Can psychology be used to prevent violent crime and social dysfunction?

Hey everyone! So, I was scrolling through this other political thread the other day—total rabbit hole situation—and it got me thinking about how little we actually get as a society when it comes to psychology, psychopathology, and just... human behavior in general. There was this one specific case being discussed about a terrorist who everyone swore was just this totally chill, harmless guy. And it hit me—that pattern repeats *so* often. That "quiet kid next door" or the "perfectly polite neighbor" who suddenly snaps and commits some horrific act... it’s terrifyingly common. It’s the same thing with domestic violence, too. Neighbors and friends are always left standing there like, "Wait, what? But he was such a gentleman!" or "She was always so bubbly and sweet!" while they're actually suffering behind closed doors. Not even mentioning all those tragic cases of self-harm or suicide where even the closest friends didn't see it coming until it was too late... I know empathy and just plain old caring are huge factors here—people tend to look the other way or downplay red flags because, let's face it, it's not their business—but I can't say it's always like that.
My thought is—hear me out—what if we doubled or even tripled the amount of psychology classes in our public schools? In a perfect world, every student would learn how to spot the warning signs of depression, violent tendencies, narcissism, or manipulation... plus, they'd actually learn how to react, how to deal with it, and more importantly, how to help themselves and others.
Another big change that I think we desperately need is making a chat with a psychologist or psychiatrist part of the standard annual physical checkup. Sadly, so many mental health issues go completely unnoticed until things reach a breaking point. People are still so heavily stigmatized and just plain uninformed about mental health, which honestly just makes everything so much harder for the person struggling.
I realize this would cost a ton of money and time, obviously, but in my opinion, it would pay for itself in the long run. I'm curious to hear what you guys think... and if this topic has already been covered, mods, please feel free to merge this.

The problem goes much deeper than that. Our entire social structure is unsustainable—it’s hanging by a thread, and everything is interconnected. A child's primary safety net is their family, yet almost any pathology that develops later in life can be traced back to their upbringing and the people they grew up with, usually their parents. Fixing this costs a fortune, but until the people in power actually get a reality check, nothing is going to change. There have been bans on hiring certain specialists in public institutions for ages; schools are desperate for psychologists, but they can't get approval. In many NASA branches, you'll find one single psychologist handling both adult and child cases. In smaller towns, the police don't even have staff psychologists—they just bring in a priest as a makeshift substitute. So many family service centers have been shut down, and the boarding schools and youth dormitories are pure chaos, staffed by people who aren't even qualified... as for school workshops, forget about it; those are just for show or basic education. The issues surrounding children displaying these behaviors are so deep, so massive, and so heavy... that you need an entire multidisciplinary team from various agencies working together to see any real change. Instead, everyone just passes the buck. The school calls NASA, NASA calls the police, the police send it back to NASA, the school calls the police, the police call NASA again, then it goes to the hospital, then there's a team review, and then they make a final decision based on maybe one or two brief observations of the kid. Then comes the stationary observation, then uncooperative parents, then a custody battle, then a failure to revoke custody... in this whole mess, the child suffers the most. And then the media gets involved, despite having absolutely no clue what they're talking about and no right to invade anyone's privacy. Then you have the rest of the public—curious onlookers who know nothing except how to judge, gossip, play telephone, and pretend to care only after the damage is already done. They devour sensationalized nonsense in the news and crucify everyone in sight, completely devoid of rationality and driven purely by raw emotion. On top of all that, there are plenty of parents who give their absolute all and provide their children with all the love they need... but they get chewed up by the system until they snap. We are all responsible, every single person in this world, for the kind of society we create.

I’m totally with you—this goes way deeper than most people realize, and yeah, fixing it is gonna cost a fortune. But honestly? Think about how much we’d save on social services, healthcare, even the police and the legal system if everyone actually went through regular mental health screenings... if counseling was free and easy to get, and people actually had some basic tools to handle their own heads? I agree that family plays a huge role, sure, but where are the free workshops for expecting parents