EAllusion wrote: This is a separate question from whether military mass murderers are over-represented relative to the total population. For that question, it finds that yes, they are over-represented.
That's what I got from the article, too. However, Mass murderer does not equal psychopath in any of the literature. It's ridiculous that we've even gone there. This tangential and moribund argument needs to be put out of its misery. I believe that's what Cam and others are trying to say.
Morley wrote:That's what I got from the article, too. However, Mass murderer does not equal psychopath in any of the literature. It's ridiculous that we've even gone there. This tangential and moribund argument needs to be put out of its misery. I believe that's what Cam and others are trying to say.
Um, who brought up serial/mass murderers?
And who is the only person to mention "baby killing"?
Last edited by YahooSeeker [Bot] on Thu Nov 22, 2018 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
On a side note: EA, I become frustrated because you sometimes assert or imply things that someone with little or no background in psychology would say.
Morley wrote:That's what I got from the article, too. However, Mass murderer does not equal psychopath in any of the literature. It's ridiculous that we've even gone there. This tangential and moribund argument needs to be put out of its misery. I believe that's what Cam and others are trying to say.
EAllusion wrote: This is a separate question from whether military mass murderers are over-represented relative to the total population. For that question, it finds that yes, they are over-represented.
That's what I got from the article, too. However, Mass murderer does not equal psychopath in any of the literature. It's ridiculous that we've even gone there. This tangential and moribund argument needs to be put out of its misery. I believe that's what Cam and others are trying to say.
So if EA is right about what the study says, then it supports his initial contention that psychopaths are drawn to the military, does it not?
Otherwise, what would account for the over-representation of psychopaths in the military?
Kevin Graham wrote:So if EA is right about what the study says, then it supports his initial contention that psychopaths are drawn to the military, does it not?
Well, enlisted military members are better educated, get higher test scores, and come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds than their similarly aged peers in society. Officers typically far surpass their peers regarding intelligence, mental health, and physical fitness.
According to a random google hit that produced a Pentagon report, "... 71 percent of Americans aged 17 to 24 would fail to qualify for military service."
Members of America's volunteer Army are not enlisting because they have no other economic opportunities. America's soldiers are less likely than civilians to be high school dropouts. Contrary to conventional wisdom, minorities are not overrepresented in military service.
So, where does that leave us with the original assertion that psychopaths are overrepresented in the military? I believe archetypal psychopaths, those who're drawn to infantry and commando type units, typically wash out of the selection processes. Military units require a strong sense of social cohesiveness, and this is only heightened as a requirement in special operations. In other words, I don't think psychopathy works well, generally speaking, in a military setting. Do men and women who're probably diagnosable with antisocial personality disorder (APSD) sneak through and find themselves in charge of others? Sure. And I would suggest when they finally do act out or act on a compulsion they're usually relieved of their duties and put out of service. This happens fairly effectively, in my opinion, as contrasted with the real world where psychopaths and APSD types can camouflage themselves much more effectviely since there are no mechanisms to spot them and deal with their behavior other than self-destructive behaviors and the law.
- Doc
In the face of madness, rationality has no power - Xiao Wang, US historiographer, 2287 AD.
Every record...falsified, every book rewritten...every statue...has been renamed or torn down, every date...altered...the process is continuing...minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Ideology is always right.