Psychopathy Unmasked: The Rise and Fall of a Dangerous Diagnosis - Softcover

Larsen, Rasmus Rosenberg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262552205 ISBN 13: 9780262552202

Publisher: MIT Press, 2025

Synopsis

Why our fascination with psychopaths is scientifically wrongheaded, and how the criminal justice system has misused the controversial science of psychopathy.


Psychopathy is a widely acknowledged personality disorder associated with callous unemotional traits and antisocial behaviors. Psychopathic persons are described as dangerous predators incapable of empathy and moral intuition, and while they are believed to only make up around 1% of the general population, forensic experts claim they are disproportionately responsible for the majority of violent crimes. Today, psychopathy assessments are being widely used in the legal system to inform a variety of judicial decisions. In Psychopathy Unmasked, Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen provides a critical rebuttal of psychopathy and its legal use, scrutinizing central claims about the diagnosis that have traditionally served to justify its role in the criminal justice system.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of offenders undergo a psychopathy assessment each year in North America. This book surveys and discusses contemporary developments in psychopathy research where studies have consistently shown that psychopathic persons, contrary to mainstream beliefs, are not meaningfully more dangerous than, or psychologically different from, ordinary non-psychopathic criminals. Based on these disqualifying findings, Larsen argues that we should end the use of psychopathy assessments in the legal system.

About this title

About the Author

Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen is Assistant Professor of Forensic Epistemology and Philosophy of Science at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Senior Scientist at the National Center for Ontological Research. His research has appeared in journals like The Lancet: Psychiatry; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; and Philosophical Psychology.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262552205
• ISBN 13: 9780262552202
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 332