Psychopathy

When you think of psychopaths, you probably envision them as scary, evil criminal types. And you’re probably right about them on their insides. But they’re very good mimics, and skilled at fitting in with normal people like you.

Beware.

The standard screening test for potential psychopaths is the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Robert Hare is the big name in psychopathy research. In the test, a clinician interviews a potential psychopath and scores them on 20 criteria, such as “promiscuous sexual Behavior” or “impulsivity.” On each criterion, the subject is ranked on a 3-point scale: (0 = item does not apply, 1 = item applies somewhat, 2 = item definitely applies). The scores are summed to create a rank of zero to 40. Anyone who scores 30 and above is probably a psychopath.

I filled it out based on what I know about Shannon Bussberg, rating each answer 0, 1, or 2 then totaling the scores up. I don’t know much with certainty about her early life, beyond what she told me (she did tell me, for example, that she tried to kill her a supposedly abusive grandfather, but since she is a pathological liar…), so I gave answers in that time period a 1 instead of a 0 or 2.

1. Do you have “excess glibness” or superficial charm?

(2) Yes, she is capable of it.

2. Do you have a grandiose sense of self-worth?

(2) Yes, but hides it well, usually

3. Do you have an excess need for stimulation or proneness to boredom?

(2) Yes

4. Are you a pathological liar?

(2) Extremely

5. Are you conning or manipulative?

(2) Extremely

6. Do you display a lack of remorse or guilt?

(2) Extremely

7. Do you have “shallow affect”?

(2) Yes, though it can be disguised as shyness

8. Are you callous, or do you lack empathy?

(2) Yes

9. Do you have a “parasitic lifestyle”?

(2) Yes. She has parasitized family, friends, governments, me, etc.

10. Do you have poor behavioral controls?

(2) Yes

11. Do you have a history of promiscuous sexual behavior?

(2) Yes

12. Do you have a history of early behavioral problems?

(1) I don’t know about her early childhood

13. Do you lack realistic long-term goals?

(2) I don’t know what her goals are, but she stole from me despite the obvious oncoming train, so I’m going to say yes.

14. Are you overly impulsive?

(2) Absolutely

15. Do you have a high level of irresponsibility?

(2) (laugh) Yes. Even she admits to that. She just sent me an email saying that she’s not “good with money.” I should probably put the email on this site.

16. Do you fail to accept responsibility for your own actions?

(2) Yes, as now, when she fails to acknowledge her thefts, regardless of absolute proof.

17. Have you had many short-term “marital” relationships?

(1) I don’t know.

18. Do you have a history of juvenile delinquency?

(1) I don’t know.

19. Have you ever experienced a “revocation of conditional release”?

(1) I don’t know.

20. Do you display “criminal versatility”?

(2) Yes

Total = 36 / 40

psychopaths per 1,000 persons

0

psychopaths per 1,000 CEOs

0

psychopaths per 1,000 prisoners

0