Dean Allen Haycock's Blog
May 29, 2014
Comment on Murderous Minds
“Bravo! Dean Haycock describes the psychopath with compelling clarity and accuracy. He draws on the expertise of those who have studied these men and women, particularly Canadian expert, Robert Hare. You can trust the conclusions of this readable book: that there are many psychopaths among us and they have no capacity to care about those that they hurt; that the concept of psychopathy has an interesting history with some academic argument still simmering, but with general consensus among those in-the-know; that a person can be a "full-blown" psychopath with a very high likelihood of relentless criminal predation: that one can have several of the traits that characterize the man without a conscience, but be less likely to act in criminal and violent ways.
"Dean Haycock simplifies but does not over-simplify the neurological science that locates psychopathic traits in various anatomical areas of the brain. He invites us to face the dilemmas that judges and parole boards face when criminals who do not experience genuine feelings of guilt - never have and never will - approach the end of their sentences. Some of us work in fields that expose us to psychopaths and their victims. Some of us live with psychopaths in our families. All of us live with psychopaths in our communities. This book helps the professional and the concerned citizen know just what it means to be psychopathic.” -- Frank M. Ochberg, M.D. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Michigan State University. Formerly: Associate Director, National Institute of Mental Health
"Dean Haycock simplifies but does not over-simplify the neurological science that locates psychopathic traits in various anatomical areas of the brain. He invites us to face the dilemmas that judges and parole boards face when criminals who do not experience genuine feelings of guilt - never have and never will - approach the end of their sentences. Some of us work in fields that expose us to psychopaths and their victims. Some of us live with psychopaths in our families. All of us live with psychopaths in our communities. This book helps the professional and the concerned citizen know just what it means to be psychopathic.” -- Frank M. Ochberg, M.D. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Michigan State University. Formerly: Associate Director, National Institute of Mental Health
May 14, 2014
Reviews of Murderous Minds
“This book by a skilled scientist/writer is an informed, masterful account of the theory, research, controversies, and issues surrounding the construct of psychopathy. I appreciated Haycock’s discussion of my early interactions with Hervey Cleckley, and was impressed by his thoughtful coverage of the burgeoning research on the role of neuroscience in understanding the nature of psychopathy. He has keen insights into the challenges, complications, and implications of this research for the field of psychopathy and for the criminal justice system. His balanced and scientifically sound coverage of the literature and issues are admirable and refreshing. Readers not familiar with the technology and procedures of neuroscience will appreciate the way in which Haycock makes the science understandable, interesting, and relevant. Highly recommended. – Robert D. Hare, Ph.D., author of Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us and developer of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)
“In this fascinating page-turner, neurobiologist Haycock tries to uncover the correlation between brain abnormalities and violent behavior, and whether one guarantees the other . . . Haycock concludes “that the neurological profile of the criminal psychopath is consistent with key features of psychopathy: a lack of moral sense and a lack of empathy.” In the end, though, he admits that criminal responsibility cannot be traced unequivocally to a neurological basis but that such research can certainly begin an important conversation in the legal world.” Publisher’s Weekly
“By using a combination of current and historical case studies involving criminals and patients with brain damage, some of whom have been diagnosed as psychopathic, combined with the most recent neuroimaging research, Haycock provides an up-to-date picture of brain function and dysfunction . . . VERDICT: Haycock’s solid overview of neurobiology is recommended for those who deal with criminal psychopaths, but also for anyone who reports on or who is interested in the subject.” – Library Journal
Haycock presents scientific evidence that supports his position, including data from fMRI studies that point to physiological differences between the brains of criminal psychopaths and those of nonpsychopaths. But the existence of a neurologically identifiable signature in the brains of psychopaths is merely the tip of Haycock’s iceberg. The real tangle involves the implications–social, legal, judicial, and scientific–of the potential that we could predict someone would become a murderer from his or her brain scan. – The Scientist Magazine
“Murderous Minds is a gem. I became completely immersed in it and lost myself in the world Haycock created at the nexus of science, story, history, complete with downright wondrous narrative yarns to boot.” James Fallon, Ph.D., author of The Psychopath Inside
