Im obviously not finished but i think im off to a good start.

I dont exactly know

where im going with the paper; so far ive just been writing and going with the flow.
Whatever i feel like writing thats just been what ive been running with. I think im
doing a good job at answering my inquiry question, not really sure. My intended
audience is just people who want to know more about psychopaths or maybe even
parents that wonder why they cant get their children under control.
Real-life Psychopaths are not mad but bad
I think I earned about a 3.8, i couldve done a better job at trying to shift the
readers understanding and connect my conclusion better with my prior paragraph
but other than that I taught the reader a lot about psychopaths throughout my essay. I
used they say, i say templates that brought in different voices to my paper. I planted
naysayers and used correct in text citations/ works cited page as well as good
grammar. Overall my paper is good and I worked hard, it deserves an exemplary
grade.

What makes a psychopath?

Psychopathy: a disorder characterized by a lack of empathy, shallow affect, and
manipulation of others for own gain (Lockwood Bird etc). As a matter of fact, the
simplest thing to understand about psychopathy is the definition itself which is what
makes this topic all the more intriguing. Psychopathy is surprisingly considered a
common mental disorder; It is twice as common as bipolar disorder, anorexia, paranoia,
and schizophrenia. It is roughly just as common as obsessive-compulsive disorder,
bulimia, and narcissism (Kiehl Hoffman). Many people assume that psychopaths stick
out like a sore thumb, but in reality it is among the hardest disorders to spot which often

camouflages its carriers making them dangers to public safety. The reason a psychopath
may be dangerous to a normal individual/ the public would be their lack of conscience
and emotions; They are often volatile, manipulative, cold, and criminally diverse . A
true psychopath is free of any other mental illnesses (Kotler McMahon). But what
breeds a psychopath and why do they behave the way they do?
Contrary to popular belief, psychopaths are not products of their environment
and they are usually born with the ability to develop into a psychopath at a young age, it
is also referred to as a genetic predisposition(Grohol). Ive always believed that
psychopathy started in adulthood but in reality, psychopathy starts during childhood
and once an individual matures with the disorder intact, they are nearly impossible to
treat (Kotler Mcmahon). These findings could explain why parents with problem
children have a hard time figuring out why their children behave so badly; they could
have an excellent home life, be very intelligent, and have lots of friends but
psychopathy is innate.
Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that psychopathy could also
be developed by traumatic experiences as a child, sociopathy is that very definition .
Most people use the two disorders interchangeably and even go as far as to call them the
same thing, but im here to tell you that they are different. Sociopaths are products of
their environment and unlike psychopaths, tend to be more impulsive and erratic in
their behavior (Grohol). It is harder for sociopaths to maintain long-term jobs or even
present themselves as being a normal, functioning contributions to society . The biggest
difference that stood out to me was the fact that sociopaths may be able to form an
attachment to an like-minded group or persons (Grohol). On the other hand,

psychopaths form artificial, shallow relationships designed to be manipulated in a way

that most benefits the psychopath (Grohol) . Throughout my essay, it is important to
remember the difference between the two when we start examining characteristics of a
psychopath.
Ted bundy is the perfect man to examine when it comes to inspecting traits of a
psychopath. He was good looking, charming, well spoken, studying to be a lawyer and
was a young republican male successfully making his way to the top.
But what everyone didn't know was Bundy had a dirty little secret he was hiding; he was
murdering a new woman at least once a month. Bundy would bite chunks out of his
victims and then keep and abuse their bodies until their flesh began to rot; he also liked
to molest his victims while he strangled them to death (DDocumentary Central). Later
on after bundy had been caught, he proceeded to be his own lawyer at his own trial
(egotistical is also a psychopathic trait) even though he had not yet finished law school.
Although he thought he was showing the jury a well manicured man that could never
commit the crimes they were accusing him of, the jury saw something very different and
found him guilty. He was sentenced to death by electric chair and in his final interview
before his execution he was unnervingly tranquil and said things like each time id kill
someone there would be an enormous amount of horror, guilt and remorse afterwards
and use phrases like believe me (DDocumentary central). But just a few months before
his execution, Bundy appeared to be laughing during one of his earlier interviews talking
about what he had done. So was bundy actually remorseful or was this all an act for the
camera?
According to Dr. Wynne Parry, its not just Bundy who is excellent at putting on
an act during an interview. Dr. Parry and Dr. Dobson both agree that psychopaths make

