Killing Mr. Griffin is a 1978 suspense novel written by Lois Duncan. One of the characters, Mark Kinney is troubled and towards the end of the book is diagnosed with clinical psychopathy. Lois was so immersed in the cultural aspects of the diagnosis that she forgot what it actually meant. She put an armchair diagnosis into a future bestseller and furthered the false cultural implications of the disease.
First off, the Merriam-Webster definition of psychopathic « a mentally ill or unstable person; especially: a person affected by antisocial personality disorder » which is defined as « a personality disorder that is characterized by … exhibiting pervasive disregard for and violation of the rights, feelings, and safety of others ». The
