0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find disturbing.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09The modern-day psychopath is often characterised as
0:00:09 > 0:00:11the stuff of nightmares.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Whether they love Chianti or crossbows,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Hollywood has no shortage
0:00:16 > 0:00:21of these charismatic, violent and impulsive monsters.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25If I were to tattoo myself for everybody I hurt,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27my whole face would have tears.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32We have a strange liking, even a romantic hankering,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34for these predators.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Shocking, given what they are capable of.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40I'm not going to lie, I do enjoy fighting.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43It's the only therapy I get.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47It is estimated that somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000
0:00:47 > 0:00:50psychopaths live in Britain today.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53The chances are you've come across one.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56You just don't know it.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I'm Professor Uta Frith, I'm a psychologist,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02and I've long been puzzled
0:01:02 > 0:01:06by the chilling condition we call psychopathy.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Psychopaths seem to exist
0:01:08 > 0:01:11far beyond the realm of normal social behaviour.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13On occasion,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15my research has touched on psychopathy
0:01:15 > 0:01:19but I want to find out much more about this complex condition.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23So I'm going to meet the leading experts in the field
0:01:23 > 0:01:27to discover what makes a psychopath.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Nobody's born a psychopath.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36However, it is very clear that there are big individual differences
0:01:36 > 0:01:38that are driven by your genetics
0:01:38 > 0:01:41that make the child develop psychopathically.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44These studies have been able to show us
0:01:44 > 0:01:47what areas of the brain are involved in psychopathic traits,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50how long they might have taken to develop and get that way.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53I'm going to delve into the psychopathic mind...
0:01:53 > 0:01:57A lot of these people will project an aura of self-confidence
0:01:57 > 0:02:00that, I think, to many of us, myself included,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02can often be quite appealing.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05..and discover whether you can turn a psychopath
0:02:05 > 0:02:08away from the dark side.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12What we've learned in the lab is the first step towards developing
0:02:12 > 0:02:15possible treatments for psychopathy.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29In this film, Horizon went to Indiana State Prison.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32With the help of the prison psychiatrist,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35four inmates were chosen to be interviewed,
0:02:35 > 0:02:40and these four men told very openly and explicitly
0:02:40 > 0:02:42about the crimes they committed,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and some of these are very dark acts indeed.
0:02:46 > 0:02:47So be prepared.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50These interviews are very graphic,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53and some of them very disturbing.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58My name is Ryan Klug.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01And I've killed someone.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04She said, "What are you doing to me?"
0:03:05 > 0:03:08And I said, "Drop the knife.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10"No-one needs to get hurt."
0:03:10 > 0:03:12And she dropped it. But...
0:03:14 > 0:03:16..I continued to choke her.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Yeah, I slit her throat
0:03:19 > 0:03:22and I stabbed her in the heart.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27My name is Robert Bruce Sonneborn Jr.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Humans are creatures of habit.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34Find the weakness.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39The back of your neck is the weakest spot on your body.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42So I hit them there.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45One of the officers was in a coma for two days,
0:03:45 > 0:03:50and when he got out, he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54I am Joshua Michael Wright.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56I did strangle a friend.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Afterwards, I did something to her, too.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03PROFESSOR FRITH: What did you do afterwards?
0:04:03 > 0:04:05I guess you could say I...
0:04:05 > 0:04:07fornicated her.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12My name's Mark Moye.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17I was looking at kids, little girls, like, small women.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20That's all they were good for, was,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23my little gratification and be done with it.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25But I never hurt them.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I never...went all the way with any child.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It was always... It was oral.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36That's where it stopped.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Throughout this film, we will be revisiting these interviews
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and explore why these men committed these abominable crimes,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and how they feel about them now.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51We did try to get access to psychopaths in British institutions,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55but unfortunately, regulations in the UK made it impossible.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01However, we did correspond with one of this country's
0:05:01 > 0:05:05most notorious psychopaths, Moors murderer...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Ian Brady.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14We corresponded with Brady until a few months before his death,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19and these letters also give us an insight into the psychopathic mind.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24I still remember to this day the crimes committed by Brady
0:05:24 > 0:05:29and his accomplice Myra Hindley for being so shockingly cruel.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34Assault, torture, murder of five children.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38And, yet, although we asked him directly
0:05:38 > 0:05:42in these letters, he never even mentions his crimes.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48It turns out Brady was a prolific letter writer -
0:05:48 > 0:05:52to the press, to the families of his victims -
0:05:52 > 0:05:55and he even published a book of his letters.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59I think he enjoyed the attention his correspondence gave him.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03He was very articulate.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06He always apologised about his handwriting
0:06:06 > 0:06:09but his grammar and spelling were excellent.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11He was well read.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Referring to Shakespeare,
0:06:14 > 0:06:19and he said that he'd read the complete works of William Blake.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24But, importantly, if you didn't know who'd written them,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28you would never guess that these letters
0:06:28 > 0:06:31were written by a psychopathic serial killer.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37How can a man commit such awful crimes and yet,
0:06:37 > 0:06:42in so many other aspects of his life, appear completely normal?
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Analysing these letters in more detail
0:06:45 > 0:06:47alongside our prison interviews
0:06:47 > 0:06:50can help us answer this question -
0:06:50 > 0:06:53what makes a psychopath?
0:06:59 > 0:07:02This is the Bethlem Museum of the Mind.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05It charts the history of Bethlem Royal Hospital,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07one of the oldest institutions in the world
0:07:07 > 0:07:11to specialise in the care of the mentally ill.
0:07:11 > 0:07:17I've come here to meet forensic psychiatrist Professor Jeremy Coid.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Her mental disorder was hysterical mania.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22Yes.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Historically referred to as Bedlam, the hospital was notorious.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Violent patients were sometimes chained up, isolated, even starved.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38So, this, of course, is the horror, physical restraint,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41the infamous straitjacket.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45VOICEOVER: Fortunately, mental health care has come a long way
0:07:45 > 0:07:47since its earliest beginnings.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50But despite these advancements,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53certain conditions, like psychopathy,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57proved difficult to diagnose and even more so to manage,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01as Jeremy's long experience in the field can attest.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06A terrible case I saw of a man already serving a life sentence
0:08:06 > 0:08:08suddenly gets it into as head
0:08:08 > 0:08:10that he wants to eat this other prisoner.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13So, two men murder the chap.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16But once they see the intestines...
