Introduction
The Joker is a DC comics supervillain regarded as a fan character throughout his acting career. He acts primarily based in Gotham City and as an arch-enemy to Batman, the city’s hero. The Joker is known for his self-centered personality and unpredictability, not forgetting his prolonged infamous laughter and colored face(Jürgens, pp. 441-454). Over time, several shows, especially lately, have depicted the Joker in many different perceptions, each with the ability to turn around his personality. However, despite any spin in his character, one thing remains familiar with his behavior: the absolute lack of normality. This paper is oriented towards diagnosing the jocker with an antisocial personality disorder, better known as psychopathy, based on his behavior and through the criteria engaged by the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”
The manual named above lays down some criteria for diagnosing Antisocial Personality Disorder. For one to be regarded as a psychopath, one must be able to showcase a stable pattern of complete disregard for other people’s rights and the other three of the criteria enlisted by the DSM-5, which are as follows.
The DSM-5 Criteria (Wygant et al. pp 388-398)
- The inability of an individual to conform to societal norms like following the lawful behaviors of the society. These acts are defined in the law and can be grounds for arrest if they are gone against by an individual.
- Secondly, the act of being naturally deceitful is the inability to be truthful, but instead opting to use lies to con or to profiteer and just for personal amusement.
- Thirdly is the act of impulsivity or the failure of simply planning.
- A pattern of physical fights quickly indicates aggression and irritability.
- The conduction of matters in a reckless endeavor without regard for the safety of others and even of self.
- Lack of responsibility can be indicated by perverse failure to follow work ethics or even honor the financial obligation.
- A repletion indicates the lack of ability to feel remorse in rationalizing having mistreated, hurt, or stolen from another.
The Joker’s Behavior and Diagnosis
The Jocker has exemplified some of these criteria above, making him a good contender for the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. The jocker’s inability to regard other peoples’ rights is evident in his pursuit of violence, which grounds any arrest. The jocker has done many crimes which his list does not exempt murder, assault, and robbery, and while he does these crimes, he has neither regard for the law nor any consequence of his doings(Black, pp 248).
The jocker is deceitful as he is more than often lying and manipulating other people to be able to achieve his personal goals. He is known for his trickster ability to trick other people and con other people in his bid(Black, pp 248). He even, at one point, used aliases to hide his true identity.
The jocker is also very irritable and yet also very aggressive. More than once, he has engaged himself in physical fights and even more numerous events. The jocker is known for his sudden outbursts, which are characterized by the use of violence and his unpredictable behavior. This character makes him more dangerous than ever since his reactions are unexpected. The Joker has also conducted himself recklessly with no regard for the safety of others as well as himself since he is willing to put himself in danger and those around him in to achieve his personal goals (Black, pp 248).
Also, the Joker must be more responsible since he does not conform to any work ethic or even honor his financial obligations. The Joker is also not bothered by how his actions will impact others and are solely concerned with achieving his goals(Yustina,pp119-128.). The jocker also fails to depict any sign of remorse in his actions. Moreover, when he is in the wrong, the Joker retries to justify himself for hurting, mistreating, and even stealing from others (Black, pp 248). The Joker also takes pleasure amidst chaos and the destruction he has caused.
Discussion of the 4 D’s abnormality in psychology
The behavior of the Joker is classified by the four D’s of abnormality in psychology: deviancy, dysfunctionality, distress, and danger. Deviance can be referred to as a behavior that is the opposite of what society views as normal or acceptable(Black, pp 248). The Joker’s characteristics, such as killing, use of violence, and his love for chaos as well as his pleasure in the destruction he causes, are excellent examples of his deviance from the norms of society (Black, pp 248).
As for dysfunctionality, it refers to the inability of a person being unable to function, usually in society, and in the case of the jocker, he is unable to function normally because the consequence of his actions is harmful to him and to others’ good example is his violent, unpredictable acts make it impossible to be able to hold down a job or even maintain a meaningful relationship (Skryabin, pp. 329-332).
Also, the dysfunctionality of the Joker is evident, especially in his lack of impulse control and his complete lack of remorse for his wrong actions (Black, pp 248). Moreover, this leads to him living a reckless life without regard for any person’s rights; he uses explosives and even engages in acts of terrorism which these actions have a profound impact on those around him (Skryabin, pp. 329-332).
As discussed earlier, the Joker does not regard anyone’s rights but only his selfish interests. However, that does not mean his actions do not affect others. The behaviors of the Joker usually cause distress and emotional pain to people around him. The Joker is often portrayed as to ne intentionally pursuing harm for others just to amuse himself, which leads to physical and emotional trauma to his subjects.
Lastly, the Joker s behaviors are a danger to others and himself. He is prone to violent behaviors, resulting in death or physical injury. Due to his being unpredictable, he poses a threat to society since he primarily reacts with impulsivity and natural aggression.
Treatment
As for the treatment of Joker, it is a requirement for such a person to undergo treatment by a medical professional who deals primarily with personality disorders; the cure for antisocial personality disorders is challenging since most of the patients suffering from this disorder do not often know they have this problem; therefore the aim of the treatment to be administered to the Joker would be aimed to make sure it reduces any form of symptoms from progressing rather than complete recovery(Heather, Stuart .pp. 99-106).
Therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy, may help address Joker’s underlying issues, which would help reduce his impulsiveness and aggression. Also, medications can be prescribed to him to help manage symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and even impulsiveness(Heather, Stuart .pp. 99-106). This process will likely consume much time and be challenging; hence there is a dire requirement for the Joker to be treated by a mental health professional with the required experience for treating antisocial personality disorder.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the behaviors of the Jokers are very consistent with the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, also known as psychopathy. Based on the criteria recommended by the DSM-5, there is an alignment with him being a psychopath, the Joker’s complete disregard for human life and even the normality of society, his conduction of matters in a deceitful way, his lack of proper planning behavior of impulsivity plus his lack of responsibility to his actions and even his lack to feel remorse are all directed to proving that has an Antisocial Personality Disorder. Even further, the Joker’s behaviors described above align with two of the four D’s of abnormal psychology: deviancy and dysfunctionality. His enthusiasm for the chaos and destruction of his creation and even his inability to conform to societal norms duly support his diagnosis of being a psychopath.
Works Cited
Black, Donald W. “Antisocial Personality Disorder and Families.” Bad Boys, Bad Men 3rd edition, 2021, pp. 231-248.
Heather, Stuart. “Media portrayal of mental illness and its treatments: what effect does it have on people with mental illness?” CNS drugs, vol. 20, no. 2, 2006, pp. 99-106, library.collin.edu/login?url=www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/ media-portrayal-mental-illness-treatments-what/doc view/67665551/se-2.
Jürgens, A.-S. “Batman’s Joker, a neo-modern clown of violence.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, vol. 5, no. 4, 2014, pp. 441-454.
Skryabin, Valentin Y. “Analysing Joker: an attempt to establish diagnosis for a film icon.” BJPsych Bulletin, vol. 45, no. 6, 2021, pp. 329-332.
Wygant, Dustin B., et al. “Further examination of DSM‐5 antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy: Findings from a female correctional sample.” Personality and Mental Health, vol. 14, no. 4, 2020, pp. 388-398.
Yustina, Fitriani. “Humanitatis: Journal of Language and Literature.” “The Analysis of Psychological Aspects of The Main Character in Movie “Joker” Based on Sigmund Freud Theory, vol. 6.1, 2019, pp. 119-128.
write