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THE NATURE OF PERSONALITY Personality: The stable and distinct ways in which individuals think, feel and behave in social interactions. ●

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Defining personality ○ Psychodynamic perspective: Personality is the product of a dynamic interaction between conscious and unconscious mental structures ■ Early developmental conflicts ○ Trait perspective: Personality is the combination of various stable dispositional qualities that a person exhibits. Personality disorder: An enduring pattern of thinking and feeling about oneself and others that significantly and adversely affects how one functions in many aspects. Distrubances in two or more of the following areas: ○ Cognitions and perceptions of self and others ○ Emotions ○ Interpersonal functioning ○ Impulse control

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY ● ●

Development of the personality or psyce across infancy and childhood. Motivation for criminal behaviour is rooted in an individuals psychodynamic structure and development. ● Criminality stems from pathological development of the personality during the process of socializaiton in childhood. FREUD AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT ● ● ● ● ● ●

Id: Basic unconscious human drives ○ Pleasure principle Ego: Regulation of id impulses according to environmental demands ○ Reality principle Super ego: Consciences: internalized standards of right and wrong. ○ Socializaiton. This is all like an iceberg, split into three parts. Id seeks pure pleasure, Super ego strives for morality and ethics, and ego goes for reality of things. Weak Superego offender: An offender who possesses a weak or incomplete superego that is unable to control the instincts of the id, resulting ina lack of internalized representations of morality and ethics. ○ Need for immediate gratifcation ○ Antisocial cognitions, pro-criminal sentiments.

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Weak ego offender: An offender who possesses and underdeveloped ego, resulting in an inability to adapt his or her behavour to the particular demands of the situation. ○ Immaturity, poorly developed social skills, poor reality testing, gullibilty, excessive dependance ○ “Stumbling into trouble” ○ Poor emotional control. “Normal” antisocial offender: An offender who is a fully functioning adult with no maladaptive features but whose superego formation includes internalized pro-criminal attitudes and sentiments as a result of being primarily socialized by, and indentrifying with, a criminal parent. Neurotic offender: An offender who possesses and overactive or strong superego, resulting in over socialization and a potential tendency to perceive and judge moral transgressions more harshly. ○ Criminal behaviour results from various neurotc (maladaptive) adjustment patterns ○ “Guilt” offender (unconcious desire to be punished for past sins)

PSYCHOPATHY ● Psychopathy: A personality disorder characterized by an absence of emotional attachment to others and a lack of concern for rights and welfare, as well as a sense of entitlement and impulsivity. ○ Psychopathy is NOT the same as psychosis. UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOPATHS ● ●

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Notable contributors: Hervey Cleckley & Dr. Robert Hare Psychopaths: “inraspecies predators who us charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they cold bloodedly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt and regret.” (Hare, 1996) Check out Snakes in Suits (Tis a book that sounds interesting)

3 DOMAINS OF PSYCHOPATHY ●

Three broad groups of symptoms: a. Interpersonal ■ Style of interacting with other people b. Affective ■ Emotional responses and feelings c. Behavioural ■ Observable and characteristic manner of behaving

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Is antisocial behaviour a defining feature or just a predictable outcome (consequence hypothesis). Impulsivity is a defining feature in psychopaths, as well with boredom. It is common for psychopaths to switch jobs a lot as well as move from relationship to relationship. They are unreliable. They will not follow through with things that they were instructed to or said that they would do. This could put people in their lives in tight situations whether they are emotional, financial, or inconvienent. Extreme thrill seeking and risk taking. They do not feel or think about pain the way we do.

ASSESSING PYSCHOPATHY ●

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Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) ○ Evaluates the relative presence of psychopathic symptoms ○ 20 items: each scored 0,1, or 2 depending on the “match” ○ Most popular method of assessing pyschopathy. ○ Omg that donut looks amazing Dissocial persosnality disorder ○ International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnosis corresponding to psychopathy Sociopathy ○ Old DSM diagnostic label: replaced by ASPD Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) ○ DSM diagnosis corresponding to psychopathy ○ Asymmetrical relationship to PCL-R diagnoses. Psychopathy is basically ASPD+++

ASYMMETRICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASPD AND PSYCHOPATHY ●

Among adult Offenders… ○ ASPD: 60%-80% ○ Pschopathy: 10%-25%

PSYCHOPATHY IN YOUTH ● ● ● ● ● ●

Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) Labelling General Characteristics of adolescence. Do not label children otherwise they will begin to think and act upon what that label might be. Psychopathy is where nature vs. nurture is very present.

