Reality of psychopathy and sociopathy

I think that Wo Daddy Wo and I have made it pretty clear that a link + one sentence is NOT the way we want threads started. If you want this re-opened, then please edit your first post and actually begin a cogent discussion.

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thanks heaps

All I really am saying is they're suffering from "certain abnormal patterns of behaviour". If they did not have to experience that, then they'd be like you and me. People hold compassion to people suffering a disorder like down syndrome. Why can people not hold compassion towards those suffering from these different disorders? Sure it is a great stretch, yes. I'm not saying what any of these people have commited is AT ALL justifiable. All I am saying is surely an open minded person can hold a minimal amount of compassion, and see that their actions are greatly a result of their condition. One in which we most probably will never experience.

This is something I've often asked myself and I haven't made up my mind to this day. Lines are very blurry, to say that a sociopath actually has the choice is generally more acceptable than saying that a schizophrenic patient has the choice, but there's so much middle ground in there that it's often impossible to justify one and blame the other in the big picture.

Bottom line, crime is crime. People who did it once are likely to do it again, no matter what their reasons / background are. It's much easier to see the facts than the underlying pathology, so grouping all criminals together is understandable.

quote Mastix

quote Praetorian_Lord

quote Locky

If they did not have to experience that, then they'd be like you and me.

But there are people who've experienced that, who are just like you and me. Saying these conditions cause this behaviour is a drastic oversimplification.

I think it's fair to say that being a sociopath is a major contributor. The proximal cause of behavior might be that the person he murdered looked at him funny, but lacking empathy and guilt certainly go a long way to setting him up for crime. Emotions that would otherwise have stopped you or me won't be there to stop a psychopath.

I can't agree with that. Psychological conditions like sociopathy are regarded as if they're a clear in-out category, when in reality the lines which are drawn are almost always arbitrary, and exist solely for the purposes of classification. How do you measure empathy and guilt? What makes one particular measure better than another, and why does a score of (say) five or more indicate sociopathy and a score of four or under not? Moreover, since sociopaths are frequently - if not usually - diagnosed after they've committed their crimes, how can we distinguish between sociopathy being a pre-existing condition causing later behaviour, from sociopathy just being a term labelling the clear lack of empathy required to commit murder?

Everyone lacks empathy to a certain extent in certain situations. It's called selfishness. Lacking empathy might remove one of the inhibitory obstacles usually in the way of committing murder, but sociopaths still have a reason for doing it. Take your example. Deciding that someone who looks at you funny deserves to die is indicative of something a little more twisted than a simple lack of empathy. There is a greater difference between murderers and non-murderers in that situation than degree of empathy. And it once again comes down to a choice they've made. Sociopath or not, that choice is what's responsible for their crimes, and not their lack of empathy. And that choice is precisely why they don't deserve any special consideration relative to any other murderer.

What if you look at it from this perspective. Every single human is created, whether you believe through a religious or scientific viewpoint. Generically, one is either created in "God's image" or from a secularised, scientifically valid viewpoint, one is created via the combination of sperm cell and ovum. Either way, most human beings have "flaws", characteristics that are below average. Or in some circumstances, e.g. sociopathy and psychopathy, a virtual lack of a characteristic. Therefore, isn't the individual inferior to a person that possesses that characteristic? A compassionate person would see this, and realise that a degree, if only minor, of compassion has to be held towards them.

Sociopathy is not a necessary nor sufficient condition to commit a crime. There are people who are ruthless and will do anything to achieve self-success, even in detriment of other people, for example; those individuals may also be considered as having sociopathic tendencies. They may perform actions that are morally wrong or not well seen by other people (I.e. Denigrate other's work and glorify its own to maximize chances at a promotion), but that does not imply they are constantly committing heinous crimes in the process (I.e. murdering the guy who just got the promotion instead of them). Note that, aside from lack of empathy towards other human beings, other factors may come into play when committing an actual crime. With this I'm not saying that it's no more likely for a sociopath to commit crimes than for a normal person, just that being a sociopath doesn't automatically imply a life of crime.

About them being "evil", it depends on how you measure "evilness". If we define "evil" as "acting the exact opposite of what the society expects", then they may or may not be evil; it would be a person-to-person measure. About it being as simple as a medical condition, it seriously depends on which medical condition you're referencing there. A malignant tumor entering metastasis is a "medical condition", yet it is not that simple to treat. In fact, it's such a complicated condition most people might have an easier time just accepting they're practically dead. Evidently, your imminent dead is not as easy to solve as applying a band-aid to the tumor, and that is most likely not the case with sociopathy, either.

On a slightly related note, if I remember correctly, some sociopathy comes to be due to damage in the cerebral cortex, so it is possible to just be born being a sociopath, considering possible brain damage or malformations coming from birth. I would take that last statement with a grain of salt, though.

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