0:08:18 > 0:08:22..effectively said, "Oh, I don't think we fancy eating that today."
0:08:22 > 0:08:24It's really as trivial as that.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Meanwhile, they say,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30"Well, you know, while we're waiting for the police to arrive,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33"do you think you could make us a cup of tea?"
0:08:33 > 0:08:39But being a violent killer doesn't simply make someone a psychopath.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42They're not all criminals.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45In fact, the majority of serial killers are not psychopaths.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49That's a really important thing to be aware of.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51So, how do you diagnose a psychopath?
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Well, the gold standard in terms of a diagnostic instrument
0:08:55 > 0:08:58is the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03This checklist has 20 traits that psychiatrists look for.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07The first thing you rate is whether they are glib and superficial.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Somebody with the gift of the gab in the way that they relate to you.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15The next thing is that they are grandiose.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17It's not that they're just a mere bighead,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21but there's something more extreme about this.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24The next thing is you see in their history
0:09:24 > 0:09:26a sort of proneness to becoming bored
0:09:26 > 0:09:28and a need for stimulation.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32They've a life where they seem to need an adrenaline rush.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35So, moving around from place to place.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40And they have a lack of remorse and no guilt.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43They say...they profess that they feel very guilty,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46but, actually, it's not terribly convincing.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50The combination of all these character traits
0:09:50 > 0:09:52creates a perfect storm
0:09:52 > 0:09:57so that psychopaths are 15 times more likely to commit crimes
0:09:57 > 0:10:00that land them in prison than non-psychopaths.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04The other thing you find in their lives sometimes
0:10:04 > 0:10:07is that criminality starts at an early age.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09So, juvenile delinquency.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12And last of all...
0:10:12 > 0:10:15versatility in their criminal behaviour.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20So, it's a history of sex offending, there's theft,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22there's public order offences.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26There's serious violence, there's minor violence.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28You find all sorts of different offences
0:10:28 > 0:10:30in their criminal histories.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Psychiatrists conduct lengthy interviews
0:10:33 > 0:10:36to rate and score each of these traits.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42You can score zero - it's just not there - 1 is there a bit,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44or 2 is definitely present.
0:10:44 > 0:10:51So, there's 20 items, and so it is theoretically possible to score 40.
0:10:51 > 0:10:5630 is supposed to be at that point or above
0:10:56 > 0:10:59that you are a psychopath.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03All of us could score some points on this scale.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07- Is that worrying?- Um, a lot of us can score a few.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Actually, the majority of the population will score zero.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Given the complex nature of the human mind,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19a psychiatric diagnosis is a problematic undertaking.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25You can't glibly, like a psychopath, slap a label on somebody.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28You've got to get to know this individual
0:11:28 > 0:11:30before you begin to realise
0:11:30 > 0:11:32that there's something terribly, terribly wrong.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38The four inmates at Indiana State Prison
0:11:38 > 0:11:42demonstrate a variety of these psychopathic traits.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45I do things just to see the outcome.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48I would break in a house,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51take over the family,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55tie them up, and I would rave out their house for a weekend.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Stealing cars started becoming an adrenaline rush.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03Smuggling the Mexicans across the border, that's an adrenaline rush.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05And I started living for that more than anything.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08I'm not going to lie, I do enjoy fighting.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11It's the only therapy I get.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14It's the only outlet that's really here.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19I've smashed about three different people's faces into concrete steel
0:12:19 > 0:12:22where they couldn't be recognised for three weeks.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26I don't feel bad, because it was necessary.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32The officer that I put into the coma, he just didn't stay down.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I kept hitting him.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36I knew they were going to get hurt,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39but I didn't think I'd have to go that far.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41How did you look at them?
0:12:41 > 0:12:43An obstacle.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I mean, they're still people, but if you're in my way,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50then you need to be moved.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Everybody else is run by everybody else's feelings and emotions.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Why care?
0:12:57 > 0:13:00I mean, you can't look at everybody as a person all the time
0:13:00 > 0:13:02or else you'd never do anything.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Feelings get in the way.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07They stop every action before you think about them.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12The traits of psychopathy are as diverse as they are shocking.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16A huge variety of deplorable characteristics.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18But where do they come from?
0:13:18 > 0:13:22How does someone develop such a reckless view of the world
0:13:22 > 0:13:24and the people in it?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26To understand this,
0:13:26 > 0:13:27we must not look at criminals
0:13:27 > 0:13:31but at children whose lives have barely begun.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Emotion is arguably the single greatest force
0:13:42 > 0:13:44driving human behaviour,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49and it's something that Professor Essi Viding has studied extensively
0:13:49 > 0:13:53in young children. She believes it's children's ability to comprehend
0:13:53 > 0:13:57and understand certain emotions, not their behaviour,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00that is the key precursor to psychopathy.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06So, Essi, we were just observing the children chasing each other.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09What was it that we were seeing?
0:14:09 > 0:14:10Well, we've witnessed the children
0:14:10 > 0:14:13effortlessly reading each other's emotions,
0:14:13 > 0:14:18and those emotions gave their cues as to how to behave, what to do.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20So, if we display cues of being scared,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23for instance, that's a strong sign to somebody else
0:14:23 > 0:14:26that what they're doing is unpleasant and they should stop.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28And if we look happy,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30it's a sign that the other person
0:14:30 > 0:14:32should keep on doing what they're doing
0:14:32 > 0:14:34because it's giving us pleasure.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37It is something that we pick up from very early on in life,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39and we use throughout our lives
0:14:39 > 0:14:43to make sure that we are tuned to other people and their needs.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44Absolutely.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51To see this process in action, Essi uses a simple test.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Pick me the face that looks happy.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55I think this one.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Remarkably, children can read other people's emotions
0:14:58 > 0:15:01from the first few months of life.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05And which one of the faces is looking scared?
