The Psychopath Whisperer

The Psychopath Whisperer.

I have been reading a book called The Psychopath Whisperer by Dr. Kent Kiehl which I have found very illuminating. I have tended to think of psychopaths as being evil, bad, callous people, and that if only they would open their eyes and start to consider how they affect other people then they might change their behaviour. However with the development and growing sophistication of MRI scanning we have been able to determine that the psychopathic brain is abnormal, just as the schizophrenic brain is abnormal. Psychopathic behaviour can be assessed using detailed questionnaires in interview which provide a score of just how psychopathic a person is. MRI scanning has led to identifying neural circuitry which does not work in the same way in a psychopathic brain compared with a normal brain. Similar measurements have been made with schizophrenic brains which identify their dysfunctional brain areas. In psychopaths brain density also varies in certain areas. Due to these differences, psychopaths do not feel guilt, do not have a conscience, do not feel empathy and do not feel anxiety. They get on with life wherever they are, even in prison. Prison does not deter their activities. People who have suffered brain damage in an accidents where the damage has happened in the areas which are abnormal in a psychopath can show psychopathic behaviour which they did not exhibit before the accident.
My questions arising from this are, how does this knowledge of the abnormality of a psychopathic brain impact on the justice system? A psychopath’s criminal behaviour can be put down to brain disease, therefore should they be incarcerated in the way that they are? Even though they know what they are doing, they do not have the necessary feelings to filter out criminal behaviour. Similarly, should the psychopath who does not exhibit criminal behaviour, but is un-empathic, bullying and manipulative person be given some slack because of their brain deficiencies?
Some recent initiatives in Wisconsin show that rehabilitation can make some significant improvements in psychopathic behaviour, whereas punitive incarceration can make it worse.
If you want to know more read Dr. Kiehl. 2014, ISBN 978-1-78074-539-8