PSYCHOPATHY AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR ● ● ●

Not all psychopaths are criminals ○ Subcriminal psychopaths/functional psychopaths Not all criminals are psychopaths Criminal pyschopaths ○ Prolific ○ Consistent ○ Diverse

PSYCHOPATHY AND VIOLENCE “Psychopathic violence is more likely to be predatory in nature, motivated by readily identifiable goals, and carried out in a callous, calculated manner without the emotional context that usually characterizes the violence of other offenders” -HARE ● ● ●

Instrumental vs. reactive violence Strangers vs. people known to them Serial Murder and Murder

THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS LYKKEN’S FEARLESSNESS MODEL ● ●

Psychopaths experience relatively little or no fear in situations that normally produce this feeling. Link to crime: The absence of fear at being caught or punished, removes an important restraint against committing crime.

HARES HYPEREMOTIONALITY MODEL ● Psychopaths suffer a generalized deficit of all their emotions ● Link to crime: The inability to recognize, appreciate, and experience feelings removes an important restraint against victimizing others. NEWMAN’S RESPONSE MUDULATION MODEL ● ● ●

Psychopaths display an impaired ability to monitor and adjust their behaviour. Link to crime: These deficits put a person at risk of overlooking or disregarding factors that would stop most people in the same situation from intiating or continuing a crime. Once they have made their mind about doing something they will do it regardless of the consequences.

HOSTILE ATTRIBUTION BIAS ● ●

Psychopaths exhibit a tendency to interpret others’ neutral or ambiguous conduct as indications of aggressive intent or behaviour. Link to crime: The perception that one is the target of aggression increases the likelihood a person will react violently toward bla.

BAUMEISTER’S THREATENED EGOTISM MODEL ● ●

Pyschopaths are grandiose with and over-inflated sense of themselves and likely to interpret any negative feedback as unfair and unjuustified. Link to crime: The perception that one is being unfairly and unjustly criticized increases the likelihood a person will react with anger and aggression toward the perceived.

HOMICIDE ● Causing the death of another person ● Murder- 1st Degree: ○ Planned and deliberate ○ Law enforcement or correctional officer is killed ○ During commission of another violent offence ● Murder- 2nd Degree ○ All that is not first degree ● Manslaughter ○ unintentional ○ “Heat of passion” or criminal negligence ● Infanticide ○ Causing death of a baby ● Non-culpable Homicide ○ justifiable ○ Self defence NATURE AND EXTENT OF HOMICIDE IN CANADA ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Less than 1% of all reported crimes. Rise in gang-related homicides from the early 1990’s until 2008. Majority of accused individuals are male. Males are also more likely to be victims. Most victims were killed by someone they knew Most incidents occur in private residences Substances use is a key factor.

THEORETICAL MODELS OF HOMICIDE ●

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Reactive Aggression ○ Impulsive ○ Unplanned ○ Reacting to something that has occurred with aggression. ○ E.g. Bar fights Instrumental Aggression ○ Premeditated ○ Calculated ○ Obtained for the purpose of achieving some goal.

PERSONALITY TYPES AND REACTIVE AGGRESSION ●

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The undercontrolled offender ○ Quick temper ○ Low tolerance for frustration ○ Failure to internalize inhibitions or restraints against behaving aggressively. The overcontrolled offender ○ Extremely rigid behavioural inhibition system against the expression of aggressive impulses. ○ Violence characterized as explosive; occurring after long periods of building anger and frustration.

SELF-REGULATION AND PATHWAY MODELS OF HOMICIDE ●

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Self-Regulation ○ The ability to control our emotional responses and evaluate and select appropriate behavioral responses. Under-Regulation ○ Disinhibited or impulsive behavior that results from a failure to exert control over one’s feelings and subsequent behaviour.

FILICIDE ● A general term that referes to the killing of a child by their parent. ● There are two types of filicide: ○ Neonaticide: The killing of an infant within the first 24 hours of their birth. ○ Infanticide: The killing of a child older than 24 hours. FILICIDE AND WOMEN ● Neonaticide ○ Poverty, unemployment

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○ Single ○ Concealment of pregnancy Infanticide ○ Mental health issues ○ Postpartum psychosis can occur and is very unlikely and can result in situations where they think their baby has been replaced or swapped out or someone is coming for their baby.

PARRICIDE ● The murder of a parent by his or her child. ● There are two forms: ○ Matricide: Killing one’s mother. ○ Patricide: Killing one’s father. DEFINING MULTIPLE MURDER ● ●

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Mass Murder: A form of multiple murder that involves killing four or more victims as part of one event at a single geographic location. Spree Murder: A form of multiple murder that involves killing the victims during one continuous event at two or more geographic locations. A connected event that is all in one go technically. Serial Murder: A form of multiple murder that involves killing two or more victims at different times. There is a cool off zone between each killing. Typically all killers are male. Black widow is a woman who kills for financial gain. Angel of Death a nurse that kills people.0 Serial murders are mostly caucasian, and the victims are typically females and they are most likely people that they didn’t know. Women serial killers are more likely to use poison.

