Wouldn’t it be nice to know if a person
was born a Psychopath? I often wonder if
they are born or made that way over time. With the specifics of what defines a
Psychopath maybe the fate of a person’s life can be altered and we could be a
society free of the tragedy caused by Psychopaths. Is society responsible for turning a
seemingly normal individual into a Psychopath? I firmly believe that knowledge is power and I
think there is tremendous power in numbers.
Society needs to be educated on what a Psychopath is so we can arm ourselves,
with knowledge. A fair way to start
talking about this incredibly important title would be to accurately define
Psychopath and what the characteristics associated with that term are.
According to Psychology Today, Psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot. The psychopath can appear normal, even charming. Underneath, he lacks conscience and empathy, making him manipulative, volatile and often (but by no means always) criminal. She is an object of popular fascination and clinical anguish: adult psychopathy is largely impervious to treatment, though programs are in place to treat callous, unemotional youth in hopes of preventing them from maturing into psychopaths. Psychopathy is a spectrum disorder and can be diagnosed only using the 20-item Hare Psychopathy Checklist. (The bar for clinical psychopathy is a score of 30 or more). Brain anatomy, genetics, and a person’s environment may all contribute to the development of psychopathic traits. (www.psychologytoday.com/basics/psychopathy)
Please take a minute to watch the following video:
My initial thinking on this question is that one is truly born with the genetic makeup of a Psychopath. Society, time and circumstance decides whether a person becomes violent or not. One important topic while researching is the emphasis on Nature vs. Nurture. I have never explored that topic so I am very interested to see if it can apply to my initial question, Are Psychopaths born?
Work Cited
Psychology Today 1991-2016 Sussex Publishers, LLC | HealthProfs.com 2002-2016 Sussex Directories, Inc
I share your passion for questioning nature vs. nurture in the outcome of members of our society. I think it is interesting to pose this question especially considering our current technological climate. I feel like technology curbs our nature, and wonder if this places an emphasis on nurture? Interesting stuff!
ReplyDeleteI am personally curious as to both sides of the coin on the topic of psychopathy. It is unfortunate that those diagnosed as psychopaths are generally in the media for harmful actions. I wonder if there are people who are diagnosed and treated in a manner that would be considered successful? It makes me curious about statistics surrounding diagnosed psychopathy and incarceration. Furthermore, what crime classes are most common? It might also be interesting to research the average age of diagnosis vs the most effective age to treat someone diagnosed with this illness.
The only part of your post I could see revision with would be the statement "..we could be a society free of the tragedy caused by Psychopaths..". I am curious to see the statistical correlation between tragic events and a psychopathy diagnosis. Crimes that harm others can be caused for a variety of reasons, only a few being drug addiction, religious belief, political affiliation, or even other debilitating mental illnesses. Or you could consider alluding quickly to well known tragedies committed by psychopaths to make the statement more relatable.
This blog is going to be very interesting. I'm very excited to see more, and think you pose a very interesting question!