Safia Mahmood Appendices: Primary Research
Interview on Psychopathy
Aim:
I will conduct the following primary research on students in my form, my immediate family and my
next door neighbours to identify common misconceptions about psychopathy which I can address in
my dissertation, and to see which philosophical statements I should spend more time considering
and researching. I will conduct the interviews using a standardised procedure. However, due to time
constraint I will do group interviews with my class (and one-on-one with the others).
1. How would you define psychopathy?
2. Do you think that psychopaths are threats to the public? Why?
3. Have you ever known/heard of someone who you would describe as a psychopath?
4. Do you think psychopathy can be treated?
5. Is it important to treat psychopaths or are prisons sufficient enough?
6. Do you think it is right to treat all psychopaths?
7. Should different psychopaths be treated in different ways?
8. Can you think of any ways we could treat psychopaths?
Results:
I found that the main definition of psychopathy was related to things such as insanity and
criminality. Due to the misconception that severe criminals (i.e. those that commit crimes such as
murder) are all psychopaths, they were instantly deemed as a threat to the public in need of
treatment. However, they were thought of as being incurable, sparking my interest in determining
the potential causes of criminality. For the same reasons, famous serial killers like Ted Bundy and
Charles Whitman sprung into people’s minds, even though they were not psychiatrically diagnosed
as psychopaths. However, a few people mentioned Dennis Rader, who was a psychopathic killer.
Everyone agreed that prisons were not sufficient enough, as things like reoffending rates are high
(inspiring me to base the success of treatments on rates of recidivism). Some believed that talk-
based therapies and showing the psychopath their victims would be successful treatments as these
encourage empathy from the psychopaths.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
This is an example of primary research, which is reliable as I collected the data
myself. I could ask questions that I could not necessarily find answers to online.
I used a standardised procedure to ensure that the process was as valid as possible. I
read questions in order to prevent interviewees from guessing the aim of my
findings too quickly, ensuring that their answers were as realistic and genuine as
possible. The process was relaxed as it took the form of group interviews, ensuring
everyone felt comfortable and not pressured into giving desired responses.
Interview on Psychopathy
Aim:
I will conduct the following primary research on students in my form, my immediate family and my
next door neighbours to identify common misconceptions about psychopathy which I can address in
my dissertation, and to see which philosophical statements I should spend more time considering
and researching. I will conduct the interviews using a standardised procedure. However, due to time
constraint I will do group interviews with my class (and one-on-one with the others).
1. How would you define psychopathy?
2. Do you think that psychopaths are threats to the public? Why?
3. Have you ever known/heard of someone who you would describe as a psychopath?
4. Do you think psychopathy can be treated?
5. Is it important to treat psychopaths or are prisons sufficient enough?
6. Do you think it is right to treat all psychopaths?
7. Should different psychopaths be treated in different ways?
8. Can you think of any ways we could treat psychopaths?
Results:
I found that the main definition of psychopathy was related to things such as insanity and
criminality. Due to the misconception that severe criminals (i.e. those that commit crimes such as
murder) are all psychopaths, they were instantly deemed as a threat to the public in need of
treatment. However, they were thought of as being incurable, sparking my interest in determining
the potential causes of criminality. For the same reasons, famous serial killers like Ted Bundy and
Charles Whitman sprung into people’s minds, even though they were not psychiatrically diagnosed
as psychopaths. However, a few people mentioned Dennis Rader, who was a psychopathic killer.
Everyone agreed that prisons were not sufficient enough, as things like reoffending rates are high
(inspiring me to base the success of treatments on rates of recidivism). Some believed that talk-
based therapies and showing the psychopath their victims would be successful treatments as these
encourage empathy from the psychopaths.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
This is an example of primary research, which is reliable as I collected the data
myself. I could ask questions that I could not necessarily find answers to online.
I used a standardised procedure to ensure that the process was as valid as possible. I
read questions in order to prevent interviewees from guessing the aim of my
findings too quickly, ensuring that their answers were as realistic and genuine as
possible. The process was relaxed as it took the form of group interviews, ensuring
everyone felt comfortable and not pressured into giving desired responses.