0:15:05 > 0:15:07- He's scaring him.- Yes!
0:15:07 > 0:15:11And it's this ability to read emotions
0:15:11 > 0:15:14that helps them to moderate their behaviour towards others.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24But Essi noticed that children classified by psychologists
0:15:24 > 0:15:29as callous and unemotional did not do so well on the test,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33especially when it came to recognising
0:15:33 > 0:15:35faces that looked scared.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41When we give these sort of face pictures to children
0:15:41 > 0:15:44who lack empathy and lack remorse,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48we find that these children have difficulty in recognising emotions
0:15:48 > 0:15:52- and in resonating with other people's emotions.- Wow.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Essi believes it's because these callous and unemotional children
0:15:57 > 0:16:01don't feel certain emotions themselves, such as fear,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05that they struggle to recognise them in other people,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09and it's a trait that continues into adulthood.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11A few years back I was using
0:16:11 > 0:16:15an emotion-recognition test with prisoners,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19and an inmate who had very high levels of psychopathic traits
0:16:19 > 0:16:22was watching a fear face
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and had some trouble naming it and eventually said,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28"Well, I'm not quite sure what to call this face
0:16:28 > 0:16:31"but it's how people look like just before you stab them."
0:16:31 > 0:16:33And what was really, really curious
0:16:33 > 0:16:37was this absolute detachment with which he talked about
0:16:37 > 0:16:40this other person's extreme distress.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Gosh, it is quite frightening.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44It is.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51Essi showed that the origin of these emotional deficits was in the genes.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54CHILDREN LAUGH
0:16:54 > 0:16:58It's never a simple story in every human trait,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01but our research very clearly showed
0:17:01 > 0:17:04that children who lacked the ability to empathise with others
0:17:04 > 0:17:07have a strong genetic predisposition to being that way.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09This predisposition probably
0:17:09 > 0:17:12interacts with some environmental factors,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15so nobody's born a psychopath.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19However, it is very clear that there are big individual differences
0:17:19 > 0:17:22that are driven by your genetics
0:17:22 > 0:17:26that make the child develop anti-socially and psychopathically.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Just as our eye colour is determined long before we are born,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34inherited from our parents,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36so, too, it appears,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39is our predisposition for psychopathic traits.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43What were you like when you were growing up?
0:17:43 > 0:17:45My conduct wasn't always great, you know?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47My moral compass wasn't really...
0:17:48 > 0:17:51I guess it wasn't really on anything,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53so I didn't know...
0:17:54 > 0:17:58..a lot of what I was doing and the right and wrong, but I have...
0:17:59 > 0:18:02..over 100 family members, or more,
0:18:02 > 0:18:03and I was...
0:18:04 > 0:18:06..not good enough for them,
0:18:06 > 0:18:11so they pretty much shunned me since I was about eight or nine.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14My interaction with people was socially awkward.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17I couldn't really connect with many kids.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20No matter how much I tried to fit in with anybody, it never worked out.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23So I always did stay apart. I was always...
0:18:24 > 0:18:26..different, I guess.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31I was the first born, so, you know, I started out all right.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34But then, as I started to get older, I noticed I was...
0:18:34 > 0:18:37out of place, for less of a better term.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40I mean, I excelled at everything.
0:18:40 > 0:18:46I had a 4.0 grade average for most of my schooling career.
0:18:46 > 0:18:47I...
0:18:49 > 0:18:52I got into trouble cos I was bored.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55It's because I was always done before everybody else.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58I got suspended a couple of times.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02A lot of times. So then I'd be sent home and get in trouble at home.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Who knows whether the behaviour these men showed as children
0:19:07 > 0:19:10played any role in the crimes they committed later.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15Perhaps, with the most caring parents in the world,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18their behaviour could have been mitigated.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24But, for many, the environment they grew up in is not so kind.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37This is Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41It is one of the most progressive,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44secure psychiatric facilities in America.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48A last resort for the state's most violent
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and emotionally disturbed adolescents.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59The facility is led by its director, Dr Gregory Van Rybroek.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03We've had this programme for about 20 years,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and, typically, we take kids who are not adjusting well
0:20:07 > 0:20:09in high-security juvenile corrections.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14They've committed a lot of armed robbery or gang involvement,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18a lot of drug involvement, lots of different violent crimes,
0:20:18 > 0:20:19including homicide.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24These boys may be too young to be diagnosed as psychopaths
0:20:24 > 0:20:27but many of them have already been classified
0:20:27 > 0:20:29as callous and unemotional.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Before they're placed inside an institution,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35they've a lot of social deficits, such as interpersonal problems,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39inability to make friends. They may have hurt animals,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42don't have a great sense of consequences.
0:20:42 > 0:20:48Many of these youths don't have a high degree of empathy and concern
0:20:48 > 0:20:52for the pain and suffering of other people.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54They have an idea of what is right and what is wrong,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57but don't seem to mind choosing what is wrong.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Damien is one such boy.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07His relationship with the state correctional department
0:21:07 > 0:21:10started when he began taking knives to school.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14It got increasingly more serious when he developed a drug habit.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17I was 15.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20I needed money so I started going out burglarising houses,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24robbing people. I'd strip the whole house.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Take it anywhere to get money.
