I think that if Klebold had a better support system, and best bud that wasn't a psychopath, he *could* have been helped. His troubles weren't all that unique.
Sociopaths, on the other hand, like Harris are hard to work with. Anyone with a personality disorder (which is what a sociopath is classified as) is difficult to deal with. Most don't experience any growth or change in their personality unless they happen to make it to their late 40s--which is pretty uncommon because many end up dead (either by someone else or by suicide, drug overdose, poor health).
If the report on Harris is accurate, that boy was not on anything close to a good path. Sounds like he very well could have been on the highway to serial violent crime no matter what. His behavior and diary information sounds surprisingly like what I have read about serial killers' early writing. I think he was lost a long time ago. I wonder sometimes what is wrong with people like this-- is it chemical, neurological, developmental? Did such people always exist among us, or is this an outgrowth of our modern world?
The thought of people with personality disorders of this sort always being around, however, is pretty fascinating. Is this an aberration, a sort of behavioral cancer, or is this somehow an adaptation that once provided a valid evolutionary strategy in humans but which has since become a negative trait?
I know there are no answers, but it still fascinates me in a sick sort of way.
I know there are no answers, but it still fascinates me in a sick sort of way.
It is interesting. Personality disorders make me wonder about a lot of different things--how it may be a survival mechanism that goes haywire, that it may be how humans were to begin with, that maybe if some soiopaths were treated with some drugs they could learn to feel....
I used to be really fascinated with serial killers. Read a lot of books about them. I was curious about what went wrong that made them so insane.
Then I started working with sex offendors and vicitms of abuse, and couldn't stand reading about serial killers anymore. Made me too angry.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2004-04-22 11:09 am (UTC)Sociopaths, on the other hand, like Harris are hard to work with. Anyone with a personality disorder (which is what a sociopath is classified as) is difficult to deal with. Most don't experience any growth or change in their personality unless they happen to make it to their late 40s--which is pretty uncommon because many end up dead (either by someone else or by suicide, drug overdose, poor health).
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Date: 2004-04-22 11:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 12:58 pm (UTC)He was a fucking maniac.
I think people like him have existed for a long time and I don't think it's just part of modern society.
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Date: 2004-04-22 01:36 pm (UTC)The thought of people with personality disorders of this sort always being around, however, is pretty fascinating. Is this an aberration, a sort of behavioral cancer, or is this somehow an adaptation that once provided a valid evolutionary strategy in humans but which has since become a negative trait?
I know there are no answers, but it still fascinates me in a sick sort of way.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 02:17 pm (UTC)It is interesting. Personality disorders make me wonder about a lot of different things--how it may be a survival mechanism that goes haywire, that it may be how humans were to begin with, that maybe if some soiopaths were treated with some drugs they could learn to feel....
I used to be really fascinated with serial killers. Read a lot of books about them. I was curious about what went wrong that made them so insane.
Then I started working with sex offendors and vicitms of abuse, and couldn't stand reading about serial killers anymore. Made me too angry.