We know only too well that by far the majority of psychopaths are men. Or at least we think we know that. Could it be that the criteria used to identify psychopaths are biased towards men? After all Hare began his work in male prison.
Think about it. While behaving and being the way the PCL-R without doubt earns one the label psychopath, this is simply a list of symptoms. It says nothing about the underlying dynamics. If psychopathy is life centered on the principle of power (as opposed to love) and if it is therefore characterised by what Liane Leedom nicely calls ‘warped empathy‘, then wouldn’t you expect there to be more or less the same number of woman as men psychopaths? And wouldn’t you expect them to come across differently?
I am beginning to wonder whether there may be two broad types of psychopathy – a ‘male’-type and a ‘female’-type. I place these in quotes because, when I think about it, men with might be thought of as ‘female’ psychopathy come to mind and we all know about women with ‘male’ psychopathy. And yet, at the risk of being un-PC, I want to maintain these descriptors for now so that the difference I think I see doesn’t disappear.
A ‘female’ psychopath would not necessarily commit crimianl/antisocial acts like her male counterpart, but she woud be as power-driven, as toxically narcissistic as a ‘male’ psychopath. The control, the manipulation, the dishonesty, the selfishness, the callousness – all these would be present, but we might not recognise them for what they are because of 1. media portrayal and 2. medical diagnosis of psychopaths. The difference would come in the gendered style of their behaviour.
In my clinical work I have come across this phenomenon. For example, a woman I now consider to be of the ‘female’-type of psychopath didn’t come close to committing a crime and yet the way she mothered her daughter, my patient, came close to destroying the child’s mind. This seems to me to be a perversion of motherhood eqivalent to the perversion of fatherhood we read about on this website.
Do readers have any comments? I’m particularly interested in any examples you might have of how ‘female’ psychopathy – if such a thing does exist – manifests itself?
darwinsmom
😆
MoonDancer
OX – 😆 – nest of wieners ~! 😆
darwinsmom
some of those deserve a rolling eyes smiley… like the one about the brains in a jar, and then asking whether is still wasn’t possible the dead guy might have been alive. How desperate and an airhead you must be as an attorney… sheesh. His whole case seemed to be hinged on accusing the autopsy doctor on killing the victim, instead of his defendant.
MiLo
Here’s more:
Attorney: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
Witness: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
………………………………………………………………………..
Attorney: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
Witness: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
Attorney: And Mr. Denton was dead at that time?
Witness: If not, he was by the time I finished.
……………………………………………………………………….
Attorney: ALL you responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
Witness: Oral
………………………………………………………………………..
Attorney: How was your first marriage terminated?
Witness: By death.
Attorney: And by whose death was it terminated?
Witness: Take a guess.
……………………………………………………………………….
Attorney: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
Witness: Yes
Attorney: And what were you doing at that time?
Witness: Getting laid.
Ox Drover
LOL ROTFLMAO SNORK SNARK snarf, bray! I needed the laugh guys! Thanks, none of these are “new” but they just hit my funny bone a good one! Thanks again.
Annie
Sounds to me like sarcasm, a quick wit, and snarkiness are prerequisites for a career as a coroner!
MiLo
Annie ~ I think it has to do with the number of hours they must spend on the witness stand being asked “brain dead” questions by defense attorneys.
Annie
I know this isn’t a ‘court’ joke, but came across it recently, and it seems to fit the article:
“One bright, beautiful Sunday morning, everyone in tiny Anytown got up early and went to the local church. Before the service started, the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking about their lives, their families, and so on.
Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church.
Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate. Soon everyone had left the church except for an elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew, not moving, seemingly oblivious to the fact that God’s ultimate enemy was in his presence.
Now, this confused Satan a bit, so he walked up to the man and said, “Hey! Don’t you know who I am?”
The man replied, “Yep, sure do.”
Satan asked, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Nope, sure ain’t,” said the man.
Satan was a little perturbed at this and queried, “Why aren’t you afraid of me?”
The man calmly replied, “I’ve been married to your sister for 25 years.””
Admittedly, it’s pretty hard to top Milo’s earlier joke: “it’s possible he could still be alive and practicing law”. My husband and I like to collect colourful sayings that strongly illustrate certain points. “Because his brain is in a jar on my desk” is now officially one of them!!!
Ox Drover
Annie,
The reason some jokes are funny is because they are SO TRUE! LOL
MiLo
Annie ~ I loved yours – too funny – I will have to tell my brother in law, the preacher.
Mine were supposedly from a book named “Disorder in American Courts” – I haven’t looked it up yet. Hubby brought the sheet of these home from work and suggested I post some on here.