0:21:26 > 0:21:32After I get the money, buy what I want - food, clothes, drugs.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34More guns.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Just getting into it felt like I was a badass,
0:21:38 > 0:21:39do whatever I want.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Gregory believes that many of Mendota's inmates
0:21:43 > 0:21:47were simply unlucky that they grew up in an environment
0:21:47 > 0:21:51almost designed to nurture criminal behaviour.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Something that the local police department see regularly
0:21:59 > 0:22:00on their patrols.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03There is an incredible amount of drug sales that are here.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06The gang members will sometimes take over the park and then of course
0:22:06 > 0:22:10it happens right around when the younger kids are also there
0:22:10 > 0:22:11so the younger kids are learning.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14This is where their role models are.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17The majority of the youth at Mendota
0:22:17 > 0:22:19were raised in challenged neighbourhoods like this.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25There's a lot of substance abuse, there's a lot of alcoholism,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28and we have a lot of shootings here.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32In the households I've been in, it's just unreal sometimes.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Deprived neighbourhoods are found right across the world,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42and children raised in them are often exposed to crime,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45abuse, violence and neglect -
0:22:45 > 0:22:47a devastating combination
0:22:47 > 0:22:50that can push callous and unemotional children
0:22:50 > 0:22:54into becoming very dangerous individuals indeed.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Perhaps this helps explain why paedophile Mark Moye has committed
0:23:00 > 0:23:02such dreadful acts.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04My childhood,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06my real mother,
0:23:06 > 0:23:08she had psychological problems.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10She held a knife to my neck.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13She tried to kill me when I was a few months old
0:23:13 > 0:23:15by throwing me down some stairs.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18I watched a lot of death in my life.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23I had a cousin get his head blown off when I was 16.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29I heard a loud pop, and I just felt warm, sticky fluid on my face
0:23:29 > 0:23:31and on my pants,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33and he was dead.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Just like that.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37That was my problem.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40I saw a little too much, more than most should have.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45My dad sexually abused me, physically abused me.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49He would rub his dick all over my face,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52make me give him oral.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58And my dad really cared for me when he was doing nasty things to me.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00You know, he loved me then.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02But once his...
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Once he climaxed and got off...
0:24:07 > 0:24:11I was back to busting dishes
0:24:11 > 0:24:13and cutting the yard.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17So I'm what to my dad made me.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20My childhood pretty much consists of
0:24:20 > 0:24:22anything and everything that was wrong.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26If what this man is saying is true,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28he had a monstrous upbringing.
0:24:28 > 0:24:33But we mustn't forget, many people are abused as children
0:24:33 > 0:24:35and do not become psychopaths.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I think he was dealt a terrible hand in life,
0:24:38 > 0:24:43an awful environment, and going by the parents' behaviour,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47he inherited their predisposition, too.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50But regardless of which factors are to blame,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53research suggests that the brains
0:24:53 > 0:24:56of psychopaths are physiologically different,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58not just from ordinary people
0:24:58 > 0:25:03but different from the brains of other violent criminals.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Dr Kent Kiehl is a pioneer,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16an explorer of unchartered territories.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22He's trying to map the twists and turns of the psychopathic brain,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26and to do that, he has toured all across America.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34So, we built this unique mobile MRI scanner
0:25:34 > 0:25:36and put it in a 50-foot trailer,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39and we've been able to use that system
0:25:39 > 0:25:41to access and study prisoners.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45So we've taken it to eight prisons in two states,
0:25:45 > 0:25:52and scanned nearly 5,000 different inmates over the last eight years.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57This allowed Kent to navigate around the criminal brain.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00He observed brain activity
0:26:00 > 0:26:05as inmates viewed offensive images and answered provocative questions.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08They ranged from very simple all the way to very, you know,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11the worst possible kind of moral behaviour.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Some pictures were just neutral pictures -
0:26:13 > 0:26:15pictures of landscapes, etc -
0:26:15 > 0:26:19some pictures are of emotional things, like maybe a car crash.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21And then there's other pictures that are clearly something
0:26:21 > 0:26:23that is high moral content,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27like a Ku Klux Klan picture of people burning a cross,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32and questions like, "How do you feel about killing your mother?"
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Kent focused his studies on a very discrete area of the brain.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41The areas that we're really interested in for psychopathy
0:26:41 > 0:26:44are these areas above the eyes, called the orbitofrontal cortex,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46an area deep in there called the amygdala,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49the little brain's amplifier, that helps to, you know,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52raise awareness or process anything in the environment
0:26:52 > 0:26:56that might be important - so distressed faces, fearful faces,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58snakes or other types of things -
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and then this cingulate cortex here that runs all the way around.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03This is a whole part of the limbic lobe.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05And together, we refer to this circuitry
0:27:05 > 0:27:08as the paralimbic circuitry of the brain.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15He found that, compared to other violent criminals,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17psychopaths show clear differences
0:27:17 > 0:27:21in both the structure and function of this area of the brain.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27American psychopath and serial killer Brian Dugan
0:27:27 > 0:27:29proved the perfect test case.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32They found that, like other individuals
0:27:32 > 0:27:34who score high on psychopathy,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Brian had less grey matter in those limbic structures,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41in particular the areas right above the eyes, that orbitofrontal cortex,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and we also found that Brian has a very dampened kind of response,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46less reactivity in those circuits,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48so he was basically an exact prototype
0:27:48 > 0:27:52that fit the topology of how we understand the psychopathic brain.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58Kent's study found that psychopaths have around 7% less grey matter
0:27:58 > 0:28:01in the limbic system of the brain than non-psychopaths,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05as well as significant differences in brain activity.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10It is still unclear as to whether the psychopath makes the brain,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13or the brain makes the psychopath.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17But, like other neuroscientists,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Kent believes the data cannot be ignored.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23The brain data truly is the ground truth.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Your psychopathy score comes from your brain and, so,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29if we can quantify the brain and decode it in such a way,
0:28:29 > 0:28:33we can develop treatments that fix them, that remediate them.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36This work may still be in its infancy
0:28:36 > 0:28:40but we must not underestimate the importance of proving the link
0:28:40 > 0:28:45between the physiology of the brain and psychopathic behaviour.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Could these brain differences
0:28:52 > 0:28:56explain why the inmates in Indiana behaved as they did?
0:28:56 > 0:29:00The door was left open sometimes for me to come over.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05And I simply reacted as an animal would
0:29:05 > 0:29:09and lashed out and...got my release.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11It had a terrible price.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13And I did strangle her.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18And I guess afterwards I did something to her, too.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23What did you do afterwards?
0:29:25 > 0:29:27I guess you could say I...
0:29:27 > 0:29:29fornicated her.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35I had no control that night, really.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39I didn't even know what I was doing until it was happening.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44It's like a surreal dream, is what it felt to me at that time.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46I'm not depreciating it was violent.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50I'm just saying it wasn't something that was intentional.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52It's a tragedy that I cannot change.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57Adaobi was a professional woman
0:29:57 > 0:30:01and, you know, I just wanted to be room-mates.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04I wish I could give you a sense of the kind of paranoia that I felt.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07I was surfing the channel guide, and it said,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10"Redneck, kill her. Kill her."