“Can the tendency for criminally psychopathic behaviors be identified by analyzing neurological images? If so, what consequence does this have for science and society? Psychopaths are everywhere—an estimated 1 in 100 adults qualify. Most are nonviolent but not all: One subset of this group, criminal psychopaths, have aggressive and sometimes-violent tendencies and often fail to exhibit empathy or remorse despite knowing the difference between right and wrong. But Is it moral or legal to use this information to try to predict violent crimes or to influence a jury deciding a verdict? The author explores these tricky issues in accessible and insightful chapters that break down the science behind the data while using narratives of high-profile criminals—e.g., Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Mafia contract killer Richard “The Ice Man” Kuklinski, rapist and murderer Brian Dugan—to provide chilling real-life examples of criminally psychopathic behaviors. Part true crime, part neuroscience and a page-turner from start to finish.” – Kirkus Reviews
"Haycock mixes in just enough real-world examples and plain language to make the challenge interesting instead of frustrating." Bookzilla
“From psychopathic Eskimos to mass murdering high school students, the true nature of the criminal psychopath is explored here. And that exploration is such that it leads us not only to a better understanding of the criminal psychopath, but to a better understanding of ourselves.” – From the Foreword by Charles C. Ouimet, Ph.D., Professor and Faculty Scholar, College of Medicine, The Florida State University
“In this fascinating page-turner, neurobiologist Haycock tries to uncover the correlation between brain abnormalities and violent behavior, and whether one guarantees the other . . . Haycock concludes “that the neurological profile of the criminal psychopath is consistent with key features of psychopathy: a lack of moral sense and a lack of empathy.” In the end, though, he admits that criminal responsibility cannot be traced unequivocally to a neurological basis but that such research can certainly begin an important conversation in the legal world.” Publisher’s Weekly
“By using a combination of current and historical case studies involving criminals and patients with brain damage, some of whom have been diagnosed as psychopathic, combined with the most recent neuroimaging research, Haycock provides an up-to-date picture of brain function and dysfunction . . . VERDICT: Haycock’s solid overview of neurobiology is recommended for those who deal with criminal psychopaths, but also for anyone who reports on or who is interested in the subject.” – Library Journal
Haycock presents scientific evidence that supports his position, including data from fMRI studies that point to physiological differences between the brains of criminal psychopaths and those of nonpsychopaths. But the existence of a neurologically identifiable signature in the brains of psychopaths is merely the tip of Haycock’s iceberg. The real tangle involves the implications–social, legal, judicial, and scientific–of the potential that we could predict someone would become a murderer from his or her brain scan. – The Scientist Magazine
“Murderous Minds is a gem. I became completely immersed in it and lost myself in the world Haycock created at the nexus of science, story, history, complete with downright wondrous narrative yarns to boot.” James Fallon, Ph.D., author of The Psychopath Inside
“Can the tendency for criminally psychopathic behaviors be identified by analyzing neurological images? If so, what consequence does this have for science and society? Psychopaths are everywhere—an estimated 1 in 100 adults qualify. Most are nonviolent but not all: One subset of this group, criminal psychopaths, have aggressive and sometimes-violent tendencies and often fail to exhibit empathy or remorse despite knowing the difference between right and wrong. But Is it moral or legal to use this information to try to predict violent crimes or to influence a jury deciding a verdict? The author explores these tricky issues in accessible and insightful chapters that break down the science behind the data while using narratives of high-profile criminals—e.g., Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Mafia contract killer Richard “The Ice Man” Kuklinski, rapist and murderer Brian Dugan—to provide chilling real-life examples of criminally psychopathic behaviors. Part true crime, part neuroscience and a page-turner from start to finish.” – Kirkus Reviews
"Haycock mixes in just enough real-world examples and plain language to make the challenge interesting instead of frustrating." Bookzilla
“From psychopathic Eskimos to mass murdering high school students, the true nature of the criminal psychopath is explored here. And that exploration is such that it leads us not only to a better understanding of the criminal psychopath, but to a better understanding of ourselves.” – From the Foreword by Charles C. Ouimet, Ph.D., Professor and Faculty Scholar, College of Medicine, The Florida State University
April 28, 2014
Common Misconceptions About Psychopaths
Dean A. Haycock
Science, Medical Writer
This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post: 04/03/2014 7:35 am EDT http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-a-...
