Psychopaths at Nuremberg? A Rorschach analysis of the records of the Nazi war criminals.

Sixteen Nuremberg war criminals' (NWC) Rorschach records were compared to those of Antisocial Personality Disordered (APD) incarcerated males procured by Gacono and Meloy (1988). The Meloy (1988) set of hypotheses for psychopathy was applied to the NWCs' Rorschachs. The NWCs did not match Meloy's hypotheses, and neither did the antisocial personality disordered inmates. However, individually and as a group, the NWC Rorschach variables indicated less psychopathy, according to the hypotheses, than those of the APD inmates. Unlike most previous studies, variance in type and degree of psychopathology precluded the application of a mental disorder, character structure, or trait to all, or to the majority, of NWCs. Nevertheless, common features, such as avoidance of responsibility, low self-esteem, and capacity for affection, were revealed.