General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere are the traits on the Hare Psychopathy checklist. Does anyone come to mind?
Score each item 0 to 2: a score above 25 or 30 is diagnosticpathological lying
glib and superficial charm
grandiose sense of self
need for stimulation
cunning and manipulative
lack of remorse or guilt
shallow emotional response
callousness and lack of empathy
parasitic lifestyle
poor behavioral controls
sexual promiscuity
early behavior problems
lack of realistic long-term goals
impulsivity
irresponsibility
failure to accept responsibility
many short-term marital relationships
juvenile delinquency
revocation of conditional release
criminal versatility
pandr32
(11,617 posts)I remember reading about his incorrigible behavior as a kid and that his family put him in the military academy hoping it would straighten him out. If he hadn't been born to such privilege I have no doubt he would have started with a juvenile rap sheet and been in and out of jail as an adult. By now he would probably be a lifer--or dead!
I have never doubted he is a raging psychopath.
LuvNewcastle
(16,858 posts)He's obviously out of his mind, but they have the utmost admiration for him. I guess people will forgive a lot for someone who says what they want to hear.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)"Why can't you just make 10 even worse?"
"Because this president goes up to 11."
appalachiablue
(41,177 posts)bluescribbler
(2,123 posts)I had to score 0 at lack of conditional release and early behavior problems. I don't know that he was ever arrested, nor do I know much about his childhood. Did he light kittens on fire? I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.
jmowreader
(50,565 posts)You dont get shipped off to military school for being a model citizen.
shanti
(21,675 posts)That's pretty bad. He is just a mean SOB.
pdsimdars
(6,007 posts)emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)society harbored both non-criminal and criminally inclined sociopaths, pointing to the political arena as a place where sociopaths could often succeed as they were rewarded for their traits.
He also predicted that we would see a greater prevalence of sociopaths in society as it fostered superficiality, manipulativeness, callousness as a way to be admired and get ahead.
The recent exposures made in the college entrance scandals demonstrate the possibility for parents to actually teach children how to become sociopathic.
An excellent read is The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. She explores everyday sociopathy. You will likely recognize some people you know in these pages.
Heavey Clevkley, also a pioneer in the psychopathic personality, author of The Mask of Sanity along with Hare writes about how difficult it is, even for forensic psychiatrists, to identify sociopaths. This is usually true as they are so attuned to their targets cues or tells, that they can, in real time adjust their story, voice, body language to accommodate.
What is different with Trump is that he makes little effort to disguise his sociopathic traits. However, he was rewarded for them in his various criminal enterprises, masked his true vicious intents while running, and has been emboldened by supporters sharing his very personality disorder.
Group sociopathy certainly deserves greater examination.
I do imagine Trump might have had a conduct disorder as a young person.
appalachiablue
(41,177 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)There was certainly an environmental component to his warped personality, but he showed sociopathic tendencies from a very young age, i.e. throwing rocks at an infant next door and other bullying tendencies. His parents only made things worse. He has a complete lack of human compassion or empathy. There is something very wrong with him that goes beyond bad parenting.
appalachiablue
(41,177 posts)an infant, geesh. The father and grandfather must have had some hustle in them to start running brothels and real estate businesses. I just wonder if there's any hard info. on whether it's primarily 'genetic' or learned, or both? I've never seen any discussion of the issue and it's important I think. A negative environment can definitely enhance the tendencies.