Popular culture has offered some flamboyant, unrealistic images of the psychopath: the giggling, twitchy maniac; the silent, masked slasher; the snobbish, culturally refined, highly intelligent cannibal and--depending on how much you like your job--your boss.
Another potentially misleading image appears in the recent trend to imply that anyone with some psychopathic traits is a psychopath. For example, in the eyes of some, a surgeon with a rotten bedside manner, and no inclination to weep with sympathy as he cuts you open to repair your faulty heart valve, nudges his occupation higher on the list of "professions with the most psychopaths." An alternative view suggests this person might be an ambitious, no-nonsense professional, with limited people skills, who wants you to live. He studies for years, trains diligently, and ends up operating on you to repair your faulty heart and extend your life.
A psychopath does have not a few psychopathic traits. He or she has, as the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy explains, "a constellation of traits." And the image outlined by that constellation doesn't evoke confidence over the long term: lack of empathy and guilt, an inability to form meaningful emotional bonds; narcissism and superficial charm; dishonesty, manipulativeness, and reckless risk-taking. Risk-taking is tolerable in surgeons. Reckless risk-taking is not.
The well-validated Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is the best known tool psychologists use for measuring psychopathy. It's dominance in the field is being challenged, but it has the advantage of not relying entirely on the psychopath to report on him- or herself. The PCL-R considers 20 personality traits and behaviors. It considers evidence of other traits and features in addition to the familiar listing of callousness/lack of empathy, lack of remorse or guilt, grandiose sense of self-worth, glibness and superficial charm, pathological lying, conning/manipulative behavior, and shallow emotions. It also rates failure to accept responsibility, need for stimulation, parasitic lifestyle, lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility, poor behavioral controls, early behavioral problems, juvenile delinquency, revocation of conditional release, criminal versatility, promiscuous sexual behavior and many marital relationships.
When enough of these traits are present to a high enough degree, an outline of the psychopath emerges. The emerging outline, however, should not include any of these common misconceptions:
1. Psychopaths are insane.
The American Psychiatric Association considers psychopathy (which it equates with sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder) to be a personality disorder, while some people regard it as a personality type. Both agree that psychopaths know the difference between right and wrong. Legally, psychopaths are not insane. They do not hear voices or experience other hallucinations. Their thoughts are not disordered or skewed by delusions. In other words, they are not psychotic, a feature of mental illness.
2. All mass murderers are psychopaths.
A frequent response after telling someone that I was writing a book about biological studies of criminal psychopaths was: "You should write about [fill in name of mass murderer]." I often explained that psychiatrists had determined that the person they named was mostly likely psychotic and not psychopathic. Sometimes the response was puzzlement, sometimes understanding, and sometimes indifference. Most adults who kill multiple people during a single event are suffering from psychosis and have had a history of psychiatric illness. That is the conclusion forensic psychologist J. Reid Meloy reached after studying many of the mass killings that have occurred in the last 50 years. Most mentally ill people, of course, are not violent, but the lurid, over-coverage of these rare events by the media makes them seem like weekly occurrences. A minority of mass murderers includes depressive homicidal individuals, and very few are psychopaths like Columbine shooter Eric Harris.
3. All psychopaths are violent.
Psychopathy is a risk factor, but not a guarantee, that someone could be physically violent. That is not surprising if reckless risk-taking is combined with lack of empathy and guilt, and an inability to form deep emotional bonds with other human beings. You might not want to hang out with someone with these traits and you certainly don't want to share a situation in which resources are scarce. But the collection of traits and behaviors that characterize psychopaths leaves plenty of room for nonviolent lifestyles.
