Kleinschmidt 1 English 101 Dr.

Shepherd Gabe Kleinschmidt 4/10/2014

Understanding Mental Illness In the Criminal Field

When it comes to the Criminal Justice field there is a lot that can be said. In many Criminal Justice careers, such as being a police officer or a detective, it is crucial to know many things, and one topic that I believe is key for somebody in this field would be to know about mental illnesses. In this context would be Sociopaths and Psychopaths. These two illnesses are similar in ways and tend to be a characteristic of a person that would commit homicide. In this field I believe it will be helpful for law enforcement and/or other practices in the field of criminal justice to better understand these illnesses.

Similarities and Differences

Psychopaths and Sociopaths are very similar and different when it comes to a particular definition. In Debra Kellys The Difference Between Psychopaths and Sociopaths, she talks about many differences and similarities between the two definitions. Many tend to use the word psychopath as a word for both psychopath and sociopath but people dont usually see that though they are similar illnesses, they are of a different severity. When comparing the two they both have the basic similarities such as a lack a moral compass, incapable of sympathizing with others, and impaired disgust.

Kleinschmidt 2 When people think of a psychopath they usually think of a murderous killer that has no feeling, and for the most part this is true, as Kelly says in her article The term psychopath is usually used to describe a person that has crossed the line of moral behavior in a society. Theyre the murderers, the school shooters, and the manipulative cult leaders. Theyre the ones mutilating animals just to see what happens. Theyre also the ones that society views as a danger to others (Diane Kelly). So what Kelly is really saying about a psychopath is that they are the criminal aspect of the illness. Sociopaths are usually viewed as a danger to society; just the label alone makes you think of a psychopath. In reality a sociopath is not a danger to society and that is the key difference between a sociopath and a psychopath. Kelly said, A person is deemed a sociopath when they have the lack of emotion and ability to relate to others, but arent a threat to society. While theyre not as dangerous, they can still be destructive in a smaller, personal setting such as in friendships, romantic relationships, or in a family. But theyre generally not going to go on a killing spree. (Diane Kelly) This quote from Kelly is very key to what a sociopath is, they arent a threat in a homicide sense but more of a relationship sense. There are many differences between the two illnesses as said before. A key question would be how do you become either a psychopath or a sociopath? In Kellys article she talks about how psychologists have begun to differentiate these processes, A psychopath is always a psychopath; genetic traits or chemical makeup causes the person to lack the ethics and empathy most of us have. Signs that

Kleinschmidt 3 something is not quite right with the person are generally visible from a very young age (Diane Kelly). This categorization usually consists of the serial killers you see in the movies such as Jason or Michael Meyers as a psychopath. When it comes to a sociopath the diagnoses is different as Kelly says, A sociopath, however, often becomes one as a product of his or her upbringing. Environmental factors such as abuse or a cold, difficult childhood can cause a person to emotionally shut down and gradually devolve into a sociopath(Diane Kelly), as Kelly says being a sociopath and psychopath are two different definitions and the ways that people obtain these illnesses are they key differences that set these illnesses apart.

Being a Psychopathic Killer

When you think of a serial killer you might assume that they are a psychopath. In some cases this is true but not all serial killers are psychopaths and not all psychopaths are serial killers as Jim Kouri said in his article Psychopathy of Serial Killers. So we come across the question of why do certain psychopaths become serial killers and Kouri answers this question by saying, Psychopaths who commit murder do not value human life and are extremely callous in their interactions with their victims (Jim Kouri). Being a psychopath can lead you to crazy thing such as killing people without guilt or remorse for what they have done. NPRs Bradley Hagerty interviewed Brian Dugan a man sentenced for life for the rape and murder of two people. Bradley Hagerty talks with Brian Dugan about his crimes and how he felt about what he had done; Brian Dugan is a diagnosed psychopath. With the interview with Mr. Dugan Hagerty hopes to find insight on what it is like to be a psychopath and why this man did what he had done. At one

Kleinschmidt 4 point of the interview Mr. Dugan said, I turned into Mr. Hyde from Dr. Jekyll. I couldnt stop (Brian Dugan), It seems as though Mr. Dugan cant control when he gets into his psychopath mind and also says. Another thing that Mr. Dugan had said in the interview was, And I have empathy, too, but it's like it just stops. I mean, I start to feel, but it just, something just blocks it (Brian Dugan). Since a psychopath cant feel emotions, they usually go to drastic measures to feel something, but that feeling may be false.

Diagnoses
A man named Kent Kiehl is one of the worlds leading investigators of the psychopathic mind, and a professor at the University of New Mexico. Kiehl uses a certain scale called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, to measure traits such as the ability to feel empathy or remorse, pathological lying, or impulsivity. Kent reports, The scores range from 0-40. The average person in the community being a male will score about a four or five. Your average inmate might score about 22(Kent Kiehl). As for Brian Dugan he had scored a 38.5 and was put in the 99th percentile, ruling him as a diagnosed psychopath. Another way that Kent Kiehl studies the psychopathic mind is with his 2 million dollar mobile MRI that he takes to maximum-security prisons to scan their brains. Out of all the inmates that he has scanned with this trailer MRI, he has only had about 20 percent of them actually be psychopathic. They way in which Kiehl studies their brain is with images. Kiehl will put certain images that might induce some emotion, such as students standing around a Bunsen burner, which has no emotional or moral content. Then he will show another picture such as a car on fire,

Kleinschmidt 5 which should induce some sort of emotional feeling. Then with the MRI he will examine the minds reaction to those pictures and compare them to an average scoring person. Another example of a high moral content image would be a picture of someone about to or might shoot a child, Kiehl then said, most psychopaths say that pictures like this are a moral violation, but there is a key difference. When a normal person sees this photo, the limbic system lights up. Kiehl calls that that an emotional circuit (Kent Kiehl). When Brian Dugan took this test, him like other psychopaths Kiehl has examined, saw this photo and though said it was morally wrong he still did not feel any emotion towards the image as Kiehl said, the emotional circuit does not engage in the same way(Kent Kiehl). Regular people have the emotional circuit that may prevent us from killing other people because we see that as morally wrong, in the case of a psychopath, such as Dugan his brakes on the emotional circuit just dont work.

