Current Punishment for a
Psychopath is Futile
Psychopath, a term used to describe an individual
with personality disorder who displays antisocial behavior characteristics, lack
of empathy and lack of emotions. Usually, when one is known to be a psychopath,
our society tends to isolate from that individual and associate him/her with
criminal behavior giving the word negative a connotation. Currently, the
American Psychological Association claims that 3% of the male and 1% of the
female population possesses or displays psychopathic characteristics. Despite
the development of several tests that are used to diagnose a psychopath, a
clear cause of the disorder has not been identified. The causes vary from
genetic predisposition, environmental, biochemical and evolutionary causes. As
research techniques continue to develop neuroscientist have been able map out
the areas and neurological pathways in the brain that correspond to characteristics
and psychopathic behavior.
Over
the course of past couple of decades, neuroscientists have put in extraneous
efforts to find the exact brain anatomy that can be restructured or treated to
cure psychopaths. A leading example of such a neuroscientist is James Fallon
who accounts for his own situation as psychopath in his book, The Psychopath Inside:
A neuroscientist's personal journey into
the dark side of the brain. Using Positron Emission Topography (PET), a
neuroimaging technique that helps determine the function of body parts, Fallon
found that in psychopaths there is a “…loss of activity that extends from the orbital
cortex into the ventromedial prefrontal cortex called the anterior cingulate” (the
psychopath inside, 58) , the loss further goes the pathway in temporal lobe and
amygdala. This loss account for majority of the limbic system in the brain
whose purpose is to regulate emotions. As a result psychopaths suffer from neurodegeneration
within their brain. Further Fallon, noticed that the dorsal system of
psychopath functions poorly, that is used primarily for cognition, which makes them
unaware of their ruthless actions in certain scenario. 
A group of researcher at University of
Montreal lead by Sheilagh Hodgins, Ph.D in the department of Psychiatry, began
to look into the punishment given specifically to psychopath criminals in prison
using MRI and examined parts of their brain and its function. The study was
broken down into three groups, psychopath who were offenders, non-psychopath offenders
and healthy non-offenders as the control group. The research team observed drastic
reduction in gray matter volume of psychopath offenders, indicating that
neurobiological pathways in psychopaths were either missing or degenerated. The
team also reported “Abnormalities were
also found in white matter fiber tracts in the dorsal cingulum, linking the
posterior cingulate cortex to the medial prefrontal cortex that were
specifically associated with the lack of empathy that is typical of psychopathy".
The data strongly suggests lack of analytical and critical thinking process that
takes place inside the psychopath, making them more vulnerable to act violently
without being aware. When this was related back to their punishments, the psychopaths
had a difficulty understanding the purpose of their punishment as opposed to a non-psychopath
offender. The study in relation to Fallon’s fining further indicates that psychopaths
act in certain way due to the neurobiological altered processes and anatomy in
their brain, making them more prone to act in a violent manner that they may be
unaware of. The punishments of a psychopath should be re-examined in relation
to the scientific evidence being gathered.
Reference:
Fallon, J. (2013). The psychopath inside: A neuroscientist's
personal journey into the dark
side of the brain. New York: Current.Print
side of the brain. New York: Current.Print
University of Montreal. (2015, January 27). Psychopathic
violent offenders’ brains can’t
understand
punishment. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 27, 2015 from
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