Crossword clues for psychopathy
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Psychopathy \Psy*chop"a*thy\, n. [Psycho- + Gr. ?, ?.] (Med.) Mental disease. See Psychosis, 2. -- Psy`cho*path"ic, a. -- Psy*chop"a*thist, n.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1847, from psycho- + -pathy, on model of German psychopathie.
Wiktionary
n. A personality disorder indicated by a pattern of lying, exploitation, heedlessness, arrogance, sexual promiscuity, low self-control, and lack of empathy and remorse. Violent and criminal offenses may be indicative of this disorder.
WordNet
n. any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention [syn: mental illness, mental disease] [ant: mental health]
Wikipedia
Psychopathy , also known as sociopathy , is traditionally defined as a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been used throughout history that are only partly overlapping and sometimes appear contradictory.
Hervey M. Cleckley, an American psychiatrist, influenced the initial diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality reaction/disturbance in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), as did American psychologist George E. Partridge. The DSM and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) subsequently introduced the diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and dissocial personality disorder respectively, stating that these diagnoses have been referred to (or include what is referred to) as psychopathy or sociopathy. Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare later repopularized the construct of psychopathy in criminology with his Psychopathy Checklist.
Although no psychiatric or psychological organization has sanctioned a diagnosis titled "psychopathy", assessments of psychopathic characteristics are widely used in criminal justice settings in some nations, and may have important consequences for individuals. The study of psychopathy is an active field of research, and the term is also used by the general public, in popular press, and in fictional portrayals. While the term is often employed in common usage along with the related but distinct "crazy", " insane" and "mentally ill", criminal psychology researcher Robert Hare stresses that a clear distinction is known among clinicians and researchers between psychopathic and psychotic individuals: "Psychopaths are not disoriented or out of touch with reality, nor do they experience the delusions, hallucinations, or intense subjective distress that characterize most other mental disorders. Unlike psychotic individuals, psychopaths are rational and aware of what they are doing and why. Their behavior is the result of choice, freely exercised."
Usage examples of "psychopathy".
Simon had spent too much time preparing for his assignment in Leeds not to recognize the accepted markers for psychopathy in a background history.
Ultimately, however, the poor man was convicted on the massive weight of evidence that had been collected, evidence that purported to show how, in a fit of sexual psychopathy, he had stolen into the Penfield house, had abused the woman and both children, had cold-bloodedly hacked them to pieces, and then had disposed of their remains in a superheated furnace fueled by oil-soaked coal.
The upshot was that he got himself labeled an antisocial personality rather than his original psychopathy diagnosis.
To give Murry his complete title, he was under secretary in charge of psychology, psychopathy and mental technology.
Then pitied and feared, once the rumors of abuse and psychopathy reached some threshold of public awareness.
Ultimately, however, the poor man was convicted on the massive weight of evidence that had been collected, evidence that purported to show how, in a fit of sexual psychopathy, he had stolen into the Penfield house, had abused the woman and both children, had cold-bloodedly hacked them to pieces, and then had disposed of their remains in a superheated furnace fueled by oil-soaked coal. Bloodstained underwear belonging to the children and to Mrs.
So long as my circumstances were as they were, he said, and my motives remained free of perversion, he saw little to choose between auto and homoerotic activity: masturbation, while more normal in the eyes of most New Tammanians and less liable to cause public embarrassment, carried its dangers in the same single-handedness that recommended it: loveless and reclusive, it fed the fantasies of the timid and could aggravate any tendencies to impotence or withdrawal from engagement with others -- narcissism and schizophrenia, he asserted, were the masturbator's inclinations in the realm of psychopathy.