0:30:11 > 0:30:12And...
0:30:12 > 0:30:14HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
0:30:14 > 0:30:17..I thought it might be a way to end my paranoia.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19So I choked her...
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and stabbed her in the heart...
0:30:24 > 0:30:27..and slit her throat,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31because the television said, "Kill her, make sure she's dead."
0:30:33 > 0:30:36You know? I wasn't thinking, "Why am I doing this?"
0:30:36 > 0:30:38I was just doing it.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40I let her bleed out on the floor,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43and then I fled to Texas.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46I remember I was downtown, I was at a bar.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49I just picked up a girl that I met there.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52Some people might say it's quite extraordinary
0:30:52 > 0:30:55that, after committing that kind of crime,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58that you can go out in a bar and pick up a girl.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00What would you say to that?
0:31:00 > 0:31:02Well, I was trying to start a new life.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05You know, if I couldn't work again,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07I needed to find someone who could work again.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09So part of me was just being logical.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16It's difficult to listen to stories of callous rape and murder
0:31:16 > 0:31:18and not be horrified,
0:31:18 > 0:31:23yet I also feel a degree of sympathy for the psychopath.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25If you're born with the inability
0:31:25 > 0:31:28to resonate with other people's emotions,
0:31:28 > 0:31:33is psychopathy always the inevitable destination?
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Is there no escape?
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Perhaps.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40But is there also hope?
0:31:40 > 0:31:43Can psychopathy be cured?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51The threat of incarceration has never worked
0:31:51 > 0:31:53as a deterrent to the psychopath.
0:31:53 > 0:32:00So, instead, clinicians have long tried to fix the psychopathic mind.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04One approach was trialled with the predator and child serial killer
0:32:04 > 0:32:10David Krueger, interviewed here by the BBC in 2000.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13In the strangling of children,
0:32:13 > 0:32:17I found a degree and a sensation of pleasure
0:32:17 > 0:32:20and of accomplishment that I didn't feel anywhere else.
0:32:23 > 0:32:2440 years ago,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Krueger took part in intensive patient-led group therapy
0:32:28 > 0:32:33in an attempt to cure his psychopathic impulses.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Patients like Krueger took part
0:32:38 > 0:32:42in over 80 hours of group therapy a week.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46The aim was to create an environment where they could develop empathy
0:32:46 > 0:32:49and take responsibility for each other.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54They engaged in discussions about their offences, their backgrounds,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57their motivation and their feelings.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Those patients who performed particularly well
0:33:01 > 0:33:03even got to lead therapy sessions,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06and they could advise on other patients,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09whether they were transferred or released.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13What's this group for, anyways?
0:33:13 > 0:33:14This group is for you.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17For you to talk, to get you to change your behaviour.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21To further encourage communication among the patients,
0:33:21 > 0:33:26a range of mind-altering drugs were administered, including LSD.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30I have a lot of hate in me and I don't know why, you know?
0:33:32 > 0:33:35The team behind the treatment were hopeful
0:33:35 > 0:33:39that their unique type of therapy had helped the psychopaths,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42but they were quickly proved wrong.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44In 1991,
0:33:44 > 0:33:50during the first hour of his very first pass
0:33:50 > 0:33:56to a medium-security hospital, David Krueger murdered another patient.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00I just wanted to know what it felt like to kill somebody.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03- INTERVIEWER:- But you'd already killed three people.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Yes, but that was years and years and years ago.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10And he wasn't alone in reoffending violently, post-therapy.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16It turned out that the psychopaths at Oak Ridge
0:34:16 > 0:34:18who had undergone group therapy
0:34:18 > 0:34:24were MORE likely to reoffend violently than those who had not.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34The findings at Oak Ridge were deeply dismaying.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39People had long suspected that psychopaths were incurable
0:34:39 > 0:34:43but had never considered that this type of group therapy
0:34:43 > 0:34:46could actually make them even more violent.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50The question is - why?
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Researchers who conducted this study
0:34:55 > 0:34:57suggested that group therapy
0:34:57 > 0:35:01actually provided the cunning psychopath
0:35:01 > 0:35:04a lot of really useful information -
0:35:04 > 0:35:08how to perceive subtle emotions, how to use emotional language,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10how to fit into the group.
0:35:10 > 0:35:15All this is incredibly useful for the psychopaths
0:35:15 > 0:35:19to fit in really smoothly into society.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24Non-psychopathic inmates in the facility
0:35:24 > 0:35:29used these skills to adjust back into family life, work and so on
0:35:29 > 0:35:31in the outside world.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33But not so the psychopaths.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39For the patients at Oak Ridge,
0:35:39 > 0:35:44group therapy became a kind of empathy finishing school...
0:35:45 > 0:35:48..and it allowed the psychopaths
0:35:48 > 0:35:50to learn to lie even better,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53and manipulate others for their own gain.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58It enabled them to wear the mask of sanity.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03Psychiatrists have learned from the mistakes at Oak Ridge.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Today, therapy based on proven science
0:36:07 > 0:36:11and carried out by trained professionals can help.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18For those inmates incarcerated in Indiana,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21therapy has had mixed results.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24I got a therapist that I see...
0:36:24 > 0:36:27Truth be told, I can sit down with her every single day,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30from this day until the day I get out of here,
0:36:30 > 0:36:32and I still won't be right in the head.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34It's not just me in this body,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36it's another personality.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Because he rules my mind, and it's literally...
0:36:40 > 0:36:43I've got an angel over here
0:36:43 > 0:36:45and I've got a devil on this side.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48I see them once a week.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Talk about everything. I mean...
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Not everything, but...
0:36:55 > 0:36:58What's wrong, what's not wrong, what's been going on.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Do you find it helpful?
