The terms "psychopath" or "sociopath" (which are more or less interchangable) include in their definitions a unwillingness to follow the norms of society and to obey authority. Whether conformity to social norms is a desirable trait depends entirely on the circumstances. To the extent to which society is mad, disobedience is a virtue. It is because of the merging of two quite different, and at times contradictory, concepts that I reject terms such as "psychopath," and "sociopath." I wish to emphasize that "good" and "obedient" are not synonyms. So perhaps a new term needs to be coined.
The quality I am concerned with is not disobedience, but a lack of empathy resulting from an inability to attain a reasonable degree of individuated oneness. Perhaps the term "empathology" could be used to convey this meaning. I would define empathology as the inability to resonate with the joys and sufferings of the other sentient beings of which one is aware -- human and otherwise. I think I mean something very close to what Forbes had in mind when he used the term "wetiko" in his book " Columbus and other Cannibals." As he puts it:
"Killing is a serious business and it requires spiritual preparation. Moreover, one should feel the pain or sorrow of killing a brother or sister , whether it is a weed, a tree or a deer. If one does not feel the pain, one has become brutalized and "sick." One is, in short, out of harmony with the Universe" 21
Only a little reflection is needed for us to realize that empathy is not an either/or sort of thing. Most of us encounter situations in which we experience great empathy and others in which we do not. Probably the most important factor here has to do with which human beings or other forms of life we see as " like us. " We divide the world into countries, social classes, religions, races, species, etc., and see some of the people and creatures in these various divisions as being like us, as opposed to others who are not. Those who are like us belong to our group. With those we may feel great empathy, while with others we may be callous and indifferent to their suffering to a shocking degree. Probably the most important indication of spiritual growth has to do with how wide a range of sentient beings we are able to identify with. At one end of the continuum we would find those who care only for their family and a few friends. At the other, those who resonate with all sentient beings.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that a number of other factors influence our capacity for empathy even with people who are in our group. Anything from whether the other person has offended us in some way to whether we have a head ache can influence our capacity from one moment to another. Also, unexpected events may break through our usual defenses and enable us to feel empathy with people we would normally consider to be very different from us. So we have here a complex continuum that allows room for growth.
People who fit on one point or another on the continuum described above are not those who are normally labeled sociopathic. This term is reserved for those whose capacity for empathy is so minimal as to be ineffective with regard to the members of any group or in any situation. This suggests that it might necessary to expand the terminology I have given for this phenomenon. Perhaps we can speak of " selective empathology " when we refer to the general continuum within which most people fit, and " global empathology " to designate the condition of those who feel little or no empathy in any situation. Thus the term global empathology would correspond in a rough way to the term sociopathology as it is usually used.
In 1941, in his seminal work " Mask Of Sanity " Hervey Cleckey 22 gave a description of the sociopathic person that was quite influential. It was his belief that some people were simply born with the inability to develop empathy. Although I disagree very strongly with his assumption that life experiences have nothing to do with why this sort of adaptation to life emerges, he made an interesting observation that is reflected in the title of his book. There are people whose lack of empathy enables them to kill people, cheat them, or manipulate them ruthlessly with no sense of guilt or remorse. These are the 2 to 3 percent of natural killers that Grossman spoke of. These people seem normal. In fact they are often quite charming. They are able to give lip service to high ideals. They have no obvious delusions, and are able to imitate the behavior of caring people when they choose to do so. They look sane, but are actually quite mad. Needless to say they tend to leave a path of suffering in their wake.
Theorists of many persuasions have very plausibly attributed "psychopathology" to a wide variety of interpersonal and psychological difficulties, from marasmus and failure to thrive, to incapacitating emotional problems in adults, to the absence of an adequate primary bond to nurturing adults. Of particular importance to us in this essay is the association between early attachment problems and serious difficulty in developing empathy with other human beings and living entities -- a difficulty that entails both emotional and behavioral mal-adjustments.
The connection between character structure and the social structure
James Prescott , in 1975, in a seminal article entitled, " Body Pleasure and the Origins of Violence," raised some fundamental questions with regard to why some societies (and individuals) are more prone to violence than others. He felt that progress in answering these questions was crucial to the goal of creating a more peaceful world:
" Unless the causes of violence are isolated and treated, we will continue to live in a world of fear and apprehension. Unfortunately, violence is often offered as a solution to violence. Many law enforcement officials advocate 'get tough' policies as the best method to reduce crime. Imprisoning people, our usual way of dealing with crime, will not solve the problem, because the causes of violence lie in our basic values and the way in which we bring up our children and youth. " 23
His major thesis focused on the tendency for many societies -- our own included -- to deprive children and youth of needed sensory gratifications. As he states it, " The reciprocal relationship of pleasure and violence is highly significant because certain sensory experiences during the formative periods of development will create a neuropsychological predisposition for either violence-seeking or pleasure-seeking behaviors later in life. " 23
His first area of concern was infancy. He felt that the "deprivation of body pleasure during infancy is significantly linked to a high rate of crime and violence. " Infants need a lot of cuddling, stimulation and pleasurable interaction between themselves and a nurturing adult. The data he presents led him to the conclusion that our society is seriously deficient in its ability to provide the requisite amounts of such stimulation.
" I am convinced that various abnormal social and emotional behaviors resulting from what psychologists call 'maternal-social' deprivation, that is, a lack of tender, loving care, are caused by a unique type of sensory deprivation, somatosensory deprivation. Derived from the Greek word for 'body,' the term refers to the sensations of touch and body movement which differ from the senses of light, hearing, smell and taste. I believe that the deprivation of body touch, contact, and movement are the basic causes of a number of emotional disturbances which include depressive and autistic behaviors, hyperactivity, sexual aberration, drug abuse, violence, and aggression. " 24
His second area of concern involves an even more radical critique of our society. He felt that the repression of sexuality in children and youth was highly damaging.
" Premarital sexual freedom for young people can help reduce violence in a society, and the physical pleasure that youth obtains from sex can offset a lack of physical affection during infancy. " 25
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