The Psychopathic Enigma - Insightful Self-Reports

By Willem Martens

In this book, the self-reports of psychopaths are presented and analyzed. These data provide more insight into the complex phenomenon of psychopathy. Psychopaths might consider their features, attitude and behavior quite differently than their non-psychopathic counterparts and psychiatric researchers do. This distinction might be the result of a) ignorance of non-psychopaths about the true nature of this complex disorder, b) a very different perspective of psychopaths and non-psychopaths in analyzing this phenomenon of psychopathy, c) the fact that most empirical data is gathered from incarnated, criminal populations who are very able to manipulate tests (most of them know much about the Hare, 1991, PCL-R), assessments, researchers, and therapists (just for fun, revenge, hatred, or disgust) and d) a lack of utilization of and unavailability of reliable and voluntary self-reports of psychopaths in informal settings, and  so on. Informal, non-academic and non-clinical settings are important because the psychopaths I investigated displayed hate against formal academic and clinical settings because they consider them as bulwarks of repressing authority. They consider current theories and concepts of psychopathy as inadequate, incomplete, incorrect, stereotypes which bring about stigmatization

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willem Martens
• Release date: Dec 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223358053

Willem Martens

Martens studied counterpoint, harmony, fuga, composition and film music between 1968 and 1972 with Nadia Boulanger en Darius Milhaud at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris in France. He participated in the 1970 Master Class "Music Concrete" of Pierre Schaeffer. "Between 1969 and 1978 he was appointed as Music Supervisor/Coordinator and film composer by the French network. Afterwards he studied between 1978-1983 Philosophy and Clinical Psychopathology at Amsterdam University and in 1985 he completed his study and training in psychoanalysis with Paul-Laurent Assoun (Paris). In 1997 he earned his PhD Forensic Psychiatry at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Martens wrote more than 100 articles in international journals and chapters of books. Willem Martens worked for 40 years in forensic psychiatric settings as a psychotherapist and researcher and has been Chair of W. Kahn Institute of Theoretical Psychiatry and Neuroscience for 25 years.

Book preview

Foreword

Why should I publish this book and why should other people read this diary? It would be a painful process for me to trace back all the aversive influences on my development and the struggle to survive in this world. However, I understand as a professional in this area (I worked for decades as a therapist and researcher in forensic psychiatric setting) that the phenomenon psychopathy is associated with many social-emotional and moral problems which are rarely really understood by others, including scientists and psychological, psychotherapeutic and psychiatric professionals. Very few have any notion of the nature and consequences of the negative daily experiences of psychopaths and how complicated it is for them to be so distinctive from other people. These psychopaths are often aware of their difficult task to cope with a demanding dominant majority in society who will constantly force them to adapt themselves to their rules, lifestyle, and morality. These diaries are intended to give other human beings at least a glimpse of my psychopathic state of mind and my responses to normal life and the people around me. In fact, I started my preparation for this project (although I was at that time not aware of that) with the research and writing of my PhD-thesis Psychopathy and Remission in 1997. Later I wrote my article The Hidden Suffering of the Psychopath (Psychiatric Times, 2001, 2014, 2020) and I received a lot of response on that publication, even today. So, I realized that there was more work to do for me in this area, also as an expert by experience.

I was diagnosed with psychopathy at the age of 17 . From an early age my psychopathic condition caused myself and others many troubles and alienation from others. Later on I hoped that further investigations and more profound insight into my own disorder would help me to handle or even overcome my difficult condition which appeared for me to be untreatable. As a result I studied psychopathology and later I was  training as a psychoanalyst and researcher in forensic psychiatric settings with psychopaths. I was fascinated by those psychopaths who were cured and wrote my PhD-thesis about remission in psychopaths, which is a very rare phenomenon, indeed. I discovered that the existing ideas and conceptions about psychopathy were often inadequate and incomplete. I knew that the reality of psychopathic conditions were much more complex than they ever could conceive. This motivated me to write a large number of articles in international journals in order to make an attempt to correct and fill the gap of current theories of psychopaths.