0:37:02 > 0:37:04It's entertaining.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10I mean... I read body language very well.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12People call it manipulation, but it's not manipulation.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14It's just...being aware.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Although therapy can help to manage someone's behaviour,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24it can never change their personality entirely.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28But there may be another solution that could help.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Dr Molly Crockett has devised a test
0:37:37 > 0:37:42to see how chemical messengers in the brain can alter behaviour -
0:37:42 > 0:37:47a tool that would be fantastic if it worked on the psychopathic brain.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52It involves cold, hard cash
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and a jolt of electricity.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58So, when you're ready, I'm going to deliver a shock.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00In order for the experiment to be tailored accordingly,
0:38:00 > 0:38:04the test subject is having his pain threshold measured.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07That was a nine.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11So, what is the aim of the experiment?
0:38:11 > 0:38:13What we're really interested in is,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16can we quantify how much people
0:38:16 > 0:38:19dislike causing harm to another person?
0:38:21 > 0:38:25Measuring how much harm someone is prepared to inflict
0:38:25 > 0:38:30sounds like an audacious idea, but this experiment does just that.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33This volunteer, known as the decider,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36is faced with multiple scenarios.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41In each, he must choose how much money he would need to be paid
0:38:41 > 0:38:45to give a varying number of electric shocks to another person.
0:38:47 > 0:38:53On this occasion, he must decide between giving two shocks for £15.30
0:38:53 > 0:38:57or an extra 12 shocks for £1 more...
0:38:58 > 0:39:00..which he chooses.
0:39:00 > 0:39:01Ouch!
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Fortunately, he'll never encounter his victim.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08They never meet, and that's very important
0:39:08 > 0:39:11because we want the choices to be confidential.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13We don't want the decider to be making their choices
0:39:13 > 0:39:17based on a concern about looking good in front of other people.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19So the experiment isn't quite finished.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21What's happening next?
0:39:21 > 0:39:24So, one of those choices was randomly selected
0:39:24 > 0:39:27and now we have to implement that outcome.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32This is not simply a thought experiment.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39All right, whenever you're ready to start the shocks, press the S key.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46This task shows just how anti-social some of us can be.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51But the main purpose of the experiment was to see
0:39:51 > 0:39:54how this behaviour changed when half of the volunteers
0:39:54 > 0:39:58were administered the common antidepressant citalopram
0:39:58 > 0:40:00before they took the test.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02You can get it in liquid form, like this.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07This drug basically enhances the action of serotonin in the brain.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11It works by prolonging the amount of time that serotonin can spend
0:40:11 > 0:40:15activating its receptors and sending its message.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Serotonin is a common neurotransmitter
0:40:18 > 0:40:22thought to affect mood and social behaviour.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26So, what did you actually find with the drugs?
0:40:26 > 0:40:28- What did they do? - In the placebo group,
0:40:28 > 0:40:34people on average required about 44p per shock
0:40:34 > 0:40:38to deliver the shocks to somebody else,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41whereas in the citalopram group,
0:40:41 > 0:40:46that increased to about 73p per shock.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51So we had to pay them twice as much to deliver the same amount of pain
0:40:51 > 0:40:53after they received this drug.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55So they became a little bit nicer?
0:40:55 > 0:40:58- Exactly.- A little bit less anti-social.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00- That is remarkable.- Hmm.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Increasing serotonin appears to make people
0:41:03 > 0:41:06more averse to harming others.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10So, what I immediately want to know is,
0:41:10 > 0:41:15is that a hope for treatment of psychopaths?
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Unfortunately, we're quite far from an answer to that question.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21What we're measuring is how people make a trade-off
0:41:21 > 0:41:25between a benefit for themself and harm to somebody else.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28And so what we've learned in the lab is a first step
0:41:28 > 0:41:32towards developing possible treatments for psychopathy.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34But we still have a long way to go.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38We're not, I think, going to be able to make dramatic changes
0:41:38 > 0:41:41in the extreme behaviour of a psychopath
0:41:41 > 0:41:44into the behaviour of a healthy person.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51While chemicals like serotonin can't cure or psychopaths,
0:41:51 > 0:41:56psychoactive medication is routinely used to help manage
0:41:56 > 0:41:58the behaviour of inmates in prison.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02I don't take it every day. I mean...
0:42:02 > 0:42:06I notice in situations that I haven't taken it for three days,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09and it's like, "Damn, I wish I had that buffer.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11"I wish I didn't have to pull myself
0:42:11 > 0:42:13"back from 100 all the way by myself."
0:42:13 > 0:42:17It makes it so I have that one extra millisecond to stop.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22It makes me grey, for less of a better term.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27My lows are real low and my highs are real high,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29but with this I just kind of... deadpan.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36Clearly, medication can alter how people think and behave
0:42:36 > 0:42:40but it's unlikely that it can permanently erase
0:42:40 > 0:42:43deep psychopathic personality traits.
0:42:43 > 0:42:49But perhaps we don't need to change the way psychopaths think at all.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00A harrowing but hypothetical scenario called a moral dilemma
0:43:00 > 0:43:03suggests that, if needed,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06psychopaths can make rational choices,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09even if it is for entirely selfish reasons.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Imagine enemy soldiers have taken over your village
0:43:15 > 0:43:19and they have the orders to kill all remaining civilians.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25You and your baby and a handful of your neighbours have found refuge
0:43:25 > 0:43:27in the basement of your house.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34You can hear the soldiers walking upstairs.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38And then the baby starts to cry.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Ssh-ssh!
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Now, what would you do?
0:43:43 > 0:43:45Would you let the baby cry
0:43:45 > 0:43:49and the soldiers find you and kill everybody?
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Or would you smother the baby
0:43:53 > 0:43:55and save everyone?
0:43:56 > 0:43:59It's a horrible dilemma.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01Ssh-ssh-ssh!
0:44:01 > 0:44:05Now, there's no right or wrong answer to this test.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Some people might say, "Save my baby."
0:44:09 > 0:44:15For others, the rational decision may be to save everyone else.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19I don't think I COULD smother my baby.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21I would have to let everyone die,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23baby included.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29Now, there are people who would make the opposite decision,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32and they can make an amount...
0:44:32 > 0:44:35incredible sacrifice for the greater good.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38So, what about the psychopath?
