According to John B. Horn's
essay "
AN ENDEMIC SOCIAL DISEASE, A MASK OF SANITY, the term
Psychopath can be broken down into two basic types of
personality disorders or sub-categories of "Psychopath." They are described below:
APD is generally associated with
criminal behavior, and according to research nearly 65-75% of all criminals have APD. The common characteristic of APD is a complete
disregard for the rights of others and the
rules of society. Persons with APD seldom show
anxiety and don't feel
guilt.
Symptoms - APD afflicted persons generally have three or more of the following symptoms:
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
A
Sociopath is basically a person with something wrong in their
conscience. Typically, they are somehow able to completely
neutralize any sense of conscience. The people around a sociopath are generally viewed as
objects to be used to achieve their goals. Sociopaths only care about their own needs, or wants. The
medical field attributes this
mental disease to
parental failures usually caused by a lack of a father (this mainly describes the "common" type of sociopath).
There are four types of sociopath generally referred to in the medical field:
1.
Commons -
Characterized mostly by their lack of conscience.
2.
Alienated - Characterized by the inability to love or to be loved.
3.
Aggressives - Characterized by a consistent
sadistic streak.
4.
Dyssocials - Characterized by an ability to follow rules, as long as those rules are the
wrong rules.
Some common
traits of Sociopaths are:
1.
Egocentricity
2.
Callousness
3.
Impulsivity
4.
Conscience Defect
5.
Exaggerated Sexuality
6. Excessive
Boasting
7.
Risk Taking
8.
Inability To Resist
Temptation
9.
Antagonistic
10.
Deprecating Attitude Toward The
Opposite Sex
11. Lack Of Interest In
Bonding With A
Mate
(
References: Joel Norris (1990)
Serial Killers; Brian Lane & Wilfred Gregg (1992)
The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers; Lykken, D. (1995) The
Antisocial Personalities.)