TYPOLOGY OF SERIAL KILLERS ●

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Organized killers ○ Plan the offence ○ Use restraints ○ Commit sexual acts with live victims. ○ Display Control of victim ○ Use vehicle. Disorganized Killers ○ Leave weapon at scene ○ Position dead body ○ Perform sexual acts on dead body ○ Keep dead body

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○ Do not use a vehicle. ○ Like to keep trophies to remind the of the crime. Organized killers are more likely to… ○ Be Intelligent ○ Be skilled in occupations ○ Think and plan the crime ○ Be Angry and depressed at the time of the murder. ○ Have a precipitation stress (e.g financial, marital, employment.) ○ Follow crime events in media. Disorganized killers are more likely to… ○ Come from a home with unstable work for the father. ○ Have been treated with hostility as a child ○ Be sexually inhibited and have sexual aversions ○ Know the victim ○ Live alone and have committed the crime closer to home and work.

TYPOLOGY OF SERIAL KILLERS ●

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Visionary Serial Killer ○ Motivated by a serious psychotic disorder ○ Delusions or hallucinations ○ Often hear voices that tell them to kill people to prevent things. Mission-oriented serial killer ○ Targets individuals from a group that he or she considers undesirable. ○ Targets people that they think should be eliminated from society such as sex workers, elderly, or different races, run ways. ○ They fit into society fairly well. Hedonistic Serial killer ○ Motivated by the thrill of enjoyment derived from killing. ○ Lust: Sexually driven ○ Thrill: Gets excited from seeing that person in pain. ○ Comfort: Motivated by material or financial gain Power-oriented serial killer ○ Motivated by the desire to have absolute dominance over the victim. ○ Typically are people who have had next to no power or control their whole lives and what to turn that around.

ETIOLOGY OF SERIAL MURDER ●

The MacDonald Triad: A set of three behavioural problems that emerge in early childhood. ○ Fire-setting ○ Cruelty towards animals.

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○ Bedwetting Norris’s addictions model of serial homicide: The act of murder has a ritualistic aspect for serial killers that leads them to become addicted or compelled to kill. ○ Aura phase: Fantasizing about the act they want to perform. ○ Trolling phase: Live out aspects of their fantasy. Pick aspects and start following them. ○ Wooing phase: Interacts with the aspect and finds a way to make a connection to draw them in. ○ Captures and murder phase ○ Totem Phase: The killer realizes that their prolonged phase of fantasy has now come to an end so they want some form of memorabilia so that when they look at that item they can relive the feelings that they felt when committing the crime. E.g. trophies. ○ Depression phase: They will lose the high of the crime and feel empty again. This phase eventually gets so bad until it lingers back into the aura phase. Hickey’s Trauma-control model: The combination of certain predispositional factors and early traumatic events interact with several other factors (E.g., low-self esteem, abnormal fantasies) over the life-course to “create” a serial killer.

MASS MURDER ●

Holmes and Holmes identified eight types of mass murderers:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

The disciple mass killer The family annihilator The disgruntled empoyee mass killer The ideological mass killer The set-and-run mass killer The disgruntled citizen mass killer The school shooter The psychotic mass killer

SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ● ● ● ● ● ●

Rapidly expanding phenomenon in modern western societies over the past two decades Statistically, they are rare Why do school shootings occur? When something like this happens the public gets outraged and demands to know what this is happening and why nothing is happening to prevent it from happening again. Moral Panic: Short lived media outrage that is easily diminished from another media distraction. Super unpredictable

PROXIMAL WARNING BEHAVIOURS ●

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Pathway ○ Behaviour that is part of research, planning, preparations, or implementation of an attack. Fixation ○ Increasing preoccupation with a person or a cause. Identification ○ A psychological desire to closely associated with weapons or other military/law enforcement paraphernalia, identify with pervious attackers, or to identify oneself as an agent to advance a particular cause or belief system. Novel Aggression ○ Act of violence which appears unrelated to any targeted violence pathway warning behaviour. Energy Burst ○ Increase in frequency or variety of any noted activities related to target. Leakage ○ Communication to a third party of an intent to do harm to a target. Last Resort ○ Increasing desperation or distress; there is no alternative other than violence, and the consequences are justified. Directly Communicated threat ○ Threat is written or oral communication occurs that implicitly or explicitly states a wish or intent to damage, injure, or kill the target, or individuals symbolically or actually associated with the target....