Conceptualizing Psychopathy: A Psychodynamic Approach

Abstract

Drawing from analytic theory and clinical conceptualization, three major types of psychopathy are detailed: Superego deficit, aggression driven, and sadism. The types of psychopathy are discussed in terms of their overlap with personality disorders. The range of sadism is charted from the enjoyment of inflicting pleasure to the borderline manifestations in compulsive reenactments in psychopathic patients. Two categories of antisocial behavior— low social intelligence and poor impulse control—are elaborated clinically as inconsistent with the psychodynamic formulation of characterological psychopathy. The divergence between psychodynamic and behavioral approaches to antisocial behavior is discussed, and unresolved enigmas in the formulation of psychopathy are outlined.

Keywords:

• aggression driven
• antisocial behavior
• impulse control
• psychopathy
• sadism
• social intelligence
• superego deficit

Notes

The clinical data that formed the structure for the analyses in this article were compiled during diagnostics with acting out drug abusers and assessments of court-remanded criminal sociopaths spanning close to three decades.