Is My Child a Psychopath
Is My Child A Psychopath?
Cindy Loza
Whittier College
Abstract
There is not enough empirical research on child psychopathy and its development or indicators. There is also a lack of evidence that signifies a positive correlation between conduct disorder and other defiant problems in children to psychopathy in adults. The current review examines psychopathic characteristics that can be identified in children, disorders that are related to psychopathy, and neurobiological factors have also been considered to have a relationship with this disorder. Findings suggest that psychopathy in children can be identified in children as young as 3. The empirical research provided in the review reveal a considerable amount of information suggesting that children with behavioral problems such as ADHD, CU traits, delinquent behaviors, and CD may have similar traits with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy. These behavioral disorders found in children as early as 3-4 years of age may indicate that there are behavioral precursors that may lead to adult psychopathy. For future research, researchers should further observe a brain of a psychopath and its involvement in psychopathic behaviors using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see whether there were unusual neurological displays or if there were different methods of brain processing when the participants were given different types of words, (i.e. rape and murder) or shown different pictures an videos (i.e. scenes from a homicide).
Is My Child A Psychopath?
During toddlerhood, a young child will normally throw various fits and tantrums. During these episodes of fit, do children usually slam the toilet seat down repeatedly until it breaks? If so, how does one explain the motive to act out in that manner? A common answer would probably be that they are acting “like a brat”, which is exactly what nine year old Michael’s parents thought (Kahn, 2012). Michael’s parents described abnormal fits out of
Cindy Loza
Whittier College
Abstract
There is not enough empirical research on child psychopathy and its development or indicators. There is also a lack of evidence that signifies a positive correlation between conduct disorder and other defiant problems in children to psychopathy in adults. The current review examines psychopathic characteristics that can be identified in children, disorders that are related to psychopathy, and neurobiological factors have also been considered to have a relationship with this disorder. Findings suggest that psychopathy in children can be identified in children as young as 3. The empirical research provided in the review reveal a considerable amount of information suggesting that children with behavioral problems such as ADHD, CU traits, delinquent behaviors, and CD may have similar traits with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy. These behavioral disorders found in children as early as 3-4 years of age may indicate that there are behavioral precursors that may lead to adult psychopathy. For future research, researchers should further observe a brain of a psychopath and its involvement in psychopathic behaviors using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see whether there were unusual neurological displays or if there were different methods of brain processing when the participants were given different types of words, (i.e. rape and murder) or shown different pictures an videos (i.e. scenes from a homicide).
Is My Child A Psychopath?
During toddlerhood, a young child will normally throw various fits and tantrums. During these episodes of fit, do children usually slam the toilet seat down repeatedly until it breaks? If so, how does one explain the motive to act out in that manner? A common answer would probably be that they are acting “like a brat”, which is exactly what nine year old Michael’s parents thought (Kahn, 2012). Michael’s parents described abnormal fits out of