People are advocating the death penalty for Pyschopaths; but how do we help them before it is too late?

Question

I work with a young boy who displays Pyschopathic tendencies. Frankly he scares me stiff, but he has committed no crime that we know of as yet.
So how should we deal with him?
I forsee that he will in the future. At 8 years old he is a master manipulator.

Answer 1

Aren't all children psychopathic to some degree?

They all have some desire for instant gratification while their personality is developing. It's up to those providing care to teach social skills and show how decent society works. Unfortunately even when this does happen some little b@st@rds turn in to big b@st@rds.

Answer 2

The death penalty is not a solution. This boy should be seeing a good psychologist, with a speciality in his problems. Mostly, this is something that responds to behavior modification methodology and often is not improved until a bad act produces a very bad result for the boy.

Answer 3

You cannot execute anyone for what they might do because that would be a matter of being convicted on a perception. I agree that these people are very scary because there is no cure - they are not technically insane. Unfortunately, as the law stands, they cannot be locked up until they harm someone. However, unless you are medically trained it is easy to write off someone as a psycho when they may be simply suffering from a treatable mental illness.

Answer 4

A question like that cannot be answered on here.
I assume this boy has a psychiatrist/psychologist working with him. They are trained to deal and treat people with mental illness.

Answer 5

it's all relative. .. surrounding,... other peers... find a more experienced manipulator for the "good side" to work on him.