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Monsters in our midst

It can't be true, I keep telling myself while reading about the cool, cruel children in Jonathan Kellerman's Savage Spawn. Surely those kids can be helped. Not so, argues the psychologist author. By the time they're 10 or 11, it's too late.

He's talking about budding psychopaths; the truly bad kids who mature into impervious killers. They are cold and confident, totally void of empathy or affection, thrill seekers aiming for power and domination. They begin to victimize early on, often torturing, killing, and mutilating animals before moving to humans. The smart ones learn kindness and sensitivity, and then play them as weaknesses to be exploited. Some are remarkably creative and some disarmingly charming until they switch, suddenly, to savages.

We are rarely, if ever, prepared for them Dr. Kellerman writes, because the psychopath's capacity for cruelty is beyond our comprehension. They're not crazy; they simply have no morals or feelings for others. Their crimes make perfect sense, to them. He's talking about Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold, Mitchell Johnson & Andrew Golden, Kipland Kinkel, and the grown-up versions that include Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, and the Unabomber. We read about them and crave further information because we can't understand why they are like that. What went wrong?

This bold book offers the answer that some combination of genetic abnormality and an extremely stressful home environment may have caused moral development to go awry. Genetic possibilities include a high level of testosterone (which can boost aggression), or some irregularity in the anterior part of the brain (which can affect emotion, reasoning, and aggression). Severe abuse or abandonment can also cause a young child to switch off his nervous system in an effort to numb psychic and physical pain. The important point is that psychopathic tendencies begin early in life, and must be countered before adolescence, when morality and behavior patterns are solidly in place. The killing kids we see in the news never got help.

What can we do? Conventional psychotherapy is useless, Dr. Kellerman notes, because it depends on a desire to change, which psychopaths don't have. Potential psychopaths can be identified, he argues, and there are techniques that can help if applied when the child is 6 or 7 or 8.

First of all, high-risk children need to be placed in a tightly structured, positive environment where punishment is infrequent and noncorporal. Second, nonviolent behavior must be taught continually, by caring adults who grant rewards for success in areas such as courtesy, empathy, kindness, peaceful problem-solving, and academic achievement.

Yes, it's straight behavior modification, and Dr. Kellerman claims it works when used properly and consistently with young children, along with treatment for genetic abnormalities.

Political solutions such as banning violent entertainment will not deter psychopaths, neither will reciting The Lord's Prayer in school. Keeping assault weapons out of their hands will reduce the number of bodies, but the author contends that the most effective and cheapest solution is to identify and treat this small group of psychopathic kids. Such action can curb the rise of youth violence and diminish the number of serial killings and mass murders.

What this psychologist says makes sense, though its hard for me to think of any children as utterly evil. Possibly because I've never met one. At least I don't think so. But the news proves they exist. I study their inscrutable faces, read of their horrible work, and see the results in bloody color. Something must be done to help kids grow up better.

There are programs that have proven effective. Yet our society is reluctant to label any kids as bad, and few dare to suggest pulling them from regular classrooms for special treatment. Fewer parents would permit it when it's their kids selected. Still, we pay for our reluctance to act with episodes like Columbine High School and all the future tragedies we have yet to know.

I don't have a specific program to push, or a method for identifying such lost souls. Psychologists, I believe, are working on those issues. Writing violent poems, email, and essays, or dressing in black, probably aren't reliable indicators by themselves. However, an accumulation of cruel and other anti-social behaviors may work to identify those who need help. And if Dr.Kellerman is right, the process needs to begin by kindergarten. I will heartily support promising intervention programs for psychopathic kids as they become available. I hope you will too.

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