Psychopaths might regard their features, attitude and behavior quite differently than their non-psychopathic counterparts and psychiatric researchers do. This distinction might be the result of a) ignorance of non-psychopaths about the true nature of this complex disorder, b) a very different perspective of psychopaths and non-psychopaths in analyzing this phenomenon of psychopathy, c) the fact that most empirical data is gathered from incarnated, criminal populations who are very able to manipulate tests (most of them know much about the Hare, 1991, PCL-R), assessments, researchers, and therapists (just for fun, revenge, hatred, or disgust) and d) a lack of utilization of and unavailability of reliable and voluntary self-reports of psychopaths in informal settings, and  so on. Informal, non-academic and non-clinical settings are important because the psychopaths I investigated displayed hate against formal academic and clinical settings because they consider them as bulwarks of repressing authority. They consider current theories and concepts of psychopathy as inadequate, incomplete, incorrect, stereotypes which bring about stigmatization (See Martens, 2013).

Willem H. J. Martens - MD, PhD and Chair of W. Kahn Institute of Theoretical Psychiatry and Neurosciernce

Introduction

Before you start to read my self-report it might be very useful and even necessary to give you an introduction to the phenomenon of psychopathy, because there is much confusion around this concept.

Psychopathy traditionally is defined by a cluster of inferred personality traits and socially deviant behaviors (Hare & Neumann, 2005). The official term is psychopathic personality disorder. Many people are interested in the complex phenomenon psychopathy. Why are we so intrigued by it? Is it the dark side which fascinates us or is the fact that psychopaths simply have the courage to do what normal people think? The image that people of the general population have from psychopathy is largely determined by the media. Films such as Silence of the Lambs have created an image of this disorder that many people adopt. Paradoxically, as frightening as the media’s psychopathic characters may be, the empirical research suggests a potentially more complex reality. Despite the media’s portrayal and the general publics’ conception of the psychopath as seemingly inhuman and fundamentally unlike most people, the empirical evidence from large-scale studies suggests that psychopathic traits are dimensional in nature and thus are continuously distributed from low to high, as opposed to being a categorical condition where one either has the disorder or does not (Guay, Ruscio, Knight, & Hare, 2007; Edens, Marcus, Lilienfeld, & Poythress, 2006).

Prevalence

Individuals with psychopathic features are not only prevalent in offender samples (Hare, 2003), but are also present in samples from the general community (Neumann & Hare, 2008; Neumann & Pardini, 2012) and the corporate world (Babiak, Neumann, & Hare, 2010; Mathieu, Hare, Jones, Babiak, & Neumann, 2013). Many psychopaths are criminals. Many, however, are not. There is an important category of subcriminal or white collar psychopaths, people who are callous, manipulative and egocentric, but who have sufficient social skills, intelligence and education to present as normal and function in professional positions. While many people are unscrupulous in business dealings while empathetic and fair in their personal lives. Subcriminal psychopaths engage in their problematic behaviors in all facets of their lives (Babiak et al., 2010). Kevin Dutton (2012) argues that a number of psychopathic attributes [are] actually more common in business leaders than in so-called disturbed criminals — attributes such as superficial charm, egocentricity, persuasiveness, lack of empathy, independence, and focus. Basically, certain fields of work are more likely to attract psychopaths than others.

Here’s according Dutton (2012) the list of jobs with the highest rates of psychopathy:

1. CEO 2. Lawyer 3. Media (Television/Radio) 4. Salesperson 5. Surgeon 6. Journalist 7. Police Officer 8. Clergy person 9. Chef 10. Civil Servant

And the lowest rates of psychopathy:

1. Care Aide 2. Nurse 3. Therapist 4. Craftsperson 5. Beautician/Stylist 6. Charity Worker 7. Teacher 8. Creative Artist 9. Doctor 10. Accountant

Empirical Studies - Ethnic and Gender Aspects

The prevalence of psychopathy was examined in the general population, prisons and business world. 1.2% of a US sample scored 13 or more out of 24, indicating potential psychopathy using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV; Hart et al., 1996). The scores correlated significantly with violence, alcohol use, and lower intelligence (Neumann & Hare, 2008). A British study by Coid et al., also using the PCL:SV, reported a community prevalence of 0.6% scoring 13 or more. The scores correlated with younger age, male gender, suicide attempts, violence, imprisonment, homelessness, drug dependence, personality disorders (histrionic, borderline and antisocial), and panic and obsessive–compulsive disorders (Coid et al., 2009a). 3.5% of professionals in the business world are diagnosed as psychopaths (Babiak & Hare, 2006).

