gwern comments on Notes on Psychopathy - Less Wrong

18 Post author: gwern 19 December 2012 04:02AM

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Comment author: gwern 20 December 2012 10:50:44PM 0 points [-]

Has anyone tried to make them better, and more effective psychopaths, psychopaths that wouldn't end up in prison?

Yes, because that sounds like a great idea...

After short-term anger management and social skills training, 24-month reconviction rates for 278 treated and untreated offenders yielded an interaction between psychopathy and treatment outcome similar to that reported by Rice and colleagues (1992). Whereas the program had no demonstrable effect on non-psychopaths, treated offenders who scored high on Factor 1 of the PCL-R had significantly higher rates of recidivism than high-scoring but untreated offenders.

Comment author: buybuydandavis 20 December 2012 11:31:02PM 0 points [-]

I see no indication there that they were trying to make them better and more effective psychopaths, as opposed to less psychopathic.

As part of their treatment, were they told "we're going to make you the best psychopath you can be"? I doubt it. And I doubt the psychopaths perceived that either.

Comment author: gwern 20 December 2012 11:35:19PM 0 points [-]

How are better social skills and better anger management not making them more effective (if indeed they can be trained at all)?

Comment author: buybuydandavis 21 December 2012 12:08:59AM *  0 points [-]

"Better" according to a psychopath? Or better according to the people trying to "fix" the psychopaths?

Comment author: gwern 21 December 2012 12:16:07AM 0 points [-]

They don't want to be in prison either.

Comment author: bogus 20 December 2012 11:10:17PM *  0 points [-]

That's not saying much, though. "Had no demonstrable effect on non-psychopaths" = the program was no good. Aren't "anger management" programs widely stereotyped as useless?

Comment author: gwern 20 December 2012 11:18:13PM 0 points [-]

"Had no demonstrable effect on non-psychopaths" = the program was no good. Aren't "anger management" programs widely stereotyped as useless?

Dunno. But how else are you going to find out whether it works but by trying it? In which case you are morally responsible for the consequences, in this case, the rather bloodless description 'significantly higher rates of recidivism'. (Many Bothans died to bring us this information...)

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