This website is dedicated to the psychopathy case study of Josef Mengele.
Mengele, born March 16, 1911 and lived until February 7, 1979, was a German Schutzstaffel officer at Auschwitz concentration camp. He is most known for his role in the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and performing unethical and often fatal human experiments, specifically on twins.
It will be shown through an analytic eye that Mengele scored a hypothetical 20 on a PCL-R analysis. This score has him as a secondary psychopath. Mengele scores highest on Factor 1 interpersonal traits, such as lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, and callous/lack of empathy. Lower scores were given on Factor 2 antisocial behavior traits such as promiscuous sexual behavior and early behavioral problems.
Mengele needed to have total control over his test subjects. This often resulted in high Factor 1 scores on the PCL-R. He did not concern himself with ethical considerations because he believed that he was doing no harm since Auschwitz inmates, especially Jews, were going to die anyway. Mengele's overall goal was to gain personal recognition as a scientist, and any factors not contributing to this goal were overlooked.
However, Mengele scored a very low psychopathic score on the hypothetical PCL-R test. This is in part due to the constant switching Mengele experienced of "affection" and violence. This might have been a result of his former personality (pre-Auschwitz) shining through between breaks of his inclinations toward omnipotence and total control over others. Mengele often took pleasure in causing pain as an aspect of his omnipotence and his withdrawal from feeling. This is shown through the well-documented presence of a smile while at the selection. Descriptions of Mengele range from "a monster" to "a doctor just doing his job."
A weakness of this case analysis is that Josef Mengele's life and career was many years ago. This presents limited access to media that would be helpful in the psychopathy analysis, such as video footage. There is also very limited access to information on his childhood and adolescence. A more thorough analysis could have been conducted with this information and more information on his personal life.
Mengele, born March 16, 1911 and lived until February 7, 1979, was a German Schutzstaffel officer at Auschwitz concentration camp. He is most known for his role in the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and performing unethical and often fatal human experiments, specifically on twins.
It will be shown through an analytic eye that Mengele scored a hypothetical 20 on a PCL-R analysis. This score has him as a secondary psychopath. Mengele scores highest on Factor 1 interpersonal traits, such as lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, and callous/lack of empathy. Lower scores were given on Factor 2 antisocial behavior traits such as promiscuous sexual behavior and early behavioral problems.
Mengele needed to have total control over his test subjects. This often resulted in high Factor 1 scores on the PCL-R. He did not concern himself with ethical considerations because he believed that he was doing no harm since Auschwitz inmates, especially Jews, were going to die anyway. Mengele's overall goal was to gain personal recognition as a scientist, and any factors not contributing to this goal were overlooked.
However, Mengele scored a very low psychopathic score on the hypothetical PCL-R test. This is in part due to the constant switching Mengele experienced of "affection" and violence. This might have been a result of his former personality (pre-Auschwitz) shining through between breaks of his inclinations toward omnipotence and total control over others. Mengele often took pleasure in causing pain as an aspect of his omnipotence and his withdrawal from feeling. This is shown through the well-documented presence of a smile while at the selection. Descriptions of Mengele range from "a monster" to "a doctor just doing his job."
A weakness of this case analysis is that Josef Mengele's life and career was many years ago. This presents limited access to media that would be helpful in the psychopathy analysis, such as video footage. There is also very limited access to information on his childhood and adolescence. A more thorough analysis could have been conducted with this information and more information on his personal life.