Psychopathy was recorded in 23% in an Iranian sample of 351 prisoners using the PCL: SV (Assadi et al., 2006). In a review of Cooke (1995) the rates of psychopathy in prison populations varied from 2 to 78% (Cooke, 1995). Several studies examined gender differences. The prevalence of categorically diagnosed psychopathy was 7.7% in men and 1.9% in women among 496 prisoners in England and Wales according to the revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R, Hare, 2003) (Coid et al., 2009b). It is unclear what the determinants are of such great differences of psychopathy in prison populations. 

Racial and ethnic differences are linked to a number of social phenomena such as crime, poverty, long-term unemployment, teenage pregnancy and the like are partly explicable in terms of differences in intelligence (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994), broken and single mother families, sexual, emotion and physical abuse, neglect, poor neighborhood, criminal and addicted parents and siblings (Martens, 1997). We know that these aversive psychosocial aspects could also be linked to psychopathy, because these risk factors are overrepresented in some ethnic groups. Although considerable research on psychopathy has been conducted over the past 30 years, relatively few studies have examined key issues related to potential ethnic differences in this constellation of socially maladaptive personality traits (Skeem et al., 2004).This study of Lynn (2000) indicates that there are racial and ethnic differences in psychopathic personality such that psychopathy is most present in African and Native Americans, intermediate in Hispanics, lower in whites and the lowest in East Asians (Lynn, 2000). However, Skeem et al. (2004) analyzed 21 relevant studies (8890 persons were involved in these investigations) and concluded that Blacks and Whites do not meaningfully differ in their levels of core psychopathic traits, which is consistent with community-based findings for self-report measures of psychopathy and clinical diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder. However, Skeem et al. did not investigate other ethnic groups.

Dolan & Volm (2009) reviewed a number of studies and revealed that 0 to 21,9 % of the females and 12,9 to 46,6 % of the males in prison samples suffered from psychopathy.

Description of the Concept of Psychopathy

Psychopaths are lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they tend to violate social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret. Recklessness and sensation seeking behavior bring them frequently into trouble. They are remarkably able to externalize blame and rationalize their actions. Furthermore, they also display an incapacity to learn from experience. They appear to lack the social emotions of empathy, guilt and remorse which normally inhibit people from engaging in instrumental aggression (Glenn, & Raine, 2009; Hare, 1993). It is also assumed that the psychopath does not feel others’ pain, even of those they allegedly love. For a psychopath love is about what one gets and not about what one gives. For a psychopath love consists of wanting the person to be part of their life and to obtain things from the other person (companionship, affection, respectability, attention, an audience) (Dadd et al., 2009). In real love, people value the other person’s well-being and happiness as much as their own and at times sacrifice their personal preferences to promote the well-being of the person they love (Fromm, 1956). The psychopath is able to understand the feelings of others on an intellectual level, at the same time that they do not feel an empathic connection and a need to respond to others’ needs, provides them with considerable power (Dadds et al., 2009). The psychopath has the image of a cold, heartless, inhuman being. I revealed that like healthy people, many psychopaths love their parents, spouse, children and pets in their own way, but have difficulty loving and trusting the rest of the world (Martens, 1997, 2002). I also discovered that many psychopaths understand different aspects of other people's life  in a profound way. Furthermore, they experience emotional suffering (Martens, 2002, 2013) as a consequence of social exclusion; loneliness; lack of real bonds and intimacy; numerous social, relational and legal problems; and dissatisfaction with their own deviant behavior (Martens, 1997, 2002, 2013). Some of them wished that they were normal, but they don’t know how to realize that.

