Duane answers “What are the chances this story is based...”

Willem asked this question about The Bad Seed:

What are the chances this story is based on real events. If so should I live in fear of my children as my mother poisoned her second husband but committed suicide before she was arrested?

Duane IIRC there is NO evidence that psychopathy (which is what we're talking about in the case of this girl) is hereditary. Genetic, maybe - the jury is ou…moreIIRC there is NO evidence that psychopathy (which is what we're talking about in the case of this girl) is hereditary. Genetic, maybe - the jury is out on that, and research is ongoing - but a psychopath can "pop up", recognizable from birth, in an otherwise completely normal family with upbringing virtually identical to its siblings. There's no correlation with criminality in earlier generations, though.

There's some evidence of a biological origin for true psychopathy (including the preceding), but it's hotly debated. The "Psychology Community" does NOT want to admit that that's even possible, because it implies that psychology cannot "cure" psychopaths (which does in fact appear to be the case) - something that's absolutely anaethema to The Medical Community, since it in turn implies that once identified, they need to be... um... Er... uh... "Removed From Society". (This applies, in a lesser degree, to any possible *hereditary* origin for criminality in general, as well... if it's deemed to be "not the criminal's fault", which the sikes would *love* to claim (they think), that also means that the "Sufferer" is *doomed* to being at least susceptible to criminal behavior, and believe me, if "Society" latches on to *that* idea, sooner or later anybody with the "wrong" DNA profile is going to be stigmatized for *life*, from *birth* (something the sikes, and the "Gay" community, and a whole lot of others haven't really thought through, and may find out the hard way, after it's far too late to do anything about it...).

Now, as far as criminality in general goes... that's a much more nebulous and uncertain question... criminality in general, while it encompasses psychopathy, certainly isn't limited to that in origin, and is *a lot* more influenced by "nurture" than "nature". You take any child and beat and abuse him or her and give them amphetamines and alcohol, sometimes even before their teens, and you can be just about guaranteed of creating a criminal.

(sorry for the long and digressive answer, but you've gotten onto one of my favorite subjects...)(less)

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