aggravating circumstances in addition to their legal guilt -- antisocial personality disorder (APD), sociopath, or psychopath -- none of which are the same as insanity or psychosis. APD is the most common type, afflicting about 4% of the general population. Sociopaths are the second most common type, with the APA estimating that 3% of all males in our society are sociopaths. Psychopaths are rare, found in perhaps 1% of the population.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) is practically synonymous with criminal behavior. It's so synonymous, in fact, that practically all convicted criminals (65-75%) have it, with criminologists often referring to it as a "wastebasket" category.  Antisocials come is all shapes and sizes, but psychologists consider the juvenile version of it to be a juvenile conduct disorder. The main characteristic of it is a complete and utter disregard for the rights of others and the rules of society. They seldom show anxiety and don't feel guilt. There's really no effective treatment for them other than locking them up in a secure facility with such rigid rules that they cannot talk their way out. A full list of APD traits would include:

Sense of entitlement;
Unremorseful;
Apathetic to others;
Unconscionable behavior;
Blameful of others;
Manipulative and conning;
Affectively cold;
Disparate understanding;
Socially irresponsible;
Disregardful of obligations;
Nonconforming to norms;
Irresponsible

whereas the DSM-IV "clinical" features of Antisocial Personality Disorder (with a person having at least 3 of these characteristics) are:

Clinical Symptoms for an Antisocial Personality Disorder Diagnosis
 
1. Failure to conform to social norms;
2. Deceitfulness, manipulativeness;
3. Impulsivity, failure to plan ahead;
4. Irritability, aggressiveness;
5. Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others;
6. Consistent irresponsibility;
7. Lack of remorse after having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another person

Sociopathy is chiefly characterized by something wrong with the person's conscience. They either don't have one, it's full of holes like Swiss cheese, or they are somehow able to completely neutralize or negate any sense of conscience or future time perspective. Sociopaths only care about fulfilling their own needs and desires - selfishness and egocentricity to the extreme. Everything and everybody else is mentally twisted around in their minds as objects to be used in fulfilling their own needs and desires. They often believe they are doing something good for society, or at least nothing that bad. The term "sociopath" is frequently used by psychologists and sociologists alike in referring to persons whose unsocialized character is due primarily to parental failures (usually fatherlessness) rather than an inherent feature of temperament. Lykken (1995), for example, clearly distinguishes between the sociopath (who is socialized into becoming a psychopath) and a "true" psychopath (who is born that way). However, this may only describe the "common sociopath", as there are at least 4 different subtypes -- common, alienated, aggressive, and dyssocial. Commons are characterized mostly by their lack of conscience; the alienated by their inability to love or be loved; aggressives by a consistent sadistic streak; and dyssocials by an ability to abide by gang rules, as long as those rules are the wrong rules. Some common sociopathic traits include:

Egocentricity;
Callousness;
Impulsivity;
Conscience defect;
Exaggerated sexuality;
Excessive boasting;
Risk taking;
Inability to resist temptation;
Antagonistic, deprecating attitude toward the opposite sex;
Lack of interest in bonding with a mate

Psychopathy is a concept subject to much debate, but is usually defined as a constellation of affective, interpersonal, and behavioral characteristics including \

egocentricity;
impulsivity;
irresponsibility;
shallow emotions;
lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse;
pathological lying;
manipulativeness;
and the persistent violation of social norms and expectations

The crimes of psychopaths are usually stone-cold, remorseless killings for no apparent reason. They cold-bloodedly take what they want and do as they please without the slightest sense of guilt or regret. In many ways, they are natural-born intraspecies predators who satisfy their lust for power and control by charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence. While almost all societies would regard them as criminals (the exception being frontier or warlike societies where they might become heroes, patriots, or leaders), it's important to distinguish their behavior from criminal behavior. As a common axiom goes in psychology, MOST PSYCHOPATHS ARE ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITIES BUT NOT ALL ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITIES ARE PSYCHOPATHS. This is because APD is defined mainly by behaviors (Factor 2 antisocial behaviors) and doesn't tap the affective/interpersonal dimensions (Factor 1 core psychopathic features, narcissism) of psychopathy. Further, criminals and APDs tend to "age out" of crime; psychopaths do not, and are at high risk of recidivism. Psychopaths love to intellectualize in treatment with their half-baked understanding of rules. Like the Star Trek character, Spock, their reasoning cannot handle any mix of cognition and emotion. They are calculating predators who, when trapped, will attempt escape, create a nuisance and danger to staff, be a disruptive influence on other patients or inmates, and fake symptoms to get transferred, bouncing back and forth between institutions. The common features of psychopathic traits are:

