Case Study AnalysisRichard Ramirez terrorized the city of Los Angeles between 1984-1985. The PCL-R concluded that Ramirez is a Primary Psychopath with a score of 31. See the PCL-R tab for more information. Ramirez had many behaviors and traits from Factor 1 and Factor 2 items
Factor 1 Glibness/Superficial Charm Grandiose Sense of Worth Need for Stimulation/ Proneness to Boredom Pathological Lying Conning/ Manipulation Lack of Remorse of Guilt Shallow Affect Callous/ Lack of Empathy Parasitic Lifestyle Poor Behavior Controls Factor 2 Promiscuous Sexual Behavior Early Behavior Problems Lack of Realistic; Long Term Goals Impulsivity Irresponsible Failure to Accept Responsibility Juvenile Delinquency Criminal Versatility As a boy, he was irresponsible in school and would never do his homework. His irresponsibility became problematic when he worked at a hotel. Instead of working, he would steal things from the guest. He was also influenced by his cousin, a Vietnam veteran. Ramirez might have been influenced so much by his cousin that it could have developed his psychopathy. Richard's brothers were also young delinquents. His environment and his exposure to violence and crime could have developed or progressed his psychopathy (Raine, 2013). As a young adult, Ramirez displayed antisocial behavior which is normally seen in psychopaths (Hare, 1999). He had no realistic or long term goals in life. All he wanted to do was get high. He also would have sex with prostitute for multiple occasions especially when he had just killed a victim showing promiscuous sexual behavior. When he attacked his victims, he was impulsive and showed no lack of remorse for what he did. The type of aggression that Ramirez showed was predatory. When he was with his victims, he claimed that Satan would be proud of his actions. This showed a sense of grandiose sense of worth. He was the one who was going to make Satan proud. Ramirez was the chosen one and it was all about him proving to Satan that he was "The One." During the trial, he would make outburst when he was asked to talk or he would say statements that would make people react. His need for stimulation/ proneness to boredom suggest that was the reason why he would act the way he did in court. After he was charged, he still showed psychopathic behavior and traits. He was denied visitation rights because he would expose himself to visitors. again showing his need for stimulation. Hare (1999) would suggest that psychopaths will never change which would explain Ramirez's actions. In terms of missing information, more interview videos of Ramirez would have helped me assess him better on the PCL-R. I found enough information on his criminal history, personality and traits through documentaries and books. I would have liked to seen more footage on Ramirez during his trial and in prison. The media section will show different videos on Ramirez, as well as include links to newspaper articles. |
AssessmentsIn order to assess if Richard Ramirez was a psychopath I decided to conduct the mock PCL-R on him. I looked at all his personal information as well as previous criminal behavior. Most of my information was gathered from Phillips Carlo's The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez. Carlo (1999) spent countless hours interviewing Ramirez about his personal life. I also looked at documentaries and interviews with Ramirez, people that knew Ramirez, and psychologists. For example, the interviews with Ramirez showed no regret for what he did to his victims. Those who knew Ramirez were completely surprised that he would do such things. From the different resources I was able to asses Ramirez with the PCL-R.There was enough information about his personal life, his personality, criminal behavior in his childhood until the day he was caught, as well as the behavior that was seen during the court process.
I was able to assess Ramirez through the PLC-R created by Dr. Hare (1991). Also, I was able to score him as accurately as possible through information Hare (1999) includes in Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us. |
Strengths and WeaknessesStrengths
One of the strengths of this case study was accessibility I had to information in regards to assessing a psychopath. For example, Hare (1999) was able to provide examples in his text of psychopaths and the traits they manifest. Another strength of this case study was the availability of all the information that I was able to find. For example, I was able to asses static information on Ramirez. Information like this helped assess Ramirez on the PCL-R accurately. Weaknesses While it was easy to find information on Ramirez, one weakness of this case study which could have made the assessment more accurate is more video interviews with people who knew Ramirez and with Ramirez himself. The more information that can be gathered the more accurate the assessment will be. |
Key Topics from Readings and Class DiscussionsWithout Conscience - Hare (1999)
Richard Ramirez had many of the Key Symptoms of Psychopathy that Hare (1993) describes in his book. He divides the symptoms into two categories: Emotional/Interpersonal and Social Deviance (p. 34). These two categories are also known as Factor 1 and Factor 2 of psychopathy. From the descriptions of these symptoms, Ramirez had symptoms from both categories. From the Emotional/Interpersonal (Factor 1), Ramirez had lack of guilt or remorse, egocentric/grandiose, lacked empathy, and had shallow emotions. In Social Deviance (Factor 2), Ramirez was impulsive, poor behavior controls, need for excitement, lack of responsibility, early behavioral problems, and had adult antisocial behavior (p. 34). The Anatomy of Violence - Raine (2013) Raine (2013) found that there was an association between psychopathy and metal harms. During his mothers pregnancy with him, she worked in a factory that contained toxic chemicals. With the research that has been conducted with exposure to metals, we can assume that they same may occur with the exposure of toxins during pregnancy. However, there is no scientific research available to support this claim. Since, there were no known studies on Richard and his brain, I cannot say that his psychopathy was due to biological factors. However, environmental factors did play a big role in his development of psychopathy. |