Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the Criminal Mind

Introduction

Although the term narcissist is often used colloquially to describe perpetrators of violent crimes, this paper aims to examine the correlation between clinical narcissism and violent crimes. This research will show the traits of both Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the criminal mind; showing their close relationship. This research has implications for criminal justice and also helps to explain the roles of some other dark personality traits.

What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a disorder that creates a constant pattern of grandiosity, empathy deficit, and a need to be admired (Skodal, 2018). Those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder believe that they are especially unique or superior, they tend to be obsessed with dreams of great achievements. They feel they are superior to others, but they have fragile self esteem, which is dependent upon the high regard of others and tend to be very sensitive to criticism (Skodal, 2018). For a person to be clinically diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, they must possess at least five of the following traits: an unfounded sense of importance, a preoccupation with fantasy of unlimited achievement, a belief that they should only associate with the elite, a need to be admired, a sense of entitlement, an exploitation of others for personal gain, a lack of empathy, an envy of others and a belief that they should be envied (Skodal, 2018). The main style of treatment for Narcissistic Personality Disorder is psychodynamic psychotherapy, which focuses on underlying conflicts. Mentalization-based treatment and transference-focused psychotherapy can also be effective, these treatments focus on the way a patient emotionally interacts with himself and others (Skodal, 2018).

How Does Narcissistic Personality Disorder Affect Patients

Narcissistic personality disorder is often referred to as a part of the Dark Triad of personality disorders. Besides Narcissism, the Triad consists of Machiavellianism, strategic exploitation and deceit, and psychopathy, callousness and cynicism (Kaufman, 2019). These three traits are often combined or confused in casual conversation, but they are also often clinically related. Comorbidities are common with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, patients often have depressive disorders, anorexia nervosa, or substance abuse disorder (Skodal, 2018). Those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are mostly men, and there appears to be a significant heritable component. However, some theories attribute this instead to the style of upbringing (Skodal, 2018). Parental separation, especially during the first year of a child’s life, is a primary cause in forming delinquent behaviors, like those of the dark triad (McCarthy, 1978). A patient suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder will be affected in all ways of their life, including romantic relationships. Narcissists tend to use relationships as a way to heighten their appearances, they are attracted to ‘trophy partners’ (Ye, Lam. Ma, Ng, 2016). They also tend to devalue the caring acts of their partners because they believe themselves to be superior (Ye, et al, 2016). Narcissism tends to obstruct the development and maintenance of healthy workplace relationships due to the aforementioned superiority complex (Ellen III, Kiewitz, Garcia, Hochwarter, 2019).

What is a Criminal?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a criminal is “A person who has committed a crime or been found guilty of committing a crime” (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). Narcissistic Personality Disorder is most commonly related with violent or murderous crimes. The Federal Bureau of Investigations considers four offenses to be violent crimes: murder or nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assualt (Crime in The United States, 2011). These crimes tend to be related to any range of psychological disorders, including Narcissistic Personality. There are many risk factors, in addition to a narcissistic personality, that may contribute to the formation of a violent criminal: emotional turmoil- similar to a depressive disorder- substance abuse, childhood trauma, history of being physically or sexually abused (Kluger, Kiviat, Park, Sayre, 2007). These criminals often feel marginalized due to their rough pasts, and this feeling leads to retaliation, which often manifests in a violent crime (Kluger et al, 2007).

Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the Criminal Mind

The concept of the criminal mind is one that is often fictionalized and dramatized for both entertainment and conversational purposes, but it is a concept that must be considered to truly understand the motivation of criminals. When the world does not respond to a narcissistic personality as the narcissist would like, he retaliates. They commit violent acts as a way to solidify their superiority (Klugar et al, 2007). Almost all of the diagnostic traits of narcissism can be easily related to criminal motivations. Interpersonal exploitation can be seen as a motive in many violent crimes, when one commits these acts against another purely for self gain. And lack of empathy may explain why the crimes are carried out in such a vicious way (Skodal, 2018). In order to further relate the mind of criminals to Narcissistic Personality Disorder, specific case studies must be examined.

