Last night I finished reading Robert Hare's book about his diagnostic tool, The Psychopathy Checklist. The book was called Without Conscience and it was not a light read in terms of content, but the writing was accessible which I found refreshing after reading so many densely written scholarly journal articles. It all confirmed that psychopathy isn't especially treatable and that the course of action following diagnosis really needs to be about safety for the people who surround the psychopath rather than about trying to implement a cure, or even, really, much of a treatment. To paraphrase Hare (who works at the University near me) and who is one of the world's foremost experts on psychopathology, the best way to treat a psychopath is to convince him that it is in his own best and self-serving interest to learn to operate within the rules of society to avoid punishment and other unpleasant consequences. Because a psychopath has no conscience, attempts at empathy training are futile.
I finished that book (with some disappointment that it was over so quickly) and started reading a new book (fiction) called NW, by Zadie Smith. NW, I deduce, refers to northwest London where the story takes place. I've only just begun reading it, but already feel captivated so far by the writing style, which is odd and jumpy. I like the stops and starts, I like the flashing blurry images that move in and out of my peripherial view before their edges can be felt. The Kindle provides access to book reviews, and Smith's book wasn't especially well-liked by the customers of Amazon. However, these are the same people that give fabulous reviews to a piece of plastic tupperware shaped like a banana and buy this stupid item by the boatload. So the reviewers are obviously wankers, too busy with their bananas to appreciate literature. I bought the book anyway.
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3 comments:
Plastic banana wankers. Who needs 'em?
I really do believe that once the developmental window of opportunity for learning empathy has passed, it canNOT be learned. Hence sociopaths. I wonder how easy it is to convince someone that it is in their best interests to act within society's rules. Or more to the point, how easy it would be for them to be swayed back away from that position? It's a tough problem.
Banana wankers: the worst type of wanker.
Interesting that you use sociopaths rather than psychopaths. Is that a difference in perceived etiology? As you say, reasons not to play by the rules often outweigh the reasons to do so, especially when there are so many crimes that can go undetected. It's frightening, really, and I'm sure it's why the recidivism rates are so high.
Oh the banana wankers. I don't even know what to say about them. They stretch my tolerance to the breaking point.
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