4. Prisons are full of psychopaths.
Prisons are not full of psychopaths, but they are full of people with antisocial personality disorder. Although the American Psychiatric Society still equates psychopathy with antisocial personality disorder, the majority of psychopathy experts do not. Antisocial personality disorder is diagnosed based on antisocial acts and behaviors. Not surprisingly, most--75 percent or so--of the folks you will meet in prison qualify for this diagnosis. As outlined in the introduction, a diagnosis of psychopathy is based on more than the antisocial behaviors used to identify someone with antisocial personality disorder. Approximately 20 to 25% of prisoners are psychopaths, according to estimates by psychologists.
5. Boardrooms and Wall Street are teeming with psychopaths.
Despite media accounts, psychopaths are not swarming the financial district of New York or the offices of corporate America. Unfortunately, the less than teeming numbers may be more than enough to seriously inconvenience the rest of us. A preliminary study by psychologist and business management consultant Paul Babiak and his co-authors found that eight of 203 corporate professionals taking part in management development programs scored high enough to be classified as psychopaths. This 4 percent is indeed four times the number found in the general population. Testing of larger, more representative groups, of course, could yield different results. But the irresponsible behavior of remorseless, empathy-deficient, conning members of the financial community-- remember 2008?--has convinced many of their victims that we need to do more to understand such behavior and prevent it. Psychologists who study corporate psychopaths do not downplay the damage a relatively small number of psychopaths can do in their organizations and to society.
6. Experts agree on the nature of the psychopath.
There is little disagreement among experts about the presence of psychopathy in certain individuals. One classic example is the criminal who scores high on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. These people show mean, callous, remorseless, coldblooded, and aggressive behavior. These are the rare folks FBI profilers encounter on the job.
Disagreements among experts start to emerge when the concept of psychopathy is extended to other populations and when newer, different measuring tools are used to identify them. Subtypes of psychopaths such as successful versus unsuccessful, and primary versus secondary are discussed but still very poorly understood. Should a cold-hearted, empathy-deficient, callous and emotionally shallow person share the label "psychopath" with a cold-hearted, empathy-deficient, callous but anxious person? Should the label be reserved for extreme cases? Or can the elements of the constellation of psychopathic traits be present in different degrees and combinations to yield a variety of problematic, and some less problematic, personalities we have hardly begun to explore?
As psychiatrists Samuel Leistedt and Paul Linkowski conclude in a recent Journal of Forensic Sciences article, Psychopathy and the Cinema: Fact or Fiction?, "Although we are able to describe the psychopath fairly well, we do not understand him."
Dean A. Haycock is the author of Murderous Minds: Exploring the Criminal Psychopathic Brain: Neurological Imaging and the Manifestation of Evil published by Pegasus Books, 2014. http://www.amazon.com/Murderous-Minds...
More:Video http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/arch...
Follow Dean A. Haycock on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Dean_A_Haycock
Science, Medical Writer
This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post: 04/03/2014 7:35 am EDT http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-a-...
Popular culture has offered some flamboyant, unrealistic images of the psychopath: the giggling, twitchy maniac; the silent, masked slasher; the snobbish, culturally refined, highly intelligent cannibal and--depending on how much you like your job--your boss.
Another potentially misleading image appears in the recent trend to imply that anyone with some psychopathic traits is a psychopath. For example, in the eyes of some, a surgeon with a rotten bedside manner, and no inclination to weep with sympathy as he cuts you open to repair your faulty heart valve, nudges his occupation higher on the list of "professions with the most psychopaths." An alternative view suggests this person might be an ambitious, no-nonsense professional, with limited people skills, who wants you to live. He studies for years, trains diligently, and ends up operating on you to repair your faulty heart and extend your life.
A psychopath does have not a few psychopathic traits. He or she has, as the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy explains, "a constellation of traits." And the image outlined by that constellation doesn't evoke confidence over the long term: lack of empathy and guilt, an inability to form meaningful emotional bonds; narcissism and superficial charm; dishonesty, manipulativeness, and reckless risk-taking. Risk-taking is tolerable in surgeons. Reckless risk-taking is not.
