Agree to disagree on the nature versus nurture debate?
When i read about LRM I started researching pretty heavily into psychopathy and there is plenty of evidence on both sides. And yes, I also agree that even if psychopathy is a manifestation of biology rather than environment whatsoever, his upbringing and positive versus negative reinforcement would have impacted how he adapted and utilized his impulses.
I didn't know we were disagreeing.
When I say someone is "born" a psychopath, I don't mean they are born a psychopathic killer. I mean, they are born with personality traits and deficits associated with psychopathy. But those traits do not necessarily mean they will become criminals or serial killers. They can become any number of things, but most often, they end up in professions associated with power and prestige (law or banking).
I think the evidence of a genetic basis for psychopathy is pretty much established. How that genetic basis "interacts" with environmental factors is still being researched. For example, almost without exception, children diagnosed with a certain kind of conduct disorder called "callous unemotional" conduct disorder, go on to become adult psychopaths. But not all psychopaths could be classified as callous unemotional CD as children, suggesting other factors.
Here's a quote from a very recent (May of this year) piece in the New York Times called "Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?", about this conduct disorder in children, and psychopathy:
Currently, there is no standard test for psychopathy in children, but a growing number of psychologists believe that psychopathy, like autism, is a distinct neurological condition — one that can be identified in children as young as 5. Crucial to this diagnosis are callous-unemotional traits, which most researchers now believe distinguish “fledgling psychopaths” from children with ordinary conduct disorder, who are also impulsive and hard to control and exhibit hostile or violent behavior. According to some studies, roughly one-third of children with severe behavioral problems — like the aggressive disobedience that Michael displays — also test above normal on callous-unemotional traits. (Narcissism and impulsivity, which are part of the adult diagnostic criteria, are difficult to apply to children, who are narcissistic and impulsive by nature.)
It's an excellent read, and very well balanced piece. I invite others to check it out:
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/m...a-9-year-old-a-psychopath.html?pagewanted=all
Part of the problem, is how psychopathy shares a number of common traits with other disorders, like sociopaths, anti-personality disorder.
Beth Thomas is a great example. She was not psychopathic. Rather, she was a child who suffered from RAD -- reactive attachment disorder, common among children who are severely abused at an early age, and thus become unable to form any kind of relationship with other people; until receiving treatment, she exhibited typical traits of psychopaths: inability to empathize with others. Lack of a conscience, etc.
