Mallory Wynn

Extra Credit: Antisocial Personality Disorder

Serial killers are usually white, men who work alone. The DC snipers were two black
men working together, one 17 the other 41. The strangest thing about these killers,
though, is that they didn’t seem to specialize. In other words, whereas most serial
killers go for one type, like women or children, these didn’t seem to care who they
killed. The duo also killed rapidly at first, 6 kills in 24 hours, then slowed down;
typically, serial killers have more spaced out kills at first then speed up. The pair
also, contrary to most killers who kill to fulfill some sexual fantasy, didn’t seem to do
this. Their kills were from afar and they didn’t seem to have any contact whatsoever
with their victims; they also left the scene quickly, so they didn’t see the victim
suffering. Two more things that set these killers apart is that they asked for a
ransom and talked to the police on more than one occasion, including calling the
police station, leaving letters in their perches, and offering clues to where they were.

Based on the description in the book, I do not believe these two qualify for a
diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder. For one, Muhammad was married
twice. The need for the pair to talk to the police also strays away from the antisocial
personality disorder. However, the rapid body count points more towards Antisocial
Personality Disorder and the disconnect with their victims. Malvo was accused of
having anti-American feelings, which shows he cares about something, a trait not
found in patients with antisocial personality disorder.

One of the main differences between people with antisocial personality disorder and
those without is the amount of grey matter and brain mass contained in the frontal
lobe. In those with antisocial personality disorder, there seemed to be 11% less
matter in the frontal lobe of their brain. The frontal lobe helps differentiate between
right and wrong and gives a person their morals. Since there is less frontal lobe, it
makes sense that the serial killers have antisocial personality disorder; they kill
ruthlessly and are disconnected from family and friends. People with antisocial
personality disorder are also found to have fewer inhibitions, making them fearless.

Because of all of these factors, antisocial personality disorder is probably hard to

treat because scientists can’t just grow a person’s frontal lobe. Additionally, a
scientist cannot make a person’s morals just appear, they must develop, and they
usually do in childhood.