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Are NPD and Psychopathy the Same?
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| We know from the research that psychopaths have a core, aggressive narcissism that is fundamental to their personality. If you remove that narcissism, you don't have a psychopath.
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| forensic psychologist J. Reid Meloy, author of The Psychopathic Mind, as quoted in Hollow Men: Ted Bundy Discusses Possession.
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| Factor (cluster) 1: Aggressive narcissism
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| · | Glibness/superficial charm
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| · | Grandiose sense of self-worth
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| · | Pathological lying
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| · | Conning/manipulative
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| · | Lack of remorse or guilt
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| · | Shallow affect
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| · | Callous/lack of empathy
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| · | Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
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| · | Promiscuous sexual behavior
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| Factor (cluster) 2: Socially deviant lifestyle
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| · | Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
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| · | Parasitic lifestyle
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| · | Poor behavioral control
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| · | Lack of realistic, long-term goals
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| · | Impulsivity
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| · | Irresponsibility
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| · | Juvenile delinquency
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| · | Early behavior problems
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| · | Many short-term marital relationships
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| · | Revocation of conditional release
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| · | Criminal versatility
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| One cluster [factor] appeared to be defined largely by aggressive behaviors, the other combined with items from the narcissistic personality disorder. "This [latter] cluster was named psychopathic, because the inclusions of the exploitative narcissistic personality features and the removal of the overly aggressive antisocial aspects creates a syndrome reminiscent of the older psychopathic concept" (Morey, 1998, p. 319).
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| Handbook of Psychopathy, by Christopher J. Patrick (p. 162)
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| 0 = item doesn't apply
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| 1 = item somewhat applies
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| 2 = item definitely applies
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| Narcissistic personality disorder has a theoretical and clinical literature that is quite independent of PCL-R studies of psychopathy (Cooper, 1998; Gunderson, Ronningstam, & Smith, 1991; Hare, 1991, 1998; Kernberg, 1970). Nevertheless, psychodynamic views of narcissism do suggest common features (Gacoma, Meloy, & Berg, 1992; Kernberg, 1998; Perry & Cooper, 1989). Antisocial and psychopathic tendencies are conceptualized as being on a continuum with narcissism, with both involving a motivation to dominate, humiliate, and manipulate others. As noted by Stone (1993), "all commenters on psychopathy . . . allude to the attribute of [pathological] narcissismwhether under the rubric of egocentricity, self-indulgence, or some similar term" (p. 292). He went so far as to suggest that "all psychopathic persons are at the same time narcissistic persons" (Stone, 1993, p. 292). Kernberg (1970) has similarly stated that "the antisocial personality may be considered a subgroup of the antisocial personality" (p. 51). Hart and Hare (1998) generally agree that there is a close correspondence between psychopathy and narcissism but suggest instead that "psychopathy can be viewed as a higher order construct with two distinct, albeit related facets, one of which is very similar to the clinical concept of narcissism" (p. 429).
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| Some of the features of DSM-IV narcissistic personality disorder are explicitly suggestive of psychopathy, notably a grandiose sense of self-importance and arrogant, haughty behaviors (comparable to psychopathic arrogant self-appraisal), lack of empathy and being unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others (closely related to psychopathic lack of empathy), and interpersonal exploitation (corresponding to psychopathic manipulativeness, deceitfulness, and antisocial behaviors). It has even been intimated that narcissistic personality disorder is closer to Cleckley's conceptualization of psychopathy than APD is (Hare et al., 1991; Harpur et al., 1989; Harpur, Hart, & Hare, 2002).
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| Handbook of Psychopathy, by Christopher J. Patrick (p. 162)
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| "There's still a lot of opposition some criminologists, sociologists, and psychologists don't like psychopathy at all," Hare says. "I can spend the entire day going through the literature it's overwhelming, and unless you're semi-brain-dead you're stunned by it but a lot of people come out of there and say, 'So what? Psychopathy is a mythological construct.' They have political and social agendas: 'People are inherently good,' they say. 'Just give them a hug, a puppy dog, and a musical instrument and they're all going to be okay.' "
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| If Hare sounds a little bitter, it's because a decade ago, Correctional Service of Canada asked him to design a treatment program for psychopaths, but just after he submitted the plan in 1992, there were personnel changes at the top of CSC. The new team had a different agenda, which Hare summarizes as, "We don't believe in the badness of people." His plan sank without a trace.
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| "Psychopaths Among Us," by Robert Hercz
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| Consideration was given in the development of DSM-IV criteria for APD [specifically, psychopathy, because here the authors aren't distinguishing between psychopaths and antisocials -KK] to include the components of PCL-R psychotherapy that are not already contained within the APD criterion set; notably glib charm, arrogance, and lack of empathy (Widiger et al., 1992). The DSM-IV APD field trial focused specifically on this proposal (Widiger et al., 1996). However, one concern was that these features are also central to the diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder and there inclusion within the criterion set for APD would increase markedly their diagnostic co-occurrence and undermine their differential diagnosis (Widiger & Corbitt, 1995).
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| Handbook of Psychopathy, by Christopher J. Patrick (p. 162)
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| In my book, Without Conscience, I argued that we live in a "camouflage society," a society in which some psychopathic traits egocentricity, lack of concern for others, superficiality, style over substance, being "cool," manipulativeness, and so forth increasingly are tolerated and even valued. ...Psychopaths have little difficulty infiltrating the domains of business, politics, law enforcement, government, academia and other social structures. It is the egocentric, cold-blooded and remorseless psychopaths who blend into all aspects of society and have such devastating impacts on people around them who send chills down the spines of law enforcement officers.
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| Dr. Robert Hare
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| People with narcissistic personality disorder sometimes behave irresponsibly because they do not feel that normal social constraints should apply to them; at such times, their behavior may turn antisocial.
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| Abnormal Psychology: Chapter 12 - Personality Disorders by Nietzel, Speltz, McCauly, and Bernstein (PDF, 595 KB)
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| ...clinicians are generally forced to rely to a large extent on patients' memories and self-reports of their past conduct (Widiger et al., 1989) a state of affairs that is particularly problematic, given that untruthfulness is one of the disorder's symptoms....
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| NPD specifically manifests as a pathological craving for attention. Socio/psychopathy manifests as a pathological disregard for anything but self gratification. To compare the two would be rather like comparing a goal with a methodology.
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