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Psychopathic disorder: a category mistake?

C A Holmes1

  • 1School of Nursing, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Journal of Medical Ethics
|June 1, 1991
PubMed
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This summary is machine-generated.

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Psychopathy is a useful concept in British psychiatry, but it is best understood as an ethical category rather than a medical diagnosis or legal classification. This perspective offers a more practical framework for its application.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Ethics
  • Legal Studies

Background:

  • The concept of psychopathy is currently used in British psychiatry.
  • Practitioners find the concept meaningful and useful.
  • However, psychopathy is often viewed as a legal category for social control, not a medical diagnosis with treatment implications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a re-conceptualization of psychopathy.
  • To suggest that psychopathy is most usefully viewed as an ethical category.
  • To position this ethical category outside current psychiatric diagnostic frameworks.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of the term 'psychopathy'.
  • Review of its current application in British psychiatry.
  • Argumentation for an ethical framework.

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Main Results:

  • Psychopathy retains currency and utility in British psychiatry.
  • Current practice often misinterprets psychopathy as a legal or social control construct.
  • An ethical categorization offers a more useful perspective.

Conclusions:

  • Psychopathy is most effectively understood as an ethical category.
  • This ethical framework transcends traditional diagnostic boundaries in psychiatry.
  • Re-framing psychopathy ethically provides greater utility for practitioners.