Not All Criminals Are Psychopaths
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- Category: English: Poetic Works
- Date Submitted: 10/29/2011 07:18 PM
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Not all Criminals are Psychopaths
Not all psychopaths are criminals nor are all criminals psychopaths. Donald Black had stated in his book, “What is very disturbing about psychopaths, besides their sense of special entitlement, is the complete lack of empathy for normal people, for "antisocials (psychopaths) seem to lack a conscience, feeling little or no empathy for the people whose lives they touch...the antisocial effortlessly resists all regulation, unable to see beyond his self-interest or to adopt standards of right versus wrong.” (XIII) Flannery O’Connor’s, fittingly dubbed character, The Misfit is labelled as a psychopath. He has a questionable past, of which he was blamed for the death of his father and was later sent to prison, he then escaped and killed anyone who he crossed paths with. Such individuals would be considered psychopaths, and follow the description of Black’s statement. However, the Misfit would be a flawed psychopath if he was regarded as one because he showed empathy in front of those he was about to murder, displayed that he took no pleasure in killing, and had lost his rationality when he was beginning to form a connection with the grandmother. Despite how the Misfit showed traits of a psychopath, he should not be considered as one, but rather just as a criminal with unresolved issues.
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Work Cited
Black, Donald. Bad Boys, Bad Men: Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder. USA: Oxford University Press, 2000.
When one is about to kill their quarry they should not consider showing them empathy because if they did the predator in turn would become the prey. O’Connor’s Misfit, at first impression, did a very good job at hiding his feelings. The Misfit was depicted as a raging psychopath, who had escaped from prison, killing anyone that crossed his path. When one actually meets him, he is a reserved man, with a humble...
Not all Criminals are Psychopaths
Not all psychopaths are criminals nor are all criminals psychopaths. Donald Black had stated in his book, “What is very disturbing about psychopaths, besides their sense of special entitlement, is the complete lack of empathy for normal people, for "antisocials (psychopaths) seem to lack a conscience, feeling little or no empathy for the people whose lives they touch...the antisocial effortlessly resists all regulation, unable to see beyond his self-interest or to adopt standards of right versus wrong.” (XIII) Flannery O’Connor’s, fittingly dubbed character, The Misfit is labelled as a psychopath. He has a questionable past, of which he was blamed for the death of his father and was later sent to prison, he then escaped and killed anyone who he crossed paths with. Such individuals would be considered psychopaths, and follow the description of Black’s statement. However, the Misfit would be a flawed psychopath if he was regarded as one because he showed empathy in front of those he was about to murder, displayed that he took no pleasure in killing, and had lost his rationality when he was beginning to form a connection with the grandmother. Despite how the Misfit showed traits of a psychopath, he should not be considered as one, but rather just as a criminal with unresolved issues.
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Work Cited
Black, Donald. Bad Boys, Bad Men: Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder. USA: Oxford University Press, 2000.
When one is about to kill their quarry they should not consider showing them empathy because if they did the predator in turn would become the prey. O’Connor’s Misfit, at first impression, did a very good job at hiding his feelings. The Misfit was depicted as a raging psychopath, who had escaped from prison, killing anyone that crossed his path. When one actually meets him, he is a reserved man, with a humble...