Inside the Mind of a Psychopath
These interspecies predators use charm, manipulation, imitation and violence to control others and satisfy their own selfish needs, ACA session told
By Erin Hicks
CorrectionsOne Associate Editor(Reprinted with permission)KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Psychopaths make up just 1 percent of the general population, but around 15 to 20 percent of the prison population, meaning if you haven’t come across one already, you’re bound to meet one soon.Broadly defined as interspecies predators, psychopaths often use charm, manipulation, imitation and violence to control others and satisfy their own selfish needs, said Dean Aufderheide, Ph.D., M.A., Director of Mental Health Services with the Florida Department of Corrections.
But what makes them so dangerous is that any attempt at treatment will make them more likely to commit crimes and develop better manipulation and deceptions then if they were never treated at all, Aufderheide told a session at The American Correctional Association convention in Kissimmee, Fla.
In general, the characteristics of a psychopath are:
• Lack of conscience or empathy
• Average or above in intelligence
• Grandiose/superficial charm
• General disregard for rights of others
• Extreme sensation seeking behaviors
Read the full article on CorrectionOne.com
Read my prior post on psychopaths
Photo Credit: © Kit Wai Chan – Fotolia.com
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