Posted on 01/02/2006 11:05:30 AM PST by DeweyCA
It was the headline that did it: “Hussein dwells on own predicament, not on testimony.” I’m thinking, I know this guy. He sounds a lot like some of the kids I’ve seen in my years around the foster care system. This guy is a socio-path, most probably with reactive attachment disorder. Far too many people treat him as if he were the guy next door, who just happens to run a third world dictatorship. But he isn’t. Normal people don’t aspire to run third world dictatorships. And normal modes of dealing with him will not get you what you expect or want.
The classic case of attachment disorder is a child without a conscience, with no capacity for empathy with other people. What causes it? Typically, the attachment disordered child had his primary attachment with his mother disrupted during infancy. Infants normally become aware of other people as their mothers pick them up, rock them, feed them, and meet their needs. In the process, the child comes to make the deep connection that human contact assures his survival. This initial bond forms the foundation for the later development of the conscience.
According to Karl Zinsmeister’s Boots on the Ground, Saddam’s father abandoned him before he was born. His mother went to her brother’s house near Tikrit to give birth, and then abandoned the baby, leaving him to be raised by his uncle’s family.
What are these kids like? Kids with reactive attachment disorder are exquisitely sensitive to the slightest injury to themselves, and completely oblivious to any harm they inflict on others. Listen to this account of Saddam’s trial: “Three witnesses testified about abuse they ... suffered in Hussein’s jails. Speaking from behind a curtain to conceal their identities, they gave long and chilling accounts of beatings and deprivation.
Hussein appeared more concerned with his own plight.”
This kind of child does whatever he thinks he can get away with, no matter the cost to other people. They lie if they think it is advantageous to lie. They steal if they can get away with it.
Think of the billions Saddam and his cronies siphoned from the Oil for Food program. Normal people can barely imagine stealing on that scale. But an attachment disordered child has to be monitored every minute. (Experienced and savvy parents call it, “line of sight supervision.” ) So because the world assumed Saddam was a normal guy, we set up the Oil for Food program without properly monitoring it. To add insult to injury, Saddam had the nerve to blame the embargo for starving Iraqi children, when he himself could readily have fed his people. That is chutzpah far beyond the imagination of a normal person.
These children often become sophisticated manipulators. Even if the child is eventually adopted by loving and competent parents, the behaviors may continue. Their adoptive parents are beside themselves over their child’s destructive, sneaky and manipulative behavior.
We once did therapeutic respite care for a deeply disturbed 6 year-old boy who had been driving his parents crazy. He came to our house to do chores, while his parents got a much needed break from the constant supervision he required. He was pleasant and obedient, as we expected he would be. He spent the day helping us plant strawberries. A day after he left, however, we discovered a strange smell coming from the bathroom: he had urinated down the hot air register. Superficially charming, ostensibly compliant, and very sneaky.
Remember how Saddam enchanted gullible western journalists? Remember Saddam Hussein playing cat and mouse with Hans Blix? Perfectly normal behavior for a socio-path.
A seriously attachment disordered child will show no regret at having hurt another person, or may offer perfunctory apologies. He may find it fun to torture animals.
Saddam’s sadism was legendary. Evidently, he found it fun to put people through plastic shredders. He even began taking his son Uday to observe torture sessions when the child was ten.
The disturbed children I have seen are difficult and scary enough for anyone to have to deal with. Imagine one of these children grown up. Let him run a country. Allow him to be unaccountable to anyone. What you’ll get is Saddam’s Iraq. The world would be way ahead if our opinion-leaders had some remote understanding of the kind of person they’re dealing with.
In next week’s column, I’ll tell you how to deal with attachment disordered children, and what that has to do with how we ought to treat Saddam. But for now, just realize his thirty years of recreational torture is not the behavior of a normal person. Normal methods will do nothing to discourage future sociopaths, or to adequately repair the harm this one has caused.
Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., is the founder and chief visionary of Your Coach for the Culture Wars, a business devoted to supporting organizations that want to preserve their core values and achieve prosperity by taking a stand in the Culture Wars.
"Normal people don’t aspire to run third world dictatorships."
While I'm always suspicious of long-distance psychoanalysis, I've always said the same thing. The doc has some interesting ideas.
Excellent article.
This woman puts her finger on an important fact: Liberals do not understand the nature of evil.
A Patriot Act or lack of one won't stop the Clintons, should they get another 8 years as "co-president" (talk about a Constitutional crisis, their bid should be put before the court before election day).
Hillary was found in possession (illegally) of 900 FBI files.
But I originally jumped down to post how much those opening paragraphs sound like Bubba's mental state.
Gotta disagree with you. Hilary has done more than President Bush without the authorization of the Patriot Act. It being illegal has no bearing on if she will do it or not. If she is not held accountable, she will do it, and does anyone thik that the MSM will hold her accountable?
But an attachment disordered child has to be monitored every minute. [snip] Remember how Saddam/Clinton enchanted gullible western journalists?
But the media DID know the truth. CNN kept quiet about torture and abuse under Saddam to keep their Baghdad bureau open. And Newsweek filed the Monica Lewinsky story in file 13.
The media abdicated their role as journalists and now serve political agendas first. People are expendable.
I bet Saddam has "road rage", too.
why does everything have to be a syndrome or disease? can't there just be evil or immoral people?
