Time to change tack? (Image: Ann Johansson/Corbis)
Psychopaths are typically considered untreatable, but brain scans could change that
DANGEROUS, manipulative and, above all, untreatable. The traditional picture of the psychopath is one that everyone, from psychiatrists to members of a jury, seems to share.
But although this picture encourages a “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality, surprisingly little is really known about how, or if, rehabilitation is possible for psychopaths. Now, brain scans of children with psychopathy-like conditions suggests objective ways to diagnose psychopathy, new targets for therapy – and techniques for settling the question of whether or not psychopaths can be successfully…
