The Problem of Parental Psychopathy

Motherhood, Mental Illness and Recovery

“…Custody evaluators virtually never test for psychopathy using the PCL-R (Hare 2003) or any other recognized instrument (Bow et al 2005). Therefore, it is quite possible for a custody evaluator (or judge) not even to be aware that the father is a psychopath while that same evaluator or judge might be overly concerned about a relatively minor mental disorder in a mother (Leedom et al 2013).…”

Psychopathy: A Behavioral Systems Approach

“…These partners reported the men psychologically abused children by: "(1) lying to them; (2) ignoring them; (3) failing to provide for them; (4) bullying and terrifying them; (5) breaking promises to them; (and) (6) destroying their toys." I have found that psychopathic parents do give care to children and support them financially; however, this care is often inconsistent and out of sink with the needs of the child [30]. Psychopathic parents do seek custody of children through the family courts often to exact revenge on a former partner or to avoid financial loss or responsibility.…”

“…In a recent paper, myself and colleagues [30] detailed (among other cases) the case of German national Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, AKA "Clark Rockefeller," a psychopathic (traits described by forensic evaluators) con artist and convicted murderer who charmed financial executive Sandra Boss. They married and resided together for 12 years.…”

“…Because of the high prevalence of this personality type in domestic violence cases [35] and the problems partners have had protecting children from psychopathic parents [30], it is imperative that this misconception be addressed and the nature of social ties in psychopathic persons clarified. While I do agree that psychopathy is connected to an incapacity for love, determining this incapacity may be practically difficult due to behaviors associated with the dominance behavioral system (see below).…”

“…Although withdrawn, this prototype description reflects both historical perspectives and a failure to give credence to the many naturalistic observations of psychopathic individuals that appear in the literature. A review of case histories [28][29][30][31], research accounts of family members [30], and journalist biographies [32] reveals that many psychopathic individuals do in fact maintain social ties 3 over extended years. They often profess love for children and other family members.…”