Psychopaths and Law

In law enforcement it can be crucial to understand mental illnesses, particularly being a psychopath. In Jim Kouris article about the psychopathy of serial killers, one major importance he brings forward is understanding a psychopaths mind within the criminal field as he stated, Understanding psychopathy becomes particular critical to law enforcement during a serial murder investigation and upon the arrest of a psychopathic serial killer(Jim Kouri). Psychopaths are very different from your normal person you tend to see things in the crime scene behavior with a psychopathic person that is not usual compared to a

Kleinschmidt 6 regular criminal. Even within TV and movies you see the importance of knowledge of criminal minds, illnesses, and behavior. In the move Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling, who is studying behavioral sciences in order to be an agent of the FBI, begins the challenge that could make her career. This would be interrogating Hannibal Lector or as the press calls him, Hannibal the Cannibal, a psychopathic homicidal cannibal. Upon agent Starlings arrival at the prison to interrogate him the prison guard warns her, Hannibal Lector is a monster, a pure psychopath. Along with information on how to communicate with him such as, not giving personal information and dont get to close to the glass. When interrogating Hannibal, Starling uses her training in behavioral sciences to retrieve information safely from Mr. Lector. This movie is a good example of how knowing of mental illness and behavior within the criminal field can aid to catching a killer. Another neat example of understanding psychopathy within the criminal field would be the televisions show Dexter. This show portrays a man named Dexter Morgan who is a diagnosed psychopath and works in the law enforcement career as a blood analyst. As a young child Dexter was adopted by a police officer named Henry Morgan. Upon Dexters adoption, Henry soon discovers Dexters illness, and with Henrys experience with mental illness he finds a way to raise Dexter properly as well as teaching him how to control is homicidal urges. With Henrys specific training with mental illness and witnessing it within his career, he uses this knowledge to recognize Dexters illness at an early age in the hopes of saving Dexters future.

Kleinschmidt 7 Understanding the behavior in psychopaths can help law enforcement in linking serial cases, such as certain patterns a killer might have. Kouri says in his article, over the past twenty years, law enforcement experts from a number of different areas or criminal justice have attempted to identify specific motivations for serial murderers and to apply those motivations to different typologies developed for classifying serial murderers. The police investigators use many techniques when dealing with a psychopathic serial killer; some ways involve information on certain characteristics of this illness and is crucial to understand. When interrogating a non-psychopathic person, a way to get the person to confess is with guilt. A psychopaths lack of emotion and guilt makes it difficult for interrogation. This is why in the law enforcement career it is critical to understand the traits and characteristics of a psychopath in order to decide how to go about this case and to catch a criminal of this mind set.

Sentencing
Psychopathy is a mental illness, but when it comes to sentencing after a serious crime they have committed where do they go, a mental hospital or prison? Many people in our society have different opinions on the matter. Some may say that they cannot help what they have done and being a psychopath is a serious illness, and others may say that because they know what they are doing is morally wrong, and they do it anyway, that they should be but in prison. Realistically there is no certain treatment for a psychopath other then therapy.

Kleinschmidt 8 When sentencing a psychopath many end up going to jail with the regular assumption that they knew it was wrong, though they did it anyway. In some cases a lawyer may try and plea for insanity but in most serial killer cases, this plea usually does not go through. Though many doctors are working on treatments for the illness there have not been any promising hope for a cure. Being a psychopath in this time period, there is really no fixing the problem. When a psychopath commits a crime whether or not they go to jail, they are very likely to commit that crime again because they have no remorse in their actions. The law usually sees these people as a threat to society and sentences these psychopaths to jail time in order to protect society.

Conclusion
With all the research relating the mental illness of being a psychopath, they really are a special kind of person in the sense that their brains are set apart from the average humans. Within law enforcement, I believe it is critical to understand not only the psychopathic illnesses but also other mental illnesses, as for many people who commit crimes tend to have a mental illness. Knowing how to identify those illnesses can help with your process of catching or interrogating that criminal. Even in the court of law knowing certain illness characteristics can help your case immensely. Every criminal justice field requires knowledge of psychological disorders illnesses. This is why sociology and psychology are required courses to take in the process of obtaining this degree.

Kleinschmidt 9 Works Cited Demme, Jonathan. Silence of the Lambs. Director. 1991.

Kelley, Debra. The Difference Between Psychopaths and Sociopaths http://knowledgenuts.com/2013/11/03/the-difference-betweenpsychopaths-and-sociopaths/

Kiehl, Kent. NPR 06 http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=1281168

Kouri, Jim. Psychopathy of a Serial Killer. http://www.examiner.com/article/psychopathy-of-serial-killers

Manos, James Jr. Dexter CBS: Dexter. 2006-2013