John W. Hinckley, Jr. A Case Study in Narcissistic Personality

Hinckley unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 and this will be considered as a violent crime even though it was not successful (Capps, 2012). Hinckley was diagnosed with schizophrenia and narcissistic personality disorder. He was found not guilty of his crimes by reason of insanity (Capps, 2012). Growing up, Hinckley seemed to be a healthy child, and had no obvious turmoil that would suggest a violent future. But, when he was around six or seven years old, he felt superior to other children and adults and felt that he had a special destiny (Capps, 2012). He would rarely play with other children and he tended to express very little emotion. After graduating high school, he began to withdraw from family and friends. He was coerced by his parents to enter Texas Tech as a business major, but he didn’t adapt well to college life (Capps, 2012). He eventually dropped out and became fixated on fantasies of future glory and fame. He moved to Hollywood and began to fall even further into his narcissism. He lied about having an actress girlfriend, and became very depressed, even going on medication. He gained weight, was rejected by women, and eventually became so depressed that he tried to assassinate the president (Capps, 2012). Hinckley’s need to be admired and respected by those around him went unfulfilled, so he felt he needed to act out in a grand and violent way.

Ted Bundy: Murders Anchored in Narcissism and Psychopathy

Theodore “Ted” Bundy is one of the world’s most infamous violent criminals. There is widespread fascination with Bundy and disbelief that such a likeable and attractive man could do such unspeakable things. Bundy displayed psychopathic antisocial behavior; manipulating people as pawns in his chess game, feeling entitled to sexual gratification of his choice, enjoying having an audience, and feeling as though he was operated by another entity (Puder, 2019). Bundy also likely suffered from all three conditions in the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism. He had a long pattern of violent behavior and tended to exhibit very little remorse for his terrible actions (Puder, 2019). An important fact to note about Bundy, is that while he is a narcissist, this personality disorder does not appear to spring from lack of confidence, actually it appears to be founded in exactly the opposite. This would be strange for someone who suffered only from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but because Bundy had so many disorders, it is easily explainable (Puder, 2019). He had Machiavellian tendencies, which gave him no guilt or remorse for any of his actions. He also displayed antisocial personality disorder, and tended to believe himself vastly superior to all other people (Puder, 2019). Bundy was the way he was likely due to childhood trauma, and any interaction with him should have been viewed as a chess match (Puder, 2019). While therapy can be helpful to some who struggle with the same disorders as Bundy, it is commonly believed that he was “too far gone” and that prison was the best option (Puder, 2019).

Personal Conclusion

I chose my paper topic because it the criminal mind is something I have always wanted to learn more about and in basic research about criminals, Narcissistic Personality Disorder seems to come up quite often as a possible risk factor or motivation. As I have shown throughout this paper, the traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder are closely related to the traits seen most often in the criminal mind. Personally, I don’t have firsthand experience with violent criminals; but I’ve always had a deep interest in the criminal mind and the motivations of criminals. Anytime I read about unspeakable crimes I, like many others, try to envision what circumstances would have led someone to commit these atrocities. I also think this topic is interesting because Narcissistic tendencies are so common.

Many people we all know exhibit these traits, but not many people we know are violent criminals. This has always intrigued me, which is why I chose to include the two case study examples. I included them to show why some Narcissists are violent criminals, while others are just normal, everyday businesspeople. I think this topic captivates many people; as shows like “Criminal Minds” and “The Ted Bundy Tapes” become more and more popular forms of entertainment. I think that we enjoy these programs because we like to imagine the unimaginable. We want to understand why others do what they do. This research topic also has implications for criminal justice. Considering Narcissistic Personality Disorder, the Dark Triad, and other personality disorders helps us to get in the minds of criminals. While this may sound like a scary proposition, getting into the mindset of a criminal would assuredly help to prevent crime. So, research into the criminal mind must be done to help stop future violent acts against society.