Have you ever wondered what makes a psychopath?

Huddersfield university professor Dr Daniel Boduszek is an expert in psychopathy - and is welcoming anybody who would like to find out more about it to a lecture tomorrow night.

Called Psychological Profile of Psychopathy in Criminal and Non-Criminal Population, Dr Boduszek's lecture will focus on research he has done with inmates in maximum security prisons.

Last year Dr Boduszek revealed he had begun working on a method for diagnosing the essence of psychopathy - whether the subject has committed a crime or not.

He worked with 1,800 prisoners at maximum security jails as part of research on the Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale (PPTS).

Dr Daniel Boduszek
Dr Daniel Boduszek

The prisoners were asked to give their levels of agreement to a list of 20 statements.

These include:

  • I don’t care if I upset someone to get what I want
  • I tend to focus on my own thoughts and ideas rather than on what others might be thinking
  • Seeing people cry doesn’t really upset me
  • In general, I’m only willing to help other people if doing so will benefit me as well
  • I sometimes provoke people on purpose to see their reaction

Although prisoners were used as research, their criminal background was not a factor in the questioning - and Dr Boduszek's aim was to devise a scale that would grasp the essence of psychopathy, without being influenced by the subject’s background characteristics - even criminal acts.

His research was inspired by research printed during the 1940s identifying core factors of the psychopathic personality.

He said one key area, egocentricity, has been neglected. One of his priorities in developing the new scale was to make sure it is fully tested.

The free lecture is open to the public and takes place tomorrow night at the university's Brontë Lecture Theatre, ground floor, room 5 (BLG/05).

It will be followed by a drinks reception.

Contact the department on 01484 473213 to attend.