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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why are murderers often given early parole?

2. What proportion of psychopaths are serial killers?

3. Why does William March say that good people are rarely suspicious?

4. What percentage of prison inmates are psychopathic?

5. What is socialization?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is it important to determine whether a psychopath is mentally ill or simply a wrongdoer?

2. How was Jeffrey able to override any suspicions Elyse should have had about him?

3. How do normal criminals become involved in a criminal lifestyle?

4. Why has the author decided that it's important to write about the technical topic of psychopathy at a level that the public can understand?

5. What early behavior problems are sometimes symptomatic of psychopathy?

6. What signs did Helen have that her preadolescent daughter, Alice, was "off"?

7. Why does the author claim it is not surprising that psychopaths commit more violent acts than other criminals?

8. How has the term "psychopath" contributed to confusion about its meaning?

9. What distinguishes psychopaths who become criminals?

10. Why are psychopathic killers often judged legally sane?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay explaining which characteristics of psychopaths make them ideal for working as imposters. Cite examples from the text or others you may know.

Essay Topic 2

What is your explanation for the public's glamorization of criminals? Do you accept the theory that the public can play out illicit behavior without personal cost by identifying with criminals onscreen? Do you think that people always root for an underdog, and that an individual out of sync with the larger system is always an underdog? Explain your theory for the attraction of evil and support your theory with examples and information from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay explaining Dr. Hare's admonition not to use the Psychopathy checklist for self-diagnosis or to diagnose acquaintances. What is the importance of this precaution? What is the temptation? How many of those characteristics could be reliably identified by a non-professional observer? For instance, is there a clear delineation between glib and non-glib? Between grandiose and enthusiastic?

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This section contains 973 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample