Reformability and compassion regarding psychopaths

[alexdavid]

I have read in many articles that the general conclusion is that psychopaths aren’t capable of reform. Then I saw in a number of places that it might be possible to reform them after all but it is difficult and the research is still being done.

I just felt a need to comment on this as I find that the promotion of the idea that they might be reformed, though it sounds hopeful, is in fact extremely harmful.
First, if there is a possibility of this, it is very difficult and still not certain it is going to work. But secondly, this idea is very harmful for the victims - not just because the victims might hold “hope” and therefore fail to protect themselves sooner, but also it in many cases contributes to victim blaming or minimization of the victims experiences, especially in settings like religious communities where psychopathy is often prevalent and where people are focused on “forgiveness” and “seeing the good” and do not want to acknowledge existence of evil. In short, it often turns into a form of gaslighting as well - by pleading for and turning the focus to compassion instead of accountability.

I heard Martha Stout once speak on this topic and she has made an important point saying something about how it is very difficult for people in general and especially in western cultures to accept that some people are just evil.

I see this all the time and I really do not feel that psychopaths are owed any kind of “political correctness” - so to say - when it comes to their condition.

Personally, my healing only begun when I realized that the P is hopeless and has in effect no goodness whatsoever. Reading about how a part of their brain is malfunctioning also helped since that is no minor issue that can be repaired just like that.

But I have found that this idea of the possibility of reforming, or seeing the psychopath as a human, not only that it can be harmful to the victim, but often just gives another entrance for the psychopath to get back into the community, system, or an individual’s life as they have no issues manipulating and acting as if they have in fact reformed when they haven’t.

I think that the scientific community should be aware of how this discourse on reformability is affecting the people who are harmed by psychopaths, and society in general.

It would be much more compassionate to focus on the victims and effects on them as after all, this mental illness causes distress to other people rather to the psychopath themselves.
Equating this disorder (as antisocial pd) culturally and scientifically with for example, conditions like depression or schizophrenia or any other mental issue just doesn’t seem right.