Murder.

Abstract

Kernberg's concept of the malignant narcissist defines a realm of pathologic personality characterized by the coexistence of marked narcissistic and antisocial traits. This realm comprises what may be seen as a continuum of cases: persons at one end whose inhumanity and propensity toward evil are of modest proportions; at the other, persons manifesting extreme degrees of these qualities. The author has used the biographies of notorious murderers in constructing a scale of malignant narcissism. This scale should aid in defining more clearly the limits of amenability to psychotherapy.