There are some people who are incapable of having empathy or sympathy. They call these people psychopaths or sociopaths. They have no emotion or care in the world except themselves. Their brain has no capability of ever feeling any sort of empathy for other humans. While most psychopaths are really weird, there are some that can live and function normally in society. John Wayne Gacy is a perfect example. He was a businessman, a political activist, and a clown for children's parties. He also raped and murdered 30+ teenage boys. There is no known therapy or medication to treat psychopaths. They have no concept of consequences.
This brings up an interesting issue. Most psychologists agree that psychopathy is untreatable. Even when treatments are applied the vast majority of psychopaths will end up in jail for a violent crime.
So my question is this: Is it right to put a psychopath in a mental institute or jail before theyâve committed a crime? If thereâs almost no chance that a person will be a law abiding citizen, is it right to keep them out of society to protect the general public?
