Psychopaths and Psychotics
Inside the Criminal Mind

Psychopaths and Psychotics

Psychopaths and Psychotics
• Mental link to criminal behavior suggested by
Sigmund Freud.
• Austrian psychiatrist who created psychanalysis in 1880s.
• First to identify psychopaths.

Psychopaths and Psychotics
• The human personality has three parts
– Id
– Ego
– Super-ego

The ID
The primary personality.
-Displayed in infants to about 4 years of age.
-The “I want” part of the personality.
-Instant gratification.
-Survival instinct or “fight or flight” instinct.

The Ego
• The part of the personality that begins to evolve at about 4 years of age until 12.
• The realization that you aren’t alone. You have to wait sometimes for gratification.

The Ego
• Realization that punishment can happen for bad behavior.
• Good behavior can be rewarded too.

The Super-Ego
• Starts evolving at about 13 and continues through life.
• Developing morals and empathy.
• Empathy is the highest form of morality to
Freud.

The parts of the personality
• When all three parts of the personality are aligned – you have a
“normal” human.

The balance of id, ego, super-ego
• SOMETIMES when the three parts get out of alignment, criminal behavior can happen.

Psychotics
• The ID dominates the personality.
• IMPORTANT: Not all psychotics commit crime!
• Murder, assault, theft can happen in psychotic episodes.

What can be done to help psychotics?
Drugs that help chemical imbalances – such as lithium have been shown to help.

Criminals who have committed acts while in psychotic episodes.
• Charles Earl Simmants
• Charles McElvie
• Scot Baldwin
• Thomas Jackson

Neurotics as Criminals
• IMPORTANT: Not all neurotics are criminals!
• Behaviors of seeking control can lead to crimes like spousal abuse, child abuse, animal abuse, murder, etc.

Neurotic or Psychopathic?
• John Joubert did his crimes in Nebraska
1982 – 1983.

Psychopaths
• Also called sociopaths.
• The super-ego dominates the personality creating a different sense of morality.
• The one type of personality Freud said was unchangeable. No punishment will ever make them stop.

What do we know about psychopaths?
• Imprinted at birth.
• Mother didn’t want them.
• Didn’t bond as babies or children.
• Had a fascination with death and pain as children.

Characteristics of Psychopaths
• Extremely high intelligence.
• Low emotional stimuli. No empathy.
• Control is vitally important.
– Emotional and physical.

Characteristics of Psychopaths
• Start with animal abuse.
• Practice makes perfect for their crimes.
• Feel justification for their acts.
• Collection of trophies.
• Leave calling cards for authorities.

Characteristics of Psychopaths
• TEND to be loners.
• Crimes begin in their
20s – 30s.
• Tend to be white.
• Not all are serial killers.
• Female psychopaths?