What Makes a Psychopath?

What Makes a Psychopath?
A Narrative Approach
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What Makes a Psychopath?
A Narrative Approach
An introductory article from Psychology Today ADDIN Mendeley Citation{935e4fad-2073-4504-95ba-1f630cb481e8} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Psychology Today", "given" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Psych Basics", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "title" : "Psychopathy", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=935e4fad-2073-4504-95ba-1f630cb481e8" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(2011)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Psychology Today, 2011)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (2011) mentioned that "[p]sychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot". Often, psychopaths appear normal, they have relationships, sometimes, families of their own. Underneath their normal appearance, however, they can become manipulative and violent and are likely to engage in criminal behavior ADDIN Mendeley Citation{651848c3-d406-4dd9-baa0-1c9d35942778} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/blog/handy-psychology-answers/201103/what-do-we-know-about-psychopathy", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "11", "12" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Cohen", "given" : "Lisa J." } ], "container-title" : "Psychology Today", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "title" : "What do we know about psychopathy?", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=651848c3-d406-4dd9-baa0-1c9d35942778" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Cohen, 2011)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Cohen, 2011).
Perhaps one of the most publicized case of psychopathy is that of Clifford Boggess. His story was covered by the PBS in a documentary and his artworks were published online by his friend, Gabi Uhl. Boggess has provided psychologists a number of insights on the mind of the psychopath because of his ability to relate both murders in detail, "not just what he did and how the victims reacted, but what he was thinking as they happened". His story provided information for new books and researches on psychopathy. For example, Dr. Robery Hare, writer of the book Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us was able to use his psychology checklist to diagnose Boggess.
Aside from a number of interviews Boggess gave to produce the documentary, he has created a number of artworks portraying his life on deathrow. Moreover, he became a Christian convert in the latter years of his life, and even wrote several letters to the families of his victims asking them of their forgiveness and informing them of his scheduled date of execution. His actions have led to people thinking that he has changed his ways. If this were true, then it essentially means that there is hope for psychopaths - perhaps there is a form of therapy, which can be used to treat them. For the time being, however, the best one can do is to understand some of the risk factors that lead to the disorder.
The best way to address this question is to look analyze, through a narrative approach, a letter written by Borgess to Liza Hazelwood, granddaughter of his second victim, Roy Vance Hazelwood. Through this letter, I hope to understand how Borgess sees his own life story and provide an insight as to why he decided to kill. Because this is a letter, I will no longer use a transcription system. The main question I hope to address in this paper is: What for Borgess, was the reason for his psychopathy? What led him to kill people?
Borgess` letter to Hazelwood is an important resource because he attempted to respond to the challenge: "Try to put into words what was going through your mind and what lead up to you killing him" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{5c3bdcf9-1032-47e3-9365-53d2074b3b5e} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/letters/lisatoboggess.html", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "11", "14" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Hazelwood", "given" : "Lisa" } ], "container-title" : "The Execution", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1995" ] ] }, "title" : "A letter to Boggess from Lisa Hazelwood", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=5c3bdcf9-1032-47e3-9365-53d2074b3b5e" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Hazelwood, 1995)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Hazelwood, 1995). His response, which according to Boggess took six weeks to compose ADDIN Mendeley Citation{2b6ca99b-1edc-4d5b-be22-edaec720044a} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "McLeod", "given" : "Micheal" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1999" ] ] }, "publisher" : "PBS", "title" : "The Execution", "type" : "motion_picture" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=2b6ca99b-1edc-4d5b-be22-edaec720044a" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(McLeod, 1999)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (McLeod, 1999), detailed his childhood. He talked about how he was a vi...