To think some children are budding psychopaths?

[brasty]

I know being a psychopath does not mean that you will be violent or criminal. It does mean that you do not really feel empathy for anyone else and have a lack of a conscience.

I think rightly children are not labelled as psychopaths, but I do think children who are showing these traits should get proper treatment and their parents should get proper advice and support.

Children showing psychopathic traits are those pre puberty children who are bullies, setting fires, lying routinely, showing no empathy for others, deliberately cruel to animals, and for whom punishment has no impact. A child has to have a number of these issues, many children bully for example, but still show empathy towards people they love.

But at the moment, parents with children showing these traits, receive little help, and are often blamed for causing their child's behavior. There seems to be resistance to seeing this in young children.

I've taught one child like that. Serious future problems there. (Serious current problems).

Parents didn't seem to take anything I said on board and thought the compulsive lying, the remorseless goading of others, the deliberate attempts to get others into trouble was no big deal and I was over reacting.

I'm sure I'll read about him in the newspapers in ten years time.

Which isn't quite the point you're making about parents not getting support but in this case, teachers not getting support and parents refusing to listen.

Yep.

You are right. They are causing problems for their classmates, relatives and themselves, but so many people are far too ready to say "boys will be boys". Even when the boy in question has done some seriously creepy things.

I can kind of understand why some parents would find it very hard to accept that their child was a budding psychopath. But there should be referral systems already in place for teachers who identify these kids.

Psychiatrist friend reckoned all 3 year olds were psychopaths! Yes, she was joking but with a grain of truth. Small children genuinely see themselves as the centre of the universe and can't easily relate to the effect of their actions on others.
She went on to say that most grow out of it! Hers did!

But at the moment, parents with children showing these traits, receive little help, and are often blamed for causing their child's behavior.
I would be really surprised if the parents weren’t responsible for the behaviour in most cases.** I really struggle with empathy and conscience and it’s without a doubt directly linked to my shit childhood.

It's been shown that there's a definite link between children who are cruel to animals and violence towards humans.

Posted too soon but I definitely agree regarding referral and support because more often than not there is probably something going on behind the scenes.

Some children are abused and this can result in psychopathy, yes.

Not comvinced by this born evil stuff, though, and it really reads horribly.

I think it can be caused by severe abuse, but that some children are born with a different brain.

Yes. I work in a school and I am absolutely certain I have come across at least two 'proper' psychopaths over the last few years. One I'm sure will do a lot of damage when they're older. The other is currently in prison serving a life sentence for doing just that. (Torture, rape, murder).

I will always remember one thuggish pupil in my class in Year 3. When the teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up, he said "A burglar. I'm going to kill all my victims and take all their money." followed by some story of a friend/relative of his who had given him pointers. The teacher just laughed and said "I'll look forward to reading about you in the papers in ten years then!"

Nothing as of yet, but I was slightly wary of him ever since!

I don’t think abuse has to be severe. I would think large factors would be lack of love, support or displays of empathy and compassion.

100% of pyschopaths were children when younger

Posted too soon but I definitely agree regarding referral and support because more often than not there is probably something going on behind the scenes.

Absolutely agree and is the case in one of the people I mentioned above. It doesn't appear to have been the case for the other.

And you don't think those influences on him might have been the cause?

Cross posted opheliacat It is not about being born evil I think. It is about being born with a brain that works differently,just like autistic people have a brain that works differently. But how they are parented, does make a difference. The difficulty though is that many of the usual parenting methods that are recommended, do not seem to work on these children, or make things worse. So no, I do not think parents are always to blame.

Yes I do think they would have been the cause Opheliacat, I didn't say otherwise. They had a hellish upbringing.

Well all psychopaths were children once!

I've worked in primary for years and there was one girl who came through about 10 years ago. She was very blank, for want of a better word. You would try to talk to her about her behaviour and things and she would just look through you.

Even as a youngster you could see she thought she knew everything / was more important and everyone else was just like a piece on a chess board to be moved around and played with. Very very manipulative and could be very charming when she wanted to be. Made 'best friends' then discarded / destroyed. Caused a lot of problems throughout her years at school.

She is the one we all said would end up in the paper. She did, and is currently 19 years old and serving time for her part in burglary and severely assaulting a man with learning difficulties.

Oh and she came from a perfectly normal loving middle class family, had 'normal' siblings, etc. Her mum was always in the school office crying saying she didn't know what to do.

Copperspot Yes she sounds sadly like a classic budding psychopath who was born with a different brain.

Perfectly normsl middle class families are never abusive, of course.

Haha, I often tell a friend of mine that her children appear to have sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies. Too outing to describe but they behave in a very different way to the vast majority of children I have met. Psychopaths can be very successful in business though so it's hardly a problem unless they start experimenting on next doors moggies.

You think only abuse causes this?
Even though brain scans have detected similar brain structures in adults diagnosed as psychopaths who have never been abused or been criminals?

opheliacat of course some are, but equally some are just boringly normal.

Opheliacat I don't think that anyone believes that 'perfectly normal middle class families' are never abusive, do they?