Given that people with psychopathy are, by definition, people who repeatedly eng

Question

Given that people with psychopathy are, by definition, people who repeatedly engage in antisocial behavior, and given also that they do not seem to learn from experience or respond to therapy, how should society treat them? Should they be punished the same as other lawbreakers? Would you consider the death penalty for psychopaths more appropriate (given that rehabilitation is less likely) or less appropriate (given that they have a mental disorder) than for other criminals? Should they be considered insane and committed to treatment as an alternative to going to jail (even considering their high rate of failure to respond successfully to treatment and the fact that many psychopaths are pathological liars who become expert at convincingly telling the therapist what he or she "wants to hear")? Or is there a larger responsibility to keep them incarcerated to protect society from their depredations, especially given the low success rates in “curing” them?

Explanation / Answer

Mental illness was once considered as a curse and possession of evil spirits thus they were chained and kept aloof. The dawn of psychology brought a new dimension and sowed the seeds of hope that it’s only human and that it could be cured. Humanitarian psychology covered all the aspects such as physical illness, social issues, familial problems etc. of a mentally ill person. This way it was able to see them as human beings as well. There were also some religious practices where mentally ill patients were tied to the pillars in chains as they were considered dangerous. Today’s materialistic life-style, workplace stress, familial problems etc. has made many people victims of mental illness and they are also effectively treated with modern medicines, psychotherapy and counseling. The problem today is that we have people walking along with us who are mentally ill or lost their mind and that’s why they take a gun all of a sudden and start shooting at people in random.

So, in my opinion, psychopaths who are incurable should be kept aside from the society because they would pose a great threat to the lives of others walking in the street. They could be secluded and keep them under control. I think it’s not just the trouble for the society we need to think of but also the pain and sufferings the mentally ill person undergoes. They will live without being aware of what’s going around them. So, the government with the consent from the relatives may administer Euthanasia for people whoever certified by medical experts that the illness is incurable.

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