The well-validated Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is the best known tool psychologists use for measuring psychopathy. It's dominance in the field is being challenged, but it has the advantage of not relying entirely on the psychopath to report on him- or herself. The PCL-R considers 20 personality traits and behaviors. It considers evidence of other traits and features in addition to the familiar listing of callousness/lack of empathy, lack of remorse or guilt, grandiose sense of self-worth, glibness and superficial charm, pathological lying, conning/manipulative behavior, and shallow emotions. It also rates failure to accept responsibility, need for stimulation, parasitic lifestyle, lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility, poor behavioral controls, early behavioral problems, juvenile delinquency, revocation of conditional release, criminal versatility, promiscuous sexual behavior and many marital relationships.
When enough of these traits are present to a high enough degree, an outline of the psychopath emerges. The emerging outline, however, should not include any of these common misconceptions:
1. Psychopaths are insane.
The American Psychiatric Association considers psychopathy (which it equates with sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder) to be a personality disorder, while some people regard it as a personality type. Both agree that psychopaths know the difference between right and wrong. Legally, psychopaths are not insane. They do not hear voices or experience other hallucinations. Their thoughts are not disordered or skewed by delusions. In other words, they are not psychotic, a feature of mental illness.
2. All mass murderers are psychopaths.
A frequent response after telling someone that I was writing a book about biological studies of criminal psychopaths was: "You should write about [fill in name of mass murderer]." I often explained that psychiatrists had determined that the person they named was mostly likely psychotic and not psychopathic. Sometimes the response was puzzlement, sometimes understanding, and sometimes indifference. Most adults who kill multiple people during a single event are suffering from psychosis and have had a history of psychiatric illness. That is the conclusion forensic psychologist J. Reid Meloy reached after studying many of the mass killings that have occurred in the last 50 years. Most mentally ill people, of course, are not violent, but the lurid, over-coverage of these rare events by the media makes them seem like weekly occurrences. A minority of mass murderers includes depressive homicidal individuals, and very few are psychopaths like Columbine shooter Eric Harris.
3. All psychopaths are violent.
Psychopathy is a risk factor, but not a guarantee, that someone could be physically violent. That is not surprising if reckless risk-taking is combined with lack of empathy and guilt, and an inability to form deep emotional bonds with other human beings. You might not want to hang out with someone with these traits and you certainly don't want to share a situation in which resources are scarce. But the collection of traits and behaviors that characterize psychopaths leaves plenty of room for nonviolent lifestyles.
4. Prisons are full of psychopaths.
Prisons are not full of psychopaths, but they are full of people with antisocial personality disorder. Although the American Psychiatric Society still equates psychopathy with antisocial personality disorder, the majority of psychopathy experts do not. Antisocial personality disorder is diagnosed based on antisocial acts and behaviors. Not surprisingly, most--75 percent or so--of the folks you will meet in prison qualify for this diagnosis. As outlined in the introduction, a diagnosis of psychopathy is based on more than the antisocial behaviors used to identify someone with antisocial personality disorder. Approximately 20 to 25% of prisoners are psychopaths, according to estimates by psychologists.
5. Boardrooms and Wall Street are teeming with psychopaths.
Despite media accounts, psychopaths are not swarming the financial district of New York or the offices of corporate America. Unfortunately, the less than teeming numbers may be more than enough to seriously inconvenience the rest of us. A preliminary study by psychologist and business management consultant Paul Babiak and his co-authors found that eight of 203 corporate professionals taking part in management development programs scored high enough to be classified as psychopaths. This 4 percent is indeed four times the number found in the general population. Testing of larger, more representative groups, of course, could yield different results. But the irresponsible behavior of remorseless, empathy-deficient, conning members of the financial community-- remember 2008?--has convinced many of their victims that we need to do more to understand such behavior and prevent it. Psychologists who study corporate psychopaths do not downplay the damage a relatively small number of psychopaths can do in their organizations and to society.
6. Experts agree on the nature of the psychopath.
There is little disagreement among experts about the presence of psychopathy in certain individuals. One classic example is the criminal who scores high on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. These people show mean, callous, remorseless, coldblooded, and aggressive behavior. These are the rare folks FBI profilers encounter on the job.
