Essay: C-IQ Assessment

A C-IQ Assessment measures a person’s criminal intelligence by looking at behavior such as predatory skills, ability to compartmentalize, narcissistic immunity, and an ability to pose as what they are not. C-IQ should be approached in a similar manner, if not the same way as psychopathy by looking at several areas and the use of thorough analysis. So, Kent Kiehl’s current work on psychopathy enhances Hervey Cleckley’s past work on psychopathy through the use of fMRIs of the brains of psychopaths in regards to creating a C-IQ assessment. 

 

Dr. Hervey Cleckley wrote The Mask of Insanity: An Attempt to Clarify some Issues About the So-called Psychopathic Personality (Ramsland, 2013). Cleckley was unsettled with the fact that psychopaths did not willingly get treatment and the absence of symptoms prohibited forcing them to get treatment against their will. Additionally, he felt that there were no guidelines on how to handle psychopaths in prisons or hospitals and no classification system which to categorized them. Cleckley subsequently established a list of sixteen traits that are representative of a psychopath. Some of traits that psychopaths possess are superficial charm, self-centeredness, and lacking empathy (Ramsland, 2013). Cleckley also influenced Robert Hare who was one of the developers of Psychopathy Checklist Revised.  This outcome makes Cleckley the foreground for Psychopathy Checklist Revised or the PCL-R which is a preeminent tool in assessing psychopathy. However, even though the Psychopathy Checklist Revised is the preeminent tool for psychopathy, Cleckley’s The Mask of Sanity is principal reference for the nature of psychopathy (Ramsland, 2013).  

Dr. Kent Kiehl’s research accomplishments centered around neuroscience examinations of psychopaths. Kiehl began working with Robert Hare after he discovered the Psychopathy Checklist Revised and became one of Hare’s protégés. During Kiehl’s early association with Hare, Kiehl began to focus in on using fMRI or functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of psychopaths. Kiehl came to the conclusions that psychopaths are the way they are because they have brain imparities and that psychopathy should be classified as a serious mental illness.  Kiehl wishes to create a database of 10,000 psychopaths of all ages, ethnicities, and genders (Ramsland, 2011). However, this achievement may take numerous years because each brain scan has an immense amount of biographical information that needs to be interpreted accurately (Ramsland, 2011).  Kiehl also calculated how much psychopathy cost to tax payers and government after a trial, sentencing, property damage, victims, and if the psychopaths recidivate. The speculated cost ended up to be around $250 billion to $400 billion dollars (Ramsland, 2011). Yet, the expenditure of treatment and evaluation of psychopaths would save us money and also keep us safe from them.

Kiehl’s work with fMRIs supplements Cleckley’s past work in terms of creating a potential C-IQ assessment because Kiehl’s work would make a C-IQ assessment more thorough and credible. You need a list of behaviors to look for when assessing someone C-IQ and Cleckley’s list of behaviors that are seen in psychopaths are often seen in criminals as well. However, a neurological examination, such as Kiehl’s examinations, needs to be added as well because a person brain activity would explain why a person is exhibiting behaviors that are on Cleckley’s list. There also may be an abnormality in the brain that causes a person to behave in a psychopathic manner. ​If there is an abnormality in the brain, then it changes the treatment options and therapeutic tactics. In summation, both Cleckley’s work and Kiehl’s work together would be great basis for creating a C-IQ assessment that would change the field of criminal justice and forensic psychology.