Volunteers have worked hard to fulfill the Foundation’s mission statement, year after year, this year being no exception. Though the Aftermath’s mission statement is reviewed on a biennial basis, it has remained pretty much the same since it was first written. 

Aftermath Mission
The Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy Foundation is dedicated to educating the public regarding the nature of psychopathy and its cost to individuals and society. We seek to help the victims and families of those impacted by psychopathy.  We also support research that aims to: prevent or minimize the development of psychopathic traits, reduce the impact of psychopathy, and understand and treat the consequences of psychopathy. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the negative impact of psychopathy on victims and survivors.

Educating the Public
In 2019 Aftermath Foundation volunteers and psychopathy experts worked to educate the public on the nature of psychopathy and how it can impact other people, in several ways. Volunteers summarized recent research, which included topics such as desirable interpersonal style and olfactory abilities of individuals with psychopathy. Topics also included treating psychopathy and how individuals with psychopathy impact their intimate partners.  

Psychopathy experts Drs. Abigail Marsh and Adrian Raine answered questions posed by Aftermath volunteers. These questions included topics such as the role fear plays in the behavior of psychopathic individuals, differences in the brains of individuals with psychopathy and people who are altruistic, brain differences in psychopathic murderers versus non-psychopathic murderers, and brain structure, and connectivity differences in individuals with and without psychopathic traits.

Psychopathy expert Dr. Adelle Forth recorded a web conversation with Dr. David Kosson on the nature and impact of romantic relationships with individuals with psychopathic traits. The conversation took place using Zoom with several volunteers and members taking part. This is a great perk for members at the Silver Membership level to be able to participate and ask questions, while remaining anonymous.

Aftermath volunteers translated articles on the website into other languages so that information on the website can be accessed around the globe.  Articles were translated into Spanish, German, Dutch, and Polish this year.

Supporting Victims and Families
A survivors’ forum on the Foundation website is available for survivors to connect with other survivors. Anyone who wants to use the forum only has to create a username and password to access the forum.  Aftermath moderators maintain the forum to make sure everyone is safe and the content that is posted is helpful to others.

When someone directly contacts us for help in finding resources on psychopathy or in finding a mental health professional who understands psychopathy, we answer their questions and try to help them meet their needs to the best of our ability.  In 2019, we received 49 direct requests for help.  You can view the Help Committee report here.

Supporting Research
In trying to encourage researchers to look at the impact of individuals with psychopathic traits on others, this year the Foundation again sponsored one study on the website. Researchers at the University of Windsor, Canada, used the Aftermath Foundation website to recruit participants for their research study examining experiences in relationships with individuals with psychopathy.