Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?

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And yes, I think it is possible for a 9 year old to be psychopath. I do think neurology plays a very large part, and so while a 9 year old psychopath is not as capable at doling out the punishment (if he/she is the sadistic kind) all the traits are still there. Age makes no difference.

Natures plays a part, but I have read about this, and I am pretty sure that neurology is also a very large part of it. Let's just not call it mental illness. To call psychopathy a mental illness serves no function for very obvious reasons.

Probably an incredibly judgemental and ill-thought-out response, but I'd be tempted to put the kid into care to protect the brother.

This aspie boy I knew in my teens, I wonder if he was a psychopath, he did have ODD and he abused his mother and went around hurting other kids in his school by hitting them and stuff and hurting handicapped kids and he bragged me to be about breaking their bones. He also did it for control. It worked at home but not at school and he was also a chronic liar.

I think it depends very much on whether you are viewing diagnosis as a means or as an end.

The medical treatment disorders in childhood is very different from the treatment of disorders in adults. If you diagnose a 9 year old as a psychopath and then treat the child as you would an adult psychopath, then you are potentially doing the child a great deal of harm.

But if you diagnose the 9 year old as a psychopath with a view to creating a program of therapy that is designed to allow the child's developmental abilities to grow beyond the psychopathy (if that's possible) or at least to mitigate it, then we are in a proper therapeutic setting, in my view.

All too often in general conversation we tend to view diagnosis as an end; as if the diagnosis served as a complete and sufficient explanation of the behaviours that preceded it. But every diagnosis must come with the question, "what is to be done about it?"

How are adult psychopaths treated?

I am realizing psychopathy does not mean doing crime and violence, as they are portrayed as. They can actually be normal people living normal lives and be charming and not a criminal nor violent.

League girl wrote:
This aspie boy I knew in my teens, I wonder if he was a psychopath, he did have ODD and he abused his mother and went around hurting other kids in his school by hitting them and stuff and hurting handicapped kids and he bragged me to be about breaking their bones. He also did it for control. It worked at home but not at school and he was also a chronic liar.

That doesn't sound like autism but I have noticed every single autistic person you meet is a chronic liar and seems to be psycho.

I don't know about the current ICD, but according to the DSM no one under the age of 18 could be diagnosed with a personality disorder. I think with the ICD it's a guideline (not a requirement) that a diagnosis of a personality disorder not be appropriate for anyone under 16-17 years old. Psychopathy isn't technically a medical term used by the APA anymore, however, many people consider psychopathy as worse than antisocial personality disorder (APD is supposed to be a more broad set of characteristics, while psychopathy is considered a more rare and severe condition). I've read that somewhere between 60-80% of prison inmates have (or could have) APD, and that 10-15% could be psychopaths. Technically, you can't receive an official diagnosis with the DSM of APD until 18 (unsure about the ICD), but it doesn't mean that a nine year old can't exhibit psychopathic traits. Much of the time these kinds of kids get diagnosed with conduct disorder, and then later with APD. Hope this helps

You could if he or she was diagnosed as a psychopath.

Psychopathy is fascinating. Has anyone here seen "We Need to Talk About Kevin?" This article reminds me of that and YES, I do believe psychopathy is inborn and present from a young age.