0:44:38 > 0:44:41They would make exactly the same decision
0:44:41 > 0:44:45but without any struggle they would kill the baby,
0:44:45 > 0:44:51not for the greater good, but because of sheer self-preservation.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56And that's the key in unusual situations -
0:44:56 > 0:45:01where our feelings of empathy might compel us towards disaster,
0:45:01 > 0:45:05psychopaths could make rational choices.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08It suggests some aspects of a psychopathic personality
0:45:08 > 0:45:12can have a valuable role in society.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19Professor Scott Lilienfeld has looked for
0:45:19 > 0:45:21aspects of the psychopathic personality
0:45:21 > 0:45:24in 42 American presidents,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28up to and including George W Bush.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34One suite of traits stood out above all others.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36It's a constellation of traits
0:45:36 > 0:45:39that has been called fearless dominance,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43which is very closely related to physical and social boldness,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47to adaptive risk-taking, to a kind of emotional resilience
0:45:47 > 0:45:51and immunity to stress. Those traits seem to be somewhat elevated
0:45:51 > 0:45:55in the overall sample of US presidents and, also, those traits
0:45:55 > 0:45:59seem to be somewhat predictive of overall presidential performance.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06But it's not just world leaders who seem to score highly
0:46:06 > 0:46:09on some psychopathic traits.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12Being self-confident, being bold,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15those are traits that are probably going to be conducive to
0:46:15 > 0:46:18better functioning in things like the corporate boardroom,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22on Wall Street, in the court room, maybe even the bedroom.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Whether they sit on the other side of your office
0:46:25 > 0:46:26or across the kitchen table,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29these people pervade society.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36If Scott's theory is correct,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38then successful political leaders
0:46:38 > 0:46:42and violence psychopaths are twigs of the same branch.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47They both seek gratification by exerting power over other people.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52The political leader gets it by taking charge of a whole country,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54the pathological psychopath
0:46:54 > 0:46:57by controlling and often harming someone else.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03So, if we are to safely manage the psychopath,
0:47:03 > 0:47:08perhaps we should tap into the mechanics of the mind
0:47:08 > 0:47:10when it is working for reward.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19The team at Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center
0:47:19 > 0:47:22are doing just that.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25They have an experimental programme that offers rewards
0:47:25 > 0:47:27to the young offenders in their care.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31And it's getting results.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35So, this is the unit at MJTC, the Juvenile Treatment Center.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40Every youth has their own room, and there are 29 beds here.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46At first glance, this place looks like an ordinary prison,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48with security at the forefront.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51So, this is the secure nursing station,
0:47:51 > 0:47:55and you can see here, we have a lot of security cameras.
0:47:56 > 0:48:01But the staff on the unit are not just prison officers.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03They're clinically trained as well,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06enabling them to try and rehabilitate
0:48:06 > 0:48:08any budding psychopaths.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12What we're trying to do here at Mendota is create a programme
0:48:12 > 0:48:16that involves a positive reward one day at a time
0:48:16 > 0:48:18called the Today Tomorrow Programme.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22So today's behaviour determines tomorrow's level of privilege.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26By delivering short-term privileges for good behaviour
0:48:26 > 0:48:29and consequences for bad behaviour,
0:48:29 > 0:48:31this programme is an effective way
0:48:31 > 0:48:34to get the young and dangerously violent offenders
0:48:34 > 0:48:36to abide by the rules.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41So our goal here is not necessary to change the personality of the youth.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43If we do, and for the better, hurray.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46What we're really trying to do is improve the behaviour.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52And that improvement comes by targeting their need for reward.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54If we get that behaviour,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57then he gets able to stay up later, extra food,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00extra phone call, more time in the day room.
0:49:00 > 0:49:06If the boys continue to behave, by staying out of fights, for example,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09they earn certificates of appreciation, too.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11What we see here on this wall
0:49:11 > 0:49:15are representations of a young man doing well.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18Each little certificate means that he has done well
0:49:18 > 0:49:21for a week at a time, or even longer, on a daily basis.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Damien is doing well in the programme.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30So, you've been here since November. How does this make you feel,
0:49:30 > 0:49:31this whole wall?
0:49:31 > 0:49:36It makes me feel proud because I worked hard for it.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39With repeated good behaviour,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42he has earned the right to control his radio.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45This is your key. It gets you through everything, basically.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Damien is extremely proud of his work
0:49:50 > 0:49:51in the Today Tomorrow programme.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54It shows the power of positive reinforcement
0:49:54 > 0:49:59and the desire for others to see it and to praise.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01This sets a better foundation
0:50:01 > 0:50:04and a chance for this youth to make it in the world.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08Rewarding criminals for not misbehaving
0:50:08 > 0:50:10may be an uncomfortable idea,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14but this consistent behavioural approach does work,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18allowing the team to treat the boys' psychological issues.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21I was having a lot of anger problems.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23I kept getting the same problem wrong over and over again.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26I ended up flipping my desk and snapped the leg off the table
0:50:26 > 0:50:29and then I ended up turning round and hitting her with it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32- You hit the teacher with the leg that you snapped off?- Yes.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Treatment is tailored to each individual.
0:50:35 > 0:50:41It includes the specific support, therapy and medication they need
0:50:41 > 0:50:43to alter their behaviour.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46You don't come across to me as a kid who would flip a desk.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53It's intensive work, but the results ARE promising.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56This kind of programmed intervention seems to work.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00We found that, over time, that institution behaviour improvement
0:51:00 > 0:51:03actually continues into the world,
0:51:03 > 0:51:07and the community, and predicts lower reoffence rates.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Impressively, on release,
0:51:10 > 0:51:14inmates from Mendota reoffend violently half as much
0:51:14 > 0:51:17as those who have not been through the programme.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19The key seems to be intervening
0:51:19 > 0:51:22whilst these boys are still teenagers.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26That's because they have a very young and immature brain
0:51:26 > 0:51:29that is much more plastic or malleable
0:51:29 > 0:51:31and much more subject to influence.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35That's our best shot at really influencing
0:51:35 > 0:51:38in a way that would stick with them for the remainder of their life.
