Over the course of the year, I've been hanging out on the blogs where there have been many comments about Bush's personailty, particularly his apparent callousness. So, on a hunch, I did a little digging and came up with a conclusion. Our President is a
sociopath, based on characteristics described in a paper done in 1999.
Sociopathy can be recognized early in an individual. Before the age of around 15 - 16 years, a child showing sociopathic traits is titled with conduct disorder. Signs of this early stage of sociopathy might include immunity to parental punishment and pain. Other signs may be the torturing of animals (emphasis mine), fire setting, vandalism, consistent lying, theft, or aggression towards others. Nothing usually works in trying to change the behavior of this type of child. Therefore, the parent(s) usually give up, making the situation worse. But it must be noted that many children with conduct disorder do not progress on to sociopaths. After the age of 15 -16, those who continue to show sociopathic signs are then labeled as having sociopathy or antisocial personality disorder (Carter & Golant, 1998; Sabbatini, 1998).
It's well documented that Bush was a difficult child, who would blow up frogs with firecrackers.
Sociopaths are very egocentric individuals that lack a sense of personal responsibility and morality. They may be impulsive, manipulative, reckless, quarrelsome, and consistent liars. Sociopaths are usually unable to sustain relationships and have a total lack of remorse for their actions. The sociopath may also be very prone to aggressive, hostile, and sometimes violent behavior. This aggression may or may not lead to criminal behavior and often takes the form of domestic violence. Along with these other actions, sociopaths often engage in self-destructive behavior such as alcoholism or addiction to drugs (emphasis mine). This, of course, usually worsens many aspects of the sociopathic behavior. Despite these previous symptoms, the sociopath may be an excellent actor, always appearing charming, calm, and collected. They usually have a normal or above normal intelligence level and good verbal fluency. It is these qualities that sometimes place the sociopath in leadership positions within their social groups and often make it hard to spot their "black side".
One study suggests that such behavior could very well be inherited either genetically or environmentally.
A sample of 3687 twin pairs formed the starting point for this research. Teacher ratings for antisocial behaviour and psychopathic tendencies (i.e. lack of empathy and remorse) were used to classify the twins. Those who were in the top 10% of the sample for antisocial behaviour were separated into two groups - those with and without psychopathic tendencies.
Following analysis, the results showed that, in children with psychopathic tendencies, antisocial behaviour was strongly inherited. In contrast, the antisocial behaviour of children who did not have psychopathic tendencies was mainly influenced by environmental factors. These findings are in line with previous research showing that children with psychopathic tendencies are at risk to continue their antisocial behaviour and are often resistant to traditional forms of intervention.
As we all know, former First Lady Barbara Bush is well known to be cold, cruel and anti-social, and George was very much "her child".
I don't come from a pychiatric background, so I don't begin to claim expertise on the topic. Bush is certainly not our first sociopathic President (don't forget Nixon). But perhaps, given his stunted maturity and the influence of neo-cons around him who stoke his "black side" on a regular basis, he could very well be the most dangerous.
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