A Possible Environmental Pattern to Develop Psychopathy: Re Examining Cleckley

Although there have been significant advances in the knowledge and understanding of psychopathy, its etiology remains unclear. Hare noted that there are no substantial differences in background between psychopaths and general criminals and further posits that parenting is probably not essential. Cleckley reported that he could not recognize any specific regular patterns in environmental factors that always seemed to produce psychopathy. However, he also noted that many traumatic events and conflicting situations seem to have significantly influenced the development of psychopaths. This paper systematically reexamines the profiles of the 16 patients in Cleckley’s The Mask of Sanity to determine whether there is indeed no regular environmental pattern associated with psychopathy