Browsing by Author "Lamoureux, Virginia Ann"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Lay Perspectives of Psychopathy: Implications for Intervention, Violence Risk Assessment, and Policy
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2023) Lamoureux, Virginia Ann; Glenn, Andrea L
    In the past few decades, the psychopathic personality has received a great deal of representation in popular culture and media. Televisions shows like Dexter and films like American Psycho depict an artistic perspective of psychopathy, which may or may not be representative of the perspectives of experts on the disorder. Although psychopathy has been extensively researched, it is likely that the public develops perspectives regarding psychopathy and psychopaths based on these popular media portrayals. Given that public opinion can influence policy (e.g., criminal justice policy) and the distribution of resources for research and treatment, understanding the exact nature of lay perspectives on psychopathy has far-reaching implications. The present study examined perspectives on psychopathy in a group of laypeople, with the aim of elucidating prominent beliefs about the nature, assessment, and treatment of psychopathy both in clinical and legal settings. Broadly, results indicated that: (1) beliefs related to stigma toward mental illness generally extend to similar beliefs regarding psychopathy; (2) laypeople seem to derive much of their knowledge about psychopathy from popular media, which likely contributes to the fact that (3) they tend to have misconceptions regarding various aspects of the nature of psychopathy (though they do have accurate perceptions of some other aspects of the disorder); (4) preexisting opinions on contentious legal issues (i.e., criminal responsibility, capital punishment) tend to be retained in perceptions of individuals described as psychopathic; and (5) beliefs regarding the treatment amenability of psychopathy affect how psychopathic individuals are viewed in the contexts of criminal responsibility and the application of capital punishment. The individual's personality traits did not seem to affect perceptions of psychopathy and the providing simple education about psychopathy was not effective in changing participants' perspectives.