0:51:39 > 0:51:45The team at Mendota aren't trying to make these young people nice.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47What they're doing is tapping into
0:51:47 > 0:51:49the reward learning mechanisms of the brain
0:51:49 > 0:51:52to deter them from committing future crimes.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04Through the making of this film, it has become clear that psychopathy is
0:52:04 > 0:52:09absolutely not the black-and-white picture that Hollywood paints.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12I believe that psychopaths, more likely than not,
0:52:12 > 0:52:17have been dealt a genetic and environmentally bad hand in life.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Some might argue that we need to do more to intervene
0:52:21 > 0:52:24when these individuals, as children,
0:52:24 > 0:52:28first show signs of being callous and unemotional,
0:52:28 > 0:52:33because if we don't, the consequences can be devastating.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38I know I took her life,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41but, growing up, there was a lot of misguidance
0:52:41 > 0:52:43that didn't allow me to...
0:52:45 > 0:52:49..understand the gravity of what I did until after it happened.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52I know my victims are suffering,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56hostages I took... people I shot at,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59the kids I've messed up, but...
0:53:00 > 0:53:05..please believe, they just...they ain't suffering as much as I am.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10You know, I've lost my job, I've lost my car, I've lost my house,
0:53:10 > 0:53:12I've lost my...my credit.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16You know, everything that I... that people value in the world
0:53:16 > 0:53:20I'm not going to have any more. It's not like I'm a murderer by design.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23I don't go around killing people because I think they deserve it.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25It's, er...
0:53:25 > 0:53:29you know, terribly unfortunate that it happened
0:53:29 > 0:53:31..to Adaobi.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Do you think people would describe you as a psychopath?
0:53:34 > 0:53:35I hope not.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38Narcissistic, maybe.
0:53:38 > 0:53:39Not a psychopath.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41God says I'm not a psychopath.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45I do feel remorse for what I've done.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Do I regret my actions?
0:53:47 > 0:53:51Yes, but not my success.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55And you look at it as a success?
0:53:55 > 0:53:57I completed what I set out to do.
0:53:57 > 0:54:03I'm here for 30 years. I pray for an early death every day.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06I hope God takes me in my sleep,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09but either way I just want to be done with it.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11This life sucked.
0:54:12 > 0:54:18These men prove how difficult it is to identify what makes a psychopath.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20And that's because,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23though they may have demonstrated many of the traits,
0:54:23 > 0:54:27none of them have been clinically diagnosed as psychopaths.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31However, they have been diagnosed with other conditions,
0:54:31 > 0:54:35from antisocial personality disorder to schizophrenia.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38That's the problem with psychopathy -
0:54:38 > 0:54:40it rarely presents itself alone,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44often appearing alongside other psychiatric conditions...
0:54:45 > 0:54:50..as illustrated by child serial killer Ian Brady.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56More than 30 years ago, following a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia,
0:54:56 > 0:54:58which he later said he'd faked,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Ian Brady was moved from prison
0:55:01 > 0:55:04to Ashworth high-security psychiatric hospital.
0:55:04 > 0:55:09And it's Brady's being in this hospital that enabled us
0:55:09 > 0:55:11to enter into a dialogue with him.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15A year before he died, we approached Brady
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and asked to interview him for this programme.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21He declined our invitation to be filmed,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24but he did continue to write to us.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27And here are those letters.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29He even wrote a Christmas card.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34He often lists his good deeds, so here he says,
0:55:34 > 0:55:39"At Durham, Ronnie Kray and I cooked prisoners meals."
0:55:41 > 0:55:46At one point, he talks of winning prizes for his oil paintings.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50He repeatedly talks about how he transcribed books into Braille
0:55:50 > 0:55:53for the blind - grandiose, some might say.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57When asked why he did this kind action,
0:55:57 > 0:56:03he replied that, "A blind stranger outside did a favour for M."
0:56:03 > 0:56:05Who was M?
0:56:05 > 0:56:06Myra Hindley?
0:56:06 > 0:56:08His mother?
0:56:08 > 0:56:10But he also plays the victim.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13He repeatedly complains about
0:56:13 > 0:56:16how he was maltreated by the authorities.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22Brady frequently displays emotion when he doesn't get what he wants,
0:56:22 > 0:56:25but not towards his victims.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30Despite repeated questioning, he shows no remorse for his crimes -
0:56:30 > 0:56:33another classic trait of psychopathy.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36But what I find most interesting
0:56:36 > 0:56:40are Brady's thoughts about morality...
0:56:40 > 0:56:44thoughts he claims he formed during his first stint in prison,
0:56:44 > 0:56:49aged just 17, long before the Moors Murders ever took place.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54He discusses his resolve to emulate
0:56:54 > 0:56:59the legal and moral elasticity of the privileged.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03If political leaders can commit murder in times of war,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06then surely he should be allowed to kill, too.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09It's a fascinating insight into his mind.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13In fact, it's his attempt to put his own crimes,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17the kidnap and murder of five children, into context.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22Indeed, he tries to belittle his crimes.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24Quoting Jonathan Swift, he says,
0:57:24 > 0:57:29"Laws are like cobwebs. They catch small flies
0:57:29 > 0:57:33"and let wasps and hornets fly freely through."
0:57:34 > 0:57:38With respect to any hope of treatment, Brady suggests,
0:57:38 > 0:57:43"Establishment psychiatry should be exposed and debunked."
0:57:49 > 0:57:54Regardless of how we feel about psychopaths like Brady,
0:57:54 > 0:57:59we must remember that the essence of psychopathy is not criminality.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01That depends on the circumstances.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07The essence is an insufficiency of social emotion...
0:58:08 > 0:58:10..and that is a brain abnormality.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14Rather than trying to answer the question -
0:58:14 > 0:58:15"What makes a psychopath?"
0:58:15 > 0:58:20we should instead be asking, "How can we identify them better?"
0:58:20 > 0:58:24Then we can intervene before they commit a crime,
0:58:24 > 0:58:26and then there is hope.
0:58:26 > 0:58:28But, for those like Brady,
0:58:28 > 0:58:34perhaps locking away the psychopath is our only option.