Can a kid be a psychopath? (article, LIP)

[ijack]

Didn't we have a conversation about this a couple months ago? Many people thought that kids can't inherently be "bad," but I disagree and this kind of proves it.

[iamali]

May 15, 2012 10:59:47 GMT -5 ijack said:

Didn't we have a conversation about this a couple months ago? Many people thought that kids can't inherently be "bad," but I disagree and this kind of proves it.

Agree, well mostly. I think most kids are inherently "bad", but obviously they can be.

This article made me sad, these poor children.

[isabel]

The stories about these kids creep me out. I find it disturbing that children are capable of behavior like this. Regardless of whether or not children can be inherently bad, the fact is that things like this happen.

[fashionx]

I read this last night, and I was pretty freaked out about these kids and what they are/were capable of. Scary. I think it's a combination of nature and nurture; a bad temperament mixed with neglect or abuse and it can quickly change the outcome of a person's life. It's sad, but it would be good for people to be aware of the children and their tendencies before something terrible happens.

The part of the story with the mother discovering the neighbor's body under her son's bed while cleaning was the worst. *Shudder*

[onomatopoeia]

May 15, 2012 10:59:47 GMT -5 ijack said:

Didn't we have a conversation about this a couple months ago? Many people thought that kids can't inherently be "bad," but I disagree and this kind of proves it.

I don't think kids are necessarily inherently "bad", but can lack the social and emotional attributes that make people want to be good, if that makes sense. They don't have a sense of altruism, or even a sense of doing good things=feeling good. They just don't feel, and that can lead to bad things happening. I don't know...I guess it's a fine distinction. I actually think alot of people are born like this, to various degrees. Some end up being Nobel prize winners like the mom said. Others, the unlucky ones, whether by virtue of a crappy upbringing, a taste of violence at a young age, or some other random who knows what factor, end up being serial killers.

ETA: there was a poll once back on TN, asking about news cases that stuck with you. James Bulger will stick with me until the day I die, and I was barely a teenager back then. It's a punch to the gut every time I think about that poor little boy.

[EmilieMadison]

I've said this before (and I realize it's not a popular opinion), but I do believe that some people are are born devoid of empathy or remorse and actually enjoy and derive pleasure from causing pain. I truly believe some people are born like this and it has nothing to do with environmental factors.

[Deleted]

I think there must be some nature factor--many people are abused as children. Only a few become psychopaths.

I'm not sure I believe the one kid has never been abused. I expect they just haven't discovered yet.

This American Life did an interesting story about a test to determine psychopathy.

[spiderspray]

I have zero fear that ds is a psychopath. (He is ridiculously affectionate, seems to react pretty strongly to other's emotions, etc.)

I have an enormous amount of fear, however, that ds is the kind of kid who could easily be lured into the woods by one of these monsters.

Can you imagine cleaning your kid's room and finding a dead child under the bed? You would have to lock me up after that. Seriously.

[Deleted]

IMO, even the most fantastic, nurturing parents can have children like this. The wiring is just bad.

[rex]

I do not think kids are inherently "bad".

I think some kids just have bad "wiring" as spenjamins put it. They have something wrong with them, that doesn't speak for all kids.

I have worked with kids who were very scary. Fire setting tendencies, abusing their parents, etc. These kids were young (under 12). They showed no remorse for their actions whatsoever. This does not reflect on their parents (but it could in some situations), it shows that they truly have something wrong with them.

[jinnifah]

I can definitely believe that some people, even those born into loving normal families can be psychopaths. If you can accept that other social disorders have a genetic component (like Aspergers) then why couldn't this sometimes be caused by bad wiring too?

[Deleted]

I don't understand why people are saying "I think" or "I believe" like this is something based on creed.

The research out there shows that some kids have a predisposition for antisocial behavior and there really isn't much any parent could do to prevent these behaviors from surfacing. We see "psychopathy" in children (usually dx as conduct disorder) more frequently in certain populations (children who live in abusive homes, children in poverty, etc) but those factors seem to just be triggers to a preexisting disposition. like pp mentioned, we have far more abused children than we do psychopaths, so nurture cannot explain it all.

[marynjoe]

Did you watch the portions of the documentary? Scary.

[sratsey]

I could never watch something like that because it would make me so sad. But I agree with tacom.
There are many adults that suffer from mental illnesses that are directly related to something in the brain. People who are clinically depressed or schizophrenic for example...it makes sense that some children would also just be "wired" wrong. My heart goes out to parents that would have to deal with that.

[crazygame]

I wonder when this behavior starts to show up. Would you know by age 2 if your child exhibited anti-social behavior or could a perfectly normal toddler suddenly turn violent?