Psychopath: Attunement to Society

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Psychology - Social Psychology, grade: A, , course: UNIV 1100, language: English, abstract: Within society exists a social stigma towards psychopaths. This is, in part, attributed to the media inculcation of psychopaths as cold and calculated murders. These psychopaths are depicted as con artists, rapists, and predators who charm, lie, and manipulate their way through life (Hare, 1999). On the other hand, some psychopathic behavior is argued to be a necessity in today's world (Mealey, 1995). This paper will focus on the assimilation of psychopaths into civilization. First, many psychopathic traits are inestimable to society; this will be outlined for various professions. Second, emphasis will be on how the media and competitive capitalist economy propagates psychopathy. Third, socialization of psychopaths, how society can evolve to accept psychopaths.