BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Beyond therapy: Some evil can't be cured by Norman Doidge What, other than our wish that it be otherwise, makes us think that every human vice is treatable by some form of psychotherapy? That this wish is not just naive, but, at times, harmful is illustrated by a recent Canadian study on group treatment for 238 sex offenders (rapists, incest offenders) from Warkworth penitentiary in Ontario. These prisoners included some well-documented psychopaths. All were taught to "empathize" with victims, and understand their "offence cycle" as part of treatment. After their release, it was found that those who had scored highest in terms of "good treatment behaviour" and who had the highest "empathy" scores were the more likely to reoffend on release into the community. Hannibal Lecter Charm School teaches good manners, but not morals. The important study by Seto and Barbaree replicated -- unintentionally -- a 1992 Canadian study that found treated ...

by Gene Messick Frequent arrest of Senators and Congressmen forces a question that has been far too long ignored: How do we deal with sociopaths in our government? Most Americans have a mistaken belief that sociopaths in America are a rare breed, that they are wild eyed, murderous lunatics who are regularly recognized, put away or executed. Most unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. What's a sociopath? Why do we not recognize them for what they are? How do we protect ourselves from them? Reading early FBI descriptions of the crime spree of Illinois Governor Blagojevich and other accomplices is like reading a 3rd rate piece of horror pulp fiction: surely, this did not actually happen! How could this go on and the many people involved NOT know that what they were doing was wrong? How could anyone believe that such cynical behavior as trying to sell a Senatorial Seat is acceptable in America today? To understand this fully, we must first understand what a sociopath i...