In response to an article in this journal by another contributor, a modest attempt is made in the present paper to put forward additional perspectives concerning the classification and aetiology of psychopathy. An attempt is made also to distinguish between ‘essential’ psychopathy and ordinary recidivist criminality. Finally, some observations are made concerning the question of treatment.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BlairD. (1975) The medicolegal implications of the terms ‘psychopath’, ‘psychopathic personality’ and ‘psychopathic disorder’ (I and II). Med. Sci. Law15, 51–61, 110–123
2.
ClarkT.PenycateJ. (1976) The Case of Patrick Mackay. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul.
3.
CleckleyH. (1964) The Mask of Sanity. 4th ed.St Louis, Mosby.
4.
CleckleyH. (1976) The Mask of Sanity. 5th ed.St Louis, Mosby.
5.
CraftM. J. (1965) Ten Studies into Psychopathic Personality. Bristol, Wright.
6.
CraftM. (1968) Psychopathic Disorder: A Second Trial of Treatment. Br. J. Psychiatry114, 813–820.
7.
HareR. D. (1970) Psychopathy: Theory and Research. London, Wiley.
8.
JohnsJ. H.QuayH. C. (1962) The effect of social reward on verbal conditioning in psychopathic and neurotic military offenders. J. Consult. Psychol.26, 217–220. (Quoted in Hare. 1970).
9.
McCullochJ. W.PrinsH. A. (1975) Signs of Stress. The Social Problems Associated with Psychiatric Illness. London, McDonald & Evans.
10.
PrinsH. A. (1969) Casework and the treatment of offenders. J. Appl. Soc. Studies1, 181–187.
11.
RobinsL. N. (1966) Deviant Children grown up: A Sociological and Psychological Study of Sociopathic Personality. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins.
12.
SchmidebergM. (1954) Is the Criminal Amoral?Br. J. Delinquency4, 272–281.
13.
SchmidebergM. (1958) Treating the unwilling patient. Br. J. Delinquency9, 117–122.
14.
SchmidebergM. (1965) Reality therapy with offenders. Br. J. Criminol.5, 168–182.
15.
ScottP. D. (1960) The treatment of psychopaths. Br. Med. J.2, 1641–1646.
16.
Treves-BrownC. (1977) Who is the psychopath?Med. Sci. Law17, 56–63.
17.
WalkerN.McCabeS. (1973) Crime and Insanity in England, vol. 2. Edinburgh, University Press.
18.
WestD. J. (1961) Concepts of Psychopathy: Some Impressions of the Literature. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry7, 134–140. (Quoted in Treves-Brown, 1977).
