Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder that presents with symptoms like a lack of empathy and poor behavioural controls, which can lead to criminal behaviour.
When I think of a psychopath, Moses Sithole comes to mind. Sithole is seen as South Africa’s worst serial killer, he murdered at least 37 women and a child. Sithole lured his victims by promising them work opportunities, this modus operandi is very popular with serial killers in South Africa.
Another horrific story of a psychopath is the Grave Murder that happened in Welkom in 2011. Maartens van der Merwe and Charne van Heerden lured Michael van Eck to a graveyard in Welkom, murdered and mutilated him. Their trials were separated and only Van Heerden was classified as a psychopath. It is believed that if she had not been caught, she would have become a serial killer.
Not all psychopaths are killers and not all killers are psychopaths. Dr Robert Hare, considered the world’s leading expert in psychopathy, believes that only a small fraction of psychopaths are violent criminals, the rest walk among us. Scary thought. It is believed that one in five CEOs are psychopaths, maybe you even know one.
Maybe, to become a highly successful individual one has to have a lack of empathy…
It seems that psychopaths can be born or bred. Research shows that psychopathy results from a complex combination of genetic and environmental risk factors.
Children sometimes act with a lack of remorse, and sometimes they can be downright cruel, this does not make them psychopaths. A child either is a psychopath or they are not, but elements of psychopathy will be found to a degree, in most children. Phew!
You might wonder what signs to look out for… this is what I found:
– Your child doesn’t seem guilty after misbehaving
– Punishment doesn’t change your child’s behaviour
– Your child is selfish/doesn’t share
– Your child lies
– Your child is manipulative
But, these signs can also be seen in normal children on a bad day. So, you can relax. Chances are you are not raising the next Moses Sithole or Jeffrey Dahmer, but if your child shows these signs continuously please seek help.
Sadly, there is no cure for psychopathy, but with the right guidance, a psychopath can live a normal life, maybe even become the next president.
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