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      Psychopathy: Exploring Canadian Mass Newspaper Representations Thereof and Violent Offender Talk Thereon

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      BURNETT-DISSERTATION.pdf (942.8Kb)
      Date
      2014-01-22
      Author
      Burnett, Matthew
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Doctoral
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      This social constructionist program of inquiry begins to explore how psychopathy/the psychopath is constructed beyond the professional domain of forensic psychology. Indeed, while this highly important diagnostic construct is defined and operationalized very precisely by contemporary forensic psychologists, it is believed to be grossly and seriously misunderstood by others. Study 1 examines how Canadian mass newspaper (news) discourse represents psychopathy/the psychopath using ethnographic media analysis. This study rests on the central assumption that mass newspaper discourse provides a key window onto the public construction of reality. Study 2 examines how in-treatment, persistently violent male offenders (individuals with close ‘proximity’ to psychopathy) may conceptualize, experience, and approach (or not) the diagnostic construct, as gleaned through their conversational talk during small-size focus group interviews. The various ways in which these distinct (and contextually-bound) discourses align with and diverge from one another are identified. The various ways in which mass newspaper and offender focus group discourses align with and diverge from the contemporary forensic psychological construction of psychopathy/the psychopath are also discussed. Clinical, practical, and ethical implications of the research findings are also presented and discussed briefly.
      Degree
      Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
      Department
      Psychology
      Program
      Psychology
      Supervisor
      Olver, Mark
      Committee
      Clark, Hilary; McMullen, Linda; Wormith, Steve
      Copyright Date
      November 2013
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2013-11-1285
      Subject
      Psychopathy
      Mass Media
      Violent Offenders
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