In today’s society, approximately one in every twenty-five Americans are sociopaths, which means there about 3 to 12 million sociopaths in the United States. A sociopath is defined as an individual who displays antisocial behavior, which is mainly characterized by lack of empathy towards others, abnormal moral conduct and an inability to conform with the norms of society. Sociopathy, also known as Antisocial Personality Disorder, is becoming increasingly more common in today’s society and yet very little is known about what causes this behavior. Some may argue that sociopathy is the result of “nature”, which would make them more tolerated by society as they would be more prone to being sympathized for a condition they were “born with”
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Others may argue that sociopaths are the result of "nurture" which would suggest that sociopaths are a product of their social upbringing and have the ability to revert to normal through therapy and …show more content…
Many parents will punish their children for behaving heartlessly, because they are ignorant to the fact that their child’s brain may not understand the punishment. Early traumatic experiences in a person’s life, such as poverty or abuse, can add to the development of sociopathy. Children who constantly changing homes, like foster children, are also at risk due to the lack of attachment to others. Having a sociopathic parent can also cause a child to develop a personality disorder because the child is most-likely going to be negatively impacted by the abusive or neglectful tendencies of this parent. Approximately twenty-five percent of kids with a sociopathic parent develop a mental illness, such as, childhood anxiety and depression. Common characteristics that a child will express when they are harmed by a sociopathic parent include bullying, aggression, being overly emotional or flat, or poor academic performance. David Hawes, a professor of psychology at the University of Sydney in Australia, recently asked young participants showing antisocial behavior to play a computer game in which they were taught to recognize emotions in digital human faces. Their parents were asked to play the game with their child at home every day. In many cases, behavioral problems became much less frequent. While the kids did not get any better at recognizing emotions, the
Others may argue that sociopaths are the result of "nurture" which would suggest that sociopaths are a product of their social upbringing and have the ability to revert to normal through therapy and …show more content…
Many parents will punish their children for behaving heartlessly, because they are ignorant to the fact that their child’s brain may not understand the punishment. Early traumatic experiences in a person’s life, such as poverty or abuse, can add to the development of sociopathy. Children who constantly changing homes, like foster children, are also at risk due to the lack of attachment to others. Having a sociopathic parent can also cause a child to develop a personality disorder because the child is most-likely going to be negatively impacted by the abusive or neglectful tendencies of this parent. Approximately twenty-five percent of kids with a sociopathic parent develop a mental illness, such as, childhood anxiety and depression. Common characteristics that a child will express when they are harmed by a sociopathic parent include bullying, aggression, being overly emotional or flat, or poor academic performance. David Hawes, a professor of psychology at the University of Sydney in Australia, recently asked young participants showing antisocial behavior to play a computer game in which they were taught to recognize emotions in digital human faces. Their parents were asked to play the game with their child at home every day. In many cases, behavioral problems became much less frequent. While the kids did not get any better at recognizing emotions, the