Disagreements among experts start to emerge when the concept of psychopathy is extended to other populations and when newer, different measuring tools are used to identify them. Subtypes of psychopaths such as successful versus unsuccessful, and primary versus secondary are discussed but still very poorly understood. Should a cold-hearted, empathy-deficient, callous and emotionally shallow person share the label "psychopath" with a cold-hearted, empathy-deficient, callous but anxious person? Should the label be reserved for extreme cases? Or can the elements of the constellation of psychopathic traits be present in different degrees and combinations to yield a variety of problematic, and some less problematic, personalities we have hardly begun to explore?
As psychiatrists Samuel Leistedt and Paul Linkowski conclude in a recent Journal of Forensic Sciences article, Psychopathy and the Cinema: Fact or Fiction?, "Although we are able to describe the psychopath fairly well, we do not understand him."
Dean A. Haycock is the author of Murderous Minds: Exploring the Criminal Psychopathic Brain: Neurological Imaging and the Manifestation of Evil published by Pegasus Books, 2014. http://www.amazon.com/Murderous-Minds...
More:Video http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/arch...
Follow Dean A. Haycock on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Dean_A_Haycock
April 18, 2014
Murderous Minds is
". . . an informed, masterful account of the theory, research, controversies, and issues surrounding the construct of psychopathy . . . His balanced and scientifically sound coverage of the literature and issues are admirable and refreshing. Readers not familiar with the technology and procedures of neuroscience will appreciate the way in which Haycock makes the science understandable, interesting, and relevant. Highly recommended." -- Robert D. Hare, Ph.D., author of Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us and developer of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised.
April 3, 2014
Author Interview
Exploring the Psychopathic Brain on HuffPost Live http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segm...
February 25, 2014
Pia Linstrom Presents
Pia Linstrom will interview the author of "Murderous Minds" on "Pia Lindstrom Presents" on Sirius/XM radio.
April 1. 1:30 PM http://www.pialindstrom.com/sirius.html
April 1. 1:30 PM http://www.pialindstrom.com/sirius.html
January 14, 2014
New and Forthcoming Books
Publisher's Weekly: Pegasus Gets ‘Murderous’ with Haycock
Jessica Case, senior editor at Pegasus Books, bought world rights to Dean Haycock’s "Murderous Minds," which she described as a book about “the biology of evil.” Carrie Pestritto at the Prospect Agency represented Haycock, a neuroscientist and Ph.D. The book, Case elaborated, relies on behavioral studies and neurological imaging, among other things, to show “what it means for society when psychopaths are discovered among us.”
The book will be published in March 2014.
Adams Media has just published the third edition of my book "The Everything Health Guide to Adult Bipolar Disorder: A Reassuring Guide for Patients and Families"
Jessica Case, senior editor at Pegasus Books, bought world rights to Dean Haycock’s "Murderous Minds," which she described as a book about “the biology of evil.” Carrie Pestritto at the Prospect Agency represented Haycock, a neuroscientist and Ph.D. The book, Case elaborated, relies on behavioral studies and neurological imaging, among other things, to show “what it means for society when psychopaths are discovered among us.”
The book will be published in March 2014.
Adams Media has just published the third edition of my book "The Everything Health Guide to Adult Bipolar Disorder: A Reassuring Guide for Patients and Families"
Brainwaves at the Rubin Museum
I’ll be sharing the stage with Zainab Salbi at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City on Wed, March 5 at 7:00 pm.
Zainab is the founder of Women for Women International. She is the author of Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny, Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam (with Laurie Becklund) and The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope.
Our talk, titled The Activist, is part of the Museum’s Brainwave series which pairs neuroscientists with figures from other walks of life.
Zainab is the founder of Women for Women International. She is the author of Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny, Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam (with Laurie Becklund) and The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope.
Our talk, titled The Activist, is part of the Museum’s Brainwave series which pairs neuroscientists with figures from other walks of life.
