Can someone who does not have a conscience develop one?

[undeterred]

[brokensymmetry]

1. Yes, but..

it's really unlikely.

[tk2kewl]

2. if they were born this week yes... otherwise no

[niallmac]

3. Isnt' a sociopath clinically untreatable?

[SeattleGirl]

28. Basically, yes, untreatable.

What they end up doing is figuring out, with one degree of success or another, how to act AS IF they have one. They learn socially acceptable behaviors, but that's all they are: behaviors. They put on the behaviors like you and I put on clothes, but underneath is nothing but emptiness where a conscious is concerned. I recently read some remarks by Cindy Sheehan, the woman whose son died in Iraq and who was a witness at the Conyer's hearing recently. She said that he was talking to her, but she felt as if he really did not see her at all. I remember her saying his eyes were empty. Ugh!

Edit: I should have said B**h's eyes, but I think you already knew I meant that!

[youngdem]

4. No!!!

A person without a conscience can not suddenly " grow" one.

Are we talking about sociopaths or B* the idiot? Oh wait never mind they are one and the same, so obviously the answer is no :)

[undeterred]

5. There was a Law and Order show tonight with a child sociopath

and that was the argument. A sociopath cannot grow a conscience. It seems pretty hard to prove a statement like that- maybe we just don't know how to treat sociopaths yet.

[Fridays Child]

6. They can develop what might pass for a conscience.

But I think that a true sociopath can experience genuine feelings only for him- or herself.

[etherealtruth]

8. Develop socially appropriate behaviors ...

...that mimic a conscience ... but NEVER a real conscience.

[charlie]

11. Robert McNamara

was a soulless git, now a handwringing supplicant. It happens, just very rarely.

[Just Me]

10. Those are the most dangerous, the most harmful.

No treatment has been sought for a PURE sociopath in spite of the fact that they often end up in leadership positions.

I sincerely believe a psychiatric specialty should be created addressing sociopathology (human evil) beyond those who are caught and convicted for crimes. The truly dangerous sociopaths are those who adapt to wreak their havoc upon the masses.

[undeterred]

16. You're right

A lot of sociopaths are charming and hard to identify. Look how long Ted Bundy got away with murder. The damage one sociopath can do is enormous.

A lot of people in leadership positions are simply narcissists- selfish as hell, but not as criminally dangerous as a sociopath.

[Just Me]

7. Some can through a mixture of tragedy and choice.

Some can't.

Some won't.

Some will.

We lock up those who can't and won't. We hold onto those who will.

[iconoclastic cat]

9. I very consciously worked on my abilty to be sympathetic.

I knew that I was self-centered. Hell, sometimes I still am. I try to put myself in the perspective of those around me now.

[etherealtruth]

12. I think you can improve sympathy and empathy ...

...but, I think you must have a conscience in order to realize that sympathy/empathy are important...

[iconoclastic cat]

13. I don't believe that some people are utterly unable to feel sympathy.

Empathy, that can be difficult. Maybe impossible.

[etherealtruth]

17. I don't know ...

I don't know how to explain some horrors in the world with out that belief. For everyone's sake I hope you're right and I'm not ... but, true psychopaths ....

[skids]

14. Yes.

...you'd be surprised how much of the previous personality can be wiped out by the simple application of electricity.

[undeterred]

19. Well now that you mention that

I heard there was a project studying the effects of high voltage electrical shock - people who came in contact with power lines or were struck by lightning and survived. I'd be really interested to know what they found.

[Just Me]

22. I've read limited studies about specific application of that therapy.

I definitely have a bias against shock therapy because it has been applied against healthy recalcitrants by control freaks rather than applied against PURE sociopaths who heartlessly exploit and/or manipulate others for extreme self-serving and dysfunctionally cultural/nationalistic motivations.

However, I have read some exceptionally credible studies indicating successful application to very specific malfunctioning ignitions. It's amazing,...how the electrical "wiring" in the human brain can get so fucked up by virtue of causes we'll never pin down: the infinite combos of genetics and environment and unknown.

Interesting stuff. Scary, too, though,...'cause of the history of misuse.

[KG]

15. maybe if you tasered them enough times?

[shance]

18. Only if they can face accountability for their actions which takes

being able to tolerate painful consequences and actually feel regret and sadness for wrongdoing.

In other words, pain is the greatest teacher. People who don't ever experience pain and who are masters at avoiding pain, don't learn how to empathize and feel sympathy and understanding for others.

Such is the case with this Administration who has yet to attend one funeral for these servicemen, and that is just the tip of the iceberg of what they have created. They refuse to experience any pain of their actions.

[TahitiNut]

20. Extremely poor prognosis for sociopath or psychopath (APD).

The entire class of DSM-IV personality disorders are regarded as "Inflexible & enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning" -- which is why they're regarded as disorders of the personality. (Inherent to the person.)

Antisocial Personality Disorder is nearly impossible to treat for two reasons: (1) the afflicted don't believe there's much if anything wrong with them and (2) the afflicted will lie or cheat the therapist.


http://www.accg.net/antisocial.htm
http://www.relationshipvision.com/articles/confusion.html


Antisocial personality is a chronic disorder, and the general prognosis is poor. Prison, failed marriages and failed careers are common, as is premature death from a variety of causes (e.g. the effects of drug abuse, HIV infection, and violent deaths from accidents, suicide and homicide).

Risk factors for poor prognosis are :

* use of disinhibiting substances;
* lack of remorse;
* early onset;
* family history;
* fear engendered in the examining psychiatrist or doctor.

However, the disorder remits in some patients as they get older - indeed, most people with antisocial personality disorder who survive beyond 40 years of age spontaneously demonstrate some improvement.

http://groups.msn.com/PsychHelp/antisocial.msnw

[undeterred]

21. so you can outgrow being a serial killer

I wonder what accounts for that.

[Viktor Runeberg]

23. Can you change your conscience?

There's evidence that those truly without conscience have a sort of brain damage (at the very least, specific sorts of brain damage can cause lose of conscience in those who previously had it). But of those who have normal brains, including the equipment necessary for a functioning conscience, there can still be very different senses and systems of ethics.

In the current context, it's quite unlikely that everyone in Bush's administration is a sociopath, in the brain-damaged pure form of the diagnosis. But the consciences they have are strangely cultured, perversely used. If those with conscience could have it improved, changed, better integrated with their actions, feelings and rationality, it might be enough to reverse some of the damage of Rove and Rumsfeld and Bush himself - the likely true clinical cases of sociopathy.

If only we knew how to induce that! The "born again" experience may be proof that a conscience can be reprogrammed (as it were). But can it be done similarly quickly with better programming, that isn't at odds with continued use of other worthy parts of the brain (e.g. those required for science)?

[rustydog]

24. You should be asking the Free Republic crowd this one!

They should be the authority in lack of conscience judging fromtheir Andy Stephenson attacks.

[undeterred]

25. yeah, that was evil

[Doc Bottom]

26. Yes.

It really has to do with what people get classifed in a person's mind as 'people.' When you treat people as things, you commit atrocity. But many people fail to view others as people unless the others are of their same race/nationality/religion/social class/etc. But people can learn to see and feel the humanity of those they previously viewed as things.

[eridani]

27. They can learn rules-based behavior--

--and stick to the rules. The biological component of empathy, if damaged or not present, probably can't be fixed. But you could probably get some of them to agree to follow rules about how to treat others as a condition for allowing them to be part of society.

This may be similar to Asperger's Syndrome, where you can never acquire the ability to directly perceive social cues, but you can use a rule book that will allow you to function. (1. When a neurotypical says "How are you doing?" this is not actually a real request for information." Etc.)