Full Description
This book explains the ethical and conceptual tensions in the use of psychopathy in different countries, including America, Canada, the UK, Croatia, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers an extensive critical analysis of how psychopathy functions within institutional and social contexts.
Inside, readers will find innovative interdisciplinary analysis, written by leading international experts. The chapters explore how different countries have used this diagnosis. A central concern is whether psychopathy is a mental disorder, and this has a bearing upon whether it should be used.
The book's case studies will help readers understand the problems associated with psychopathy. Academics and students working in the philosophy of psychiatry, bioethics, and moral psychology will find it a valuable resource. In addition, it will also appeal to mental health professionals working in forensic settings, psychologists with an interest in the ethical implications of the use of psychopathy as a construct and particularly those with a research interest in it.
Contents
Introduction to the Volume.- Part I: Diagnosing Psychopathy. Practices, Case Studies, and Practical Concerns.- Chapter 1. Introductory Chapter.- Chapter 2. What it means to be Diagnosed as a Psychopath.- Chapter 3. The uses of the Construct of Psychopathy in the USA.- Chapter 4. The uses of the Construct of Psychopathy in UK.- Chapter 5. Antisocial Personality Disorders and Preventive Sentencing in New Zealand.- Chapter 6. The use of the Notion of Psychopathy within the Legal and Treatment Practice in Croatia.- Part II: The Plausibility of the Construct and the Validity of Psychopathy: Psychometric and Philosophical Issues.- Chapter 7.- Introductory Chapter.- Chapter 8. Psychopathy as a Scientific kind: Epistemic Usefulness, Metaphysical Underpinnings, and kind Construction.- Chapter 9. Capturing the Complexity of Psychopathic Personality Disorder: Recent Developments in the Assessment of the Disorder.- Chapter 10. The State of the Art of Neuropsychological Studies of Psychopathy.- Chapter 11. Psychopathy: Neuro-Hype and its Consequences.- Chapter 12. Psychopathy and the Issue of Existence.- Part III: Is Psychopathy a Mental Illness?.- Chapter 13. The Illness Status of Psychopathy: Between Biological Functions and Norms.- Chapter 14. The Medicalisation of Psychopathy.- Chapetr 15. Sameness in Darkness: Gender and Psychopathy.- Chapter 16. Psychopathy and Societal Values.- Chapter 17. Psychopathy and Public Values.- Conclusion of the Volume.