some of the best interviewees because of their ability to tell people what they want to
hear. Psychopaths are kn0wn for their riveting speeches and their ability to falsely
sympathize with whom they are speaking to. Psychopaths are able to tell painful lies
without so much as batting an eye (Is Your Child A Psychopath...). During Dr. Parrys
research he found that when normal people pause during speaking or say things like
um, it is to gather their thoughts and figure out what theyre going to say next, but
when a psychopath pauses while speaking or says um, it is to put their mask of sanity
on (Parry). True psychopaths want to say things that a normal person would expect
them to say, and will avoid saying things that actually make them sound cold or
manipulative.
While most people think psychopaths are dysfunctional and troublesome in
everyday life, realistically they fit right in. They are able to maintain a job and have a
normal life, maybe even have a family. Psychopaths are usually the last person you
would expect to be a psychopath. Look at John Wayne Gacy for instance, he participated
in charity work, was a successful businessman and was an active member in the
Democratic Party politics; he was overall a well-liked man in the community. Whats the
worst he could do? Well, twenty-six bodies were found wedged in cramped spaces
throughout his home, with another body found buried under the concrete in his garage,
another body found under the joists of his dining room floor, and a concluding body
found in a pit in his back garden. He later admitted to throwing another four bodies in
the local river. Although Gacys friends and family were mortified and baffled by the
recovered bodies, he scored one of the highest scores ever seen on the Psychopath Test
performed by psychiatrists (McQueen). Gacys story reiterates the point that
psychopathy is very easily hidden. From the model psychopaths Ive used as examples

thus far, it would be assumed that all psychopaths are violent. But are they all violent?
Violent: involves physical force or emotional intensity...someone getting hurt or
something being destroyed or damaged (Violent- Dictionary Definition). So, yes
psychopaths are usually violent. However, how violent they are does vary; violence could
vary anywhere from cutting open already deceased bodies to murdering and torturing
mass amounts of people. For example, Edward Theodore Gein dug up freshly buried
bodies, cut them up, and made knickknacks out of their skin and bones, such as skin
lampshades, skull soup-bowls, and tables propped up with human shinbones (Ed Gein
American Psycho). It it still a mystery whether or not Gein actually murdered the
women, but if he didnt, he still dug up and destroyed their bodies, inevitably making
him violent.
Studies show, there are high rates of violence among psychopaths (Stoff Breiling
Maser 22). Because of their love of violence, Psychopaths are twenty to twenty-five
times more likely than non-psychopaths to be in prison, four to eight times more likely
to violently recidivate compared to non-psychopaths, and are resistant to most forms of
treatment (Kiehl Hoffman). According to a 2011 study, just under 1% of non
institutionalized males ages eighteen and over are psychopaths, which accounts for
about 1,150,000 psychopaths. Out of the 6,720,000 males that are on parole, on
probation, in prison or in jail, 1,075,000 or 16% of them are psychopaths. This means
93% of adult male psychopaths are incarcerated, on parole or on probation for violent
crimes (Kiehl Hoffman).
Psychopaths need excitement, adventure and stimulation. According to Dr.
Quay, they have an abnormally high threshold for perceptual stimulation and
psychopaths often find themselves in a state of stimulus deprivation that leaves them

feeling emotionally unpleasant. They often attempt to make changes to their emotional
discomfort by seeking stimuli that usually involves violations of the cultural, legal, and
moral code (Kirkman). Why dont psychopaths just go bungee jumping for a thrill?
Why do psychopaths have to do something harmful to someone else? If the action a
psychopath is expressing does not violate someone or something in some way, shape,
or form, it is not exciting.
Take Levi King for example, a man that went on a vicious 24-hour killing spree
that resulted in the death of two families. Little did he know, he failed to kill a 10-yearold girl from the second family he attacked which inevitably lead to his conviction.
After King had been convicted of the murders, he describes his feelings in an episode of
The Killer Speaks that aired on A&E in 2013. He says ... the first set of murders, uh,
um, released me from a great burden, this one (second set of murders) had almost no
effect. It left me feeling empty. Dr. Schlesinger is a forensic psychologist that speaks
for the scientific aspect of Kings actions. He says it was too soon for him to
experience it again, his emotions didn't really have the time to build up yet inside of
him, so when he killed the second time it wasn't fulfilling to him at all (The Killer
Speaks). After King finished killing the second family, he reveals he had an
uncomfortable feeling he had to ignore; he then gets in his vehicle and drives away
from the scene of the crime.
Killing the second family wasnt as stimulating and exciting as killing the first
family which left King feeling uncomfortable and in some sort of emotional distress
as he left the crime scene. Psychopaths fulfil their emotional distress by causing other
people emotional distress; it often gives them relief. King reported (outside of the
interview) that killing those two families gave him a sense of peace for the first time in

his life (Is your child a Psychopath?...). Also, pay attention to the uh and ums
during his interview; watching him speak, you can tell he knew what he wanted to say
but he wanted to find words to make his actions sound more humane than they were.
King to this day has not expressed any feelings of remorse.
They say learning about psychopathy isnt important, but I say people need to
know what theyre dealing with. To put it bluntly, Psychopaths are absolutely,
undoubtedly crazy as hell. Parents need to know it is not impossible to have a child
psychopath, contrary to popular belief. Psychopathy is indeed a genetically inherited
disorder and characteristics will appear during childhood in most cases. Also, I wanted
my fellow classmates to understand why psychopaths are the way they are and why
they do the things they do. After all, you could be sitting beside a psychopath as you
read this.

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