Chew this one over, atomou. I'll pop back shortly.
One of the more fascinating contributions of psychology to criminology is the concept of psychopathy, also called sociopathy (the term preferred by sociologists), criminal personality (a term popularized by Yochelson and Samenow), and APD, or Antisocial Personality Disorder (the clinical DSM-IV disorder). Actually, the APD diagnosis (which predicts symptoms quite reliably) is much more common than the psychopathy diagnosis (which collects causes with more validity). Not all APDs are psychopaths, but all psychopaths are usually APDs. Persistent APDs usually wind up in prison, but psychopaths are more than persistent APDs -- psychopaths are believed to be remorseless predators who use any means necessary to achieve their ends and to avoid detection.