...is that a certain percentage of political leadership worldwide doesn't really grow up that much.
But the author is absolutely correct when she argues that Saddam is not like a more or less "normal" person from the civilized world.
I like Clinton bashing as much as the next person (maybe more). But in his defense, people who become President of the U.S. -- both on the left and the right -- are not very normal. I don't think this phenomenon is unique to one party or one person.
That sounds like most Liberals I know.
Not surprisingly, it sounds exactly like bill and hillary clinton!
1. GLIB and SUPERFICIAL CHARM -- the tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick, and verbally facile. Psychopathic charm is not in the least shy, self-conscious, or afraid to say anything. A psychopath never gets tongue-tied. They have freed themselves from the social conventions about taking turns in talking, for example.
2. GRANDIOSE SELF-WORTH -- a grossly inflated view of one's abilities and self-worth, self-assured, opinionated, cocky, a braggart. Psychopaths are arrogant people who believe they are superior human beings.
3. NEED FOR STIMULATION or PRONENESS TO BOREDOM -- an excessive need for novel, thrilling, and exciting stimulation; taking chances and doing things that are risky. Psychopaths often have a low self- discipline in carrying tasks through to completion because they get bored easily. They fail to work at the same job for any length of time, for example, or to finish tasks that they consider dull or routine.
4. PATHOLOGICAL LYING -- can be moderate or high; in moderate form, they will be shrewd, crafty, cunning, sly, and clever; in extreme form, they will be deceptive, deceitful, underhanded, unscrupulous, manipulative, and dishonest.
5. CONNING AND MANIPULATIVENESS- the use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from Item #4 in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one's victims.
6. LACK OF REMORSE OR GUILT -- a lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, coldhearted, and unempathic. This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one's victims.
7. SHALLOW AFFECT -- emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness.
8. CALLOUSNESS and LACK OF EMPATHY -- a lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, and tactless.
9. PARASITIC LIFESTYLE -- an intentional, manipulative, selfish, and exploitative financial dependence on others as reflected in a lack of motivation, low self-discipline, and inability to begin or complete responsibilities.
10. POOR BEHAVIORAL CONTROLS -- expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression, and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper; acting hastily.
11. PROMISCUOUS SEXUAL BEHAVIOR -- a variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and an indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of several relationships at the same time; a history of attempts to sexually coerce others into sexual activity or taking great pride at discussing sexual exploits or conquests.
12. EARLY BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS -- a variety of behaviors prior to age 13, including lying, theft, cheating, vandalism, bullying, sexual activity, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, alcohol use, and running away from home.
13. LACK OF REALISTIC, LONG-TERM GOALS -- an inability or persistent failure to develop and execute long-term plans and goals; a nomadic existence, aimless, lacking direction in life.
14. IMPULSIVITY -- the occurrence of behaviors that are unpremeditated and lack reflection or planning; inability to resist temptation, frustrations, and urges; a lack of deliberation without considering the consequences; foolhardy, rash, unpredictable, erratic, and reckless.
15. IRRESPONSIBILITY -- repeated failure to fulfill or honor obligations and commitments; such as not paying bills, defaulting on loans, performing sloppy work, being absent or late to work, failing to honor contractual agreements.
16. FAILURE TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR OWN ACTIONS -- a failure to accept responsibility for one's actions reflected in low conscientiousness, an absence of dutifulness, antagonistic manipulation, denial of responsibility, and an effort to manipulate others through this denial.
17. MANY SHORT-TERM MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS -- a lack of commitment to a long-term relationship reflected in inconsistent, undependable, and unreliable commitments in life, including marital.
18. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY -- behavior problems between the ages of 13- 18; mostly behaviors that are crimes or clearly involve aspects of antagonism, exploitation, aggression, manipulation, or a callous, ruthless tough-mindedness.
19. REVOCATION OF CONDITION RELEASE -- a revocation of probation or other conditional release due to technical violations, such as carelessness, low deliberation, or failing to appear.
20. CRIMINAL VERSATILITY -- a diversity of types of criminal offenses, regardless if the person has been arrested or convicted for them; taking great pride at getting away with crimes.
From: An American Obsession ... the Psychopath
I wish to educate and warn you the reader of some of the more common signs that the person in question -- usually a male -- is someone you should detach from...and quickly! The sooner you can detect a troublesome person, the better off you will be. One quick check is your placement of him/r on the a$$hole scale. Now remember, not every jerk or idiot is necessarily psychotic! However, the psychopath is an extreme form of the "a$$hole" personality type, they've just learned to conceal it most of the time and appear to be "nice, charming" people. They are developmentally stuck in their early years, still fighting the battles of authority and parental control over them!
I'm convinced it's because they do not acknowledge their own capacity for evil as most well-adjusted adults do ... or they don't care.
ping
"This woman puts her finger on an important fact: Liberals do not understand the nature of evil."
I would say that "liberals" do not understand the nature of THEIR evil. Liberals, leftists and most democrats behave like emotionally disturbed children (brats). We've seen them and we've heard them - pathological partisanship.
Saddam should be shot, not treated.
Fine Doc. Now how do you explain Ramsey Clark?
a) I'm not a doc of any kind.
b) Ramsey Clark? You've lost me.
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