According to Hare (1993) psychopaths use their understanding of the feelings of others to manipulate and deceive unrestrained by actual caring. The psychopath may feign concern and say the socially appropriate thing, but their actions show that their expressions of warmth and concern for others are hollow. They only respond to the needs of others when it is convenient for them, or they are likely to directly benefit from being responsive by gathering the good will of observers. Gracious and generous when it will clearly benefit them. They will ignore strong and legitimate needs of those they allegedly love when it is inconvenient for them. A psychopath may profess love for their spouse and children and then not only have an affair, but engage in one that is particularly hurtful by doing it with someone their spouse and children are close to. Their self-centeredness is extreme, since there is no real love for others. Or rather, love for them consists of needing someone else, rather than valuing the other person’s well-being (Hare, 1993). The psychopath is totally indifferent to the hardship he or she wrecks on those he professes to care about. He may speak the right words and utter the right emotions at times, but there is no substance behind it. He may express appreciation and even apology but the words are not followed by deeds. They may engage in showy acts of generosity to gain praise, but then fail to fulfill important obligations that cause great difficulties for those they are obligated to (Cleckley, 1988, Hare, 1993).

Painful and destructive experiences that would lead most people to avoid risky courses of action do not deter psychopaths. Psychopathic individuals may appear wise when talking about what others should do and even about what they should do, but they do not bring it into practice. They know what to do to succeed at work and to stay out of jail and to make a relationship work, but they are often unable to act that way. They will make the same mistake over and over, even after they have been repeatedly confronted with the negative consequences of their actions such as legal and social problems. In fact, research indicated that they display and inability to develop conditioned and fear responses (Martens, 2000). Acting synergistically with the failure to develop conditioned fear responses is selective attention to information that is consistent with their goal and a tendency to bypass and not attend to discrepant information (Algom et al., 2005; Compton et al., 2003). When it comes to weighing the risks and benefits of actually doing something psychopath’s estimates are markedly overly optimistic for getting away with things. In addition, punishments also weigh less heavily on them than on the average person. They also lack self criticism (Algom et al., 2005; Compton et al., 2003; Hare, 1993).

Further promoting their remarkable willingness to take risks is a desire for excitement to fill the void left by their inability to feel true closeness. They seek excitement and fulfillment by manipulating others (Herpertz, Sass, 2000). Lacking an instinctual sense of disgust at scenes of human suffering all that is left for them when faced with human suffering is excitement. The excitement of getting away with something, and of making fools of those they are upset with (even if they also supposedly love them) can drive their behavior.

Psychopaths have a lust for power and feel rage toward those who challenge their power. Research has shown a strong correlation between psychopathy and indirect aggression among non-criminal psychopaths, as well as a strong correlation between psychopathy and direct aggression in criminal psychopaths (Warren, Clarbour, 2009)

The behavior of psychopaths vacillates from charming and poised to irritable and provocative. When engaged in trying to win someone over and hide that they are troublemakers they can be charming and poised. When things are smooth, however, they are likely to stir things up. Normal life is boring for them and stirring up trouble is a partial antidote (Cleckley, 1988; Hare, 1993).

Psychopaths are masters of impression management and can fool the greatest experts. They are very likeable and believable. While the average person may not be able to hide their distaste for someone, the psychopath has no problem acting and playing the game that is required to get what he wants. Their lack of respect for the truth facilitates glibness and an ability to make flattering statements and self-serving lies convincingly. Their emotions are very shallow. Able to focus on the presentation they wish to give, unburdened by anxiety or guilt or a need for a real connection with people, they come across as class acts and are charismatic (Cleckley, 1988; Hare, 1993).

Psychopaths have a remarkable lack of respect for the truth. Words are not tools of communication and connecting with another person. They are tools to obtain what one wishes. Psychopaths are not concerned that lying destroys the fabric of a relationship, since they do not forge the mutual bonds of responsibility and commitment that are the essence of friendships. Psychopaths will say what is convenient, whether or not it is true, without hesitation. Unfortunately, they are also very believable since they lack the anxiety and hesitation most people evidence when lying (Martens, 1997, 2013; Hare, 1993). The official diagnostic features will be presented later and background information about most used diagnostic instruments can be found in the appendix Diagnostic Tool.

Societal and Clinical Importance of the Concept of Psychopathy

Psychopaths generally do not go for therapy, and when they do they are usually able to fool their therapists into believing that they are warm caring individuals who are unappreciated and mistreated by those around them. An accurate and adequate concept of psychopathy is very important to forensic work, and forensic evaluators