Mentor Assessment #3

Date: March 29, 2017

Subject: Psychopath vs. Sociopath

MLA or APA citation: Ph.D., Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Harriet Lerner Ph.D., and Leon F

Seltzer Ph.D. "How to Tell a Sociopath from a Psychopath." Psychology Today. Sussex

Directories, Inc., 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201401/how-tell-sociopath-psychopath>

Analysis:

At each and every mentor meeting, Dr. Sandy Le talks about her forensic patients- and

one thing I noticed was how Dr. Sandy Le uses the terms sociopath and psychopath in varied

ways. In my little uneducated zone, I believed that the terms sociopath and psychopath were

exactly the same words- crazy murderers (and yes I was following social medias stigma of those

who are mentally ill, oops) without a cause. However, there is a clear distinction between a

sociopath and a psychopath.

The terms sociopath and psychopath are under the heading of Antisocial Personality

Disorders (ASPD). Key traits that sociopaths and psychopaths share include: a disregard for laws

and social mores, a disregard for the rights of others, a failure to feel remorse or guilt, and a

tendency to display violent behavior.

However, sociopaths tend to be nervous and easily agitated. They are volatile and prone

to emotional outbursts, including fits of rage. They are likely to be uneducated and live on the

fringes of society, unable to hold down a steady job or stay in one place for very long. It is

difficult but not impossible for sociopaths to form attachments with others. Many sociopaths are

able to form an attachment to a particular individual or group, although they have no regard for
society in general or its rules. In the eyes of others, sociopaths will appear to be very disturbed.

Any crimes committed by a sociopath, including murder, will tend to be haphazard, disorganized

and spontaneous rather than planned.

Psychopaths, on the other hand, are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real

empathy with others, although they often have disarming or even charming personalities.

Psychopaths are very manipulative and can easily gain peoples trust. They learn to mimic

emotions, despite their inability to actually feel them, and will appear normal to unsuspecting

people. Psychopaths are often well educated and hold steady jobs. Some are so good at

manipulation and mimicry that they have families and other long-term relationships without

those around them ever suspecting their true nature. When committing crimes, psychopaths

carefully plan out every detail in advance and often have contingency plans in place. Unlike their

sociopathic counterparts, psychopathic criminals are cool, calm, and meticulous. Their crimes,

whether violent or non-violent, will be highly organized and generally offer few clues for

authorities to pursue. Intelligent psychopaths make excellent white-collar criminals and "con

artists" due to their calm and charismatic natures. The cause of psychopathy is different than the

cause of sociopathy. It is believed that psychopathy is the largely the result of nature (genetics)

while sociopathy is more likely the result of nurture (environment). Psychopathy is related to a

physiological defect that results in the underdevelopment of the part of the brain responsible for

impulse control and emotions. Sociopathy, on the other hand, is more likely the product of

childhood trauma and physical/emotional abuse. Because sociopathy appears to be learned rather

than innate, sociopaths are capable of empathy in certain limited circumstances but not in others,

and with a few individuals but not others. Psychopathy is the most dangerous of all antisocial
personality disorders because of the way psychopaths dissociate emotionally from their actions,

regardless of how terrible those actions may be.