Glib and superficial charm;
Grandiose sense of self-worth;
Need for stimulation;
Pathological lying;
Conning and manipulativeness;
Lack of remorse or guilt;
Shallow affect;
Callousness and lack of empathy;
Parasitic lifestyle;
Poor behavioral controls;
Promiscuous sexual behavior;
Early behavior problems;
Lack of realistic, long-term goals;
Impulsivity;
Irresponsibility;
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions;
Many short-term marital relationships;
Juvenile delinquency;
Revocation of conditional release;
Criminal versatility

[theothertwin]

Take personality disorders with a grain of salt, they're not real diseases!

Well, while they are real diseases, I would agree with your post in the sense that there are so many people afflicted with them that makes them sound not that serious. After all, the entire world can't be crazy! lol

"Is everybody crazy?" Writer Jim Windolf posed the question in an October 1997 issue of The New York Observer, and then answered it himself with numbers.

If you add up all the psychological ailments Americans complain of, the portrait that emerges is of a nation of basket-cases.

10 (ten) million suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder.
14 (fourteen) million are alcoholics.
15 (fifteen) million are depressed.
3 (three) million suffer panic attacks.
10 (ten) million have Borderline Personality Disorder.
5 (five) million are obsessive-compulsive.
2 (two) million are manic-depressive.

Factoring in wild-card afflictions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity, and allowing for overlap (folks suffering from more than one problem), Windolf concluded that "77 percent of the adult population is a mess."
 

[pm]

Interesting thread ,,

[scintilla]

Take personality disorders with a grain of salt, they're not real diseases!

Well, while they are real diseases, I would agree with your post in the sense that there are so many people afflicted with them that makes them sound not that serious. After all, the entire world can't be crazy! lol

"Is everybody crazy?" Writer Jim Windolf posed the question in an October 1997 issue of The New York Observer, and then answered it himself with numbers.

If you add up all the psychological ailments Americans complain of, the portrait that emerges is of a nation of basket-cases.

10 (ten) million suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder.
14 (fourteen) million are alcoholics.
15 (fifteen) million are depressed.
3 (three) million suffer panic attacks.
10 (ten) million have Borderline Personality Disorder.
5 (five) million are obsessive-compulsive.
2 (two) million are manic-depressive.

Factoring in wild-card afflictions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity, and allowing for overlap (folks suffering from more than one problem), Windolf concluded that "77% of the adult population is a mess."
 

[DanteHicks]

Forget the DSM_IV...refer to Hervey Cleckley's and Dr. Robert Hare's works on Psychopathy...perhaps even Benjamin Wolman (whom appear to already have been consulted according to some of these posts).

[rezipsa]

How about an Attention-Seeker plus The Wannabe plus The Guru AND The Sociopath?

He sits next to you too?

[cuteprincess]

Some attorney, well actually most attorneys are such pompus pricks.  I truly mean that.  I think when they say knowledge is power, they think they have too much power.

[jacy85]

Some attorney, well actually most attorneys are such pompus pricks.  I truly mean that.  I think when they say knowledge is power, they think they have too much power.

And this statement is bull.  Maybe most attorneys you happen to know are pompus pricks.  But to make such a huge sweeping statement like this is just ignorant.

[cuteprincess]

I didn't say "ALL" attorneys, I said maybe most.  Most attorneys that I know are so into themselves.  Apparently you don't know that many.  Maybe if you did, you'd understand my comment.

[jacy85]

I worked for a firm with out 120 attorneys for 2 years, and the pompous pricks were the great exception rather than the rule.  There were maybe 5 or 6 that were arrogant and rude to everyone around them.  That's hardly "most" attorneys.