4 ms·

Agreed. And perhaps the notion of "dangerous sociopath" can be revised altogether. I'm no expert but in my understanding sociopathy is more about non empathic s

by hrktb 13y ago

Agreed. And perhaps the notion of "dangerous sociopath" can be revised altogether. I'm no expert but in my understanding sociopathy is more about non empathic social behavior. It can be felt as creepy and depicted as violent in fiction, but that's doesn't make it a dangerous behavior in itself, and can actually be socially rewarded. It can be argued that the lack of empathy can lead to a more violent behavior, but violent acts comming from deep personal relationship are plenty a dozen as well, who knows.

jbondeson 13y ago
The problem here is that people are using a term that has a long and colorful history in a very imprecise manner. Sociopath hasn't been in the literature for years, but people still seem to use it interchangeably to speak of antisocial behavior and/or psychopathic traits which are not at all interchangeable. The DSM doesn't even list psychopathy as a diagnosis any more, only antisocial personality disorder which requires a history of, and we might as well just quote the DSM "... a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others..." So yes, a diagnosis of ASPD does generally indicate someone who could be considered dangerous to others. Now if we're talking about someone with psychopathic traits that scores high on a Hare, then no it does not necessarily indicate dangerous behavior. However, a Hare is still important when dealing with criminals as you do not want to give a psychopath treatment as it simply makes them better criminals.
- nnq 13y ago
  > you do not want to give a psychopath treatment as it simply makes them better criminals. What do you mean by "treatment" in this context? I thought that caught psychopathic criminals can end up in criminally insane facilities and such in most developed countries and somehow treated or at least attempt to do so.

by hrktb 13y ago

jbondeson 13y ago

The problem here is that people are using a term that has a long and colorful history in a very imprecise manner. Sociopath hasn't been in the literature for years, but people still seem to use it interchangeably to speak of antisocial behavior and/or psychopathic traits which are not at all interchangeable. The DSM doesn't even list psychopathy as a diagnosis any more, only antisocial personality disorder which requires a history of, and we might as well just quote the DSM "... a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others..." So yes, a diagnosis of ASPD does generally indicate someone who could be considered dangerous to others. Now if we're talking about someone with psychopathic traits that scores high on a Hare, then no it does not necessarily indicate dangerous behavior. However, a Hare is still important when dealing with criminals as you do not want to give a psychopath treatment as it simply makes them better criminals.

nnq 13y ago
> you do not want to give a psychopath treatment as it simply makes them better criminals. What do you mean by "treatment" in this context? I thought that caught psychopathic criminals can end up in criminally insane facilities and such in most developed countries and somehow treated or at least attempt to do so.