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Tag Archives: social construction of illness
Psychopaths. A successful adaptation?
Psychopathic behavior is hard to think about in any other way but deviant. If we forget about the socially constructed ideas which Psychopaths deviate from, we can see that this difference in behavior may be beneficial to the individuals themselves. This article highlights the idea that Psychopaths may have physically adapted In order to survive in a world where manipulation and lack of loyalty can give them an advantage. A lack of devotion to one’s partner will allow a psychopath to have many mates in one lifetime, thus carrying on their traits. The lack of empathy and an extremely narcissistic attitude can also allow psychopaths to become successful.
The article also points out that a disorder is defined as something which inhibits the ability for a human to adhere to its most basic nature, which, at its heart, is the ability to reproduce. Therefore, psychopathy should not be defined as a disorder, but a reproductive advantage. It’s interesting to think of psychopathy from this standpoint because if we look at how psychopaths function, it seems beneficial to them. In reality, the forces which inhibit a psychopath’s success are social norms and more importantly, laws. But, without these laws, a psychopath would truly thrive.
This psychopathic behavior is beneficial for the individual rather than the group and can only exist if the majority of people are empathetic and trusting of others. Therefore, it begs the question, would a society where only psychopaths (or what we define as psychopaths) exist be functional?
Posted in Assignment 3
Tagged crime, criminals, psychopaths, social construction of illness, sociopaths
14 Comments
Sidewalk Rage is real!
Hey guys. After we left class on monday I was thinking deeper into the social construction of illnesses and the first connection I made was to something I remembered seeing on the news a couple weeks ago. Well with alittle online-searching I found an article (actually a few!) reporting it.
I chose this article out of all the others mainly because it appeared on The Wall Street Journal, a pretty reputable, popular and wide spread publication that reaches millions of people. To summarize, the important parts of the article pretty much say that we now have developed the concept of “sidewalk rage” and defined it as something that, in extreme cases, can signal a psychiatric condition known as “intermittent explosive disorder”. Sidewalk rage is “real” and one scientist has even gone to the extent to develop a “Pedestrian Aggressiveness Syndrome Scale” to help classify the levels of rage people experience. The article mentions how scientists are trying to figure out what it is that really makes people angry so that when it becomes a personal problem it can be helped. “When your emotionally upset, your impared,” says Dr. Leon James from the article (which is perhaps why scientists and doctors are exploring this concept more). The article then goes on to give symptoms, scenarios, and suggestive tips for you to keep your cool on the sidewalk and help prevent sidewalk rage.
OK, to me, this is ridiculous. This is New York City, the streets are crowded, its summertime and hot out, if your in a rush and getting slowed down by a mob of tourists I’m sure EVERYONE has felt frustrated! I believe these are normal, natural feelings given our location and lifestyle! For society to minimize something all the way down to “sidewalk rage” and even associate it at all with a medical condition really seems stupid. Millions of men and women are getting brainwashed with this and can then perhaps use it as an excuse to justify their behavior they do something rash; especially if their reasoning has medical associations! Dont get me wrong if someone is getting mad at people on the sidewalk non stop/everyday I definitely think it could be abnormal (because honestly, its not THAT big of a deal!) but to me, “sidewalk rage” is fake and if its that much of an issue its just plain old rage and will most likely be exhibited in other scenarios throughout life and should be treated for those reasons of its own.
