Chapter 2, Focusing the Picture, pg 21-32 Summary and Analysis

Should the treatment of a psychopaths be left up to mental health practitioners or the correctional systems? Is psychopathy a mental illness or is it people who wish to break the rules even when they know they are wrong?

Hare says that psychopaths are not out of their mind or wits. Their behavior is a result of choices that they conscientiously make. Hare points out that most of the time psychopaths and serial killers are thought to be mentally insane. He stresses that not all serial killers are psychopaths, some are insane.

Terminology is also what confuses people. The work psychopath is often confused with the words psychotic and sociopath. Sociopath and psychopath can be used interchangeably, but psychopaths are not psychotic. Antisocial personality disorder is the term that refers to...