Question

A person who is deemed a psychopath would fall under a psychological theory or a biological theory? Why or why not? Explain your rational

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Psychopathy is a psychological disorder and not a biological disease. Although psychopaths have a lack of cognitive empathy, there are no particular abnormalities in their neurological system that can be termed as the definite cause of their condition.

The biological workings of their brain suggest that they produce more testosterone and less cortisol or serotonin. This could count for their aggressiveness, fear-reduction and other traits. However, there seems to be no biological issue that causes such a reaction.

This is why, the DSM, hitherto categorises psychopathy as a mental illness and not a mental disease. Such a condition is likely to be caused by an innate personality or environmental factors. For instance, one might like the colour yellow because they are born liking the colour or they have grown to like that colour. However, their brain might not have any anomalies that indicate why exactly they might like yellow.