By Timothy Spearman
There are many facets to the psychopath. There are a number of causal factors, symptoms and behaviours. Examining some of the characteristics of psychopathic behaviour is a useful exercise. World literature is a good place to search for the psychological profile of the psychopath. This is where Freud and Jung and so many others have found their psychoanalytical models, in literature ancient and modern. World literature will be referred to in the course of this study as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the psychopath and his criminal compunctions. This will help us identify the characteristic signs of the psychopathic personality in order to empower those trained to spot the signs and symptoms to protect themselves.
We have a societal practice of protecting children under the belief that they are innocent. The tendency of the family structure is for the older members of a family unit, whom we refer to as matriarchs and patriarchs, to shelter and protect children in order to protect their innocence. The skeletons are tucked away in the closet, where they can’t be seen, hidden from view. The older the family member, the more privy they are likely to be to all the skeletons. They will then be forced to perform the forensics on the skeleton to discover the cause of this family mishap or tragedy. They will then make decisions on how to give the family skeleton a fit burial so it can rest in peace, in order to prevent it from haunting the younger family members. Psychological denial then sets in and the older family members will act as if nothing happened and carry on the charade of pretending that nothing untoward has even happened. In this way, they maintain the veneration of the younger members of the family, who continue to look up to them as role models and exemplars, since they are oblivious to their sins and mistakes. This is how the nuclear family and the national family behave. The nuclear family is merely a microcosm of the national family. They follow the same practices and adopt precisely the same behavioural norms and values.
But are the children really innocent? Are all children really born in a state of tabula rasa, in which the mind truly is a blank slate, innocent and unsullied, or is the writing already on the wall for some? Are some children born with an innate proclivity for rebellion and violence, both defiant and anti-social? Is there a natural compunction in some children to pursue the individual good at the expense of the common good? Are they simply unlawful and uncivil by nature, lacking any sense of social responsibility and the greater good of society we are meant to serve? Are some children born psychopaths? Is it hardwired into the genetics of some children that they will be naturally anti-social? Will they be afflicted with an innate tendency to lie, cheat, manipulate and commit acts of cruelty for which they feel no moral compunction or remorse?
If such children did exist, it would serve no good trying to appeal to their sense of fair play. It would be difficult to educate such children to be socially responsible due to lack of empathy. Strategies endorsed in child care and classroom settings such as “time out”, which involves brief periods of isolation such as sitting in a corner or on a “naughty chair”, would be unproductive. Children with innate psychopathic tendencies would feel no more feel the sting of censure or stigma than they would regret for how their actions might have impinged on or harmed others.
Psychologists are now coming to recognize that psychopathic children, described as callous-unemotional (CU), form a distinct sub-category of the mental disorder known as psychopathology. Most children exhibiting anti-social behaviour do so because of bad rearing, poor parenting or an abusive home. However CU children do not fit that categorization. They are not specifically products of bad parenting in the opinion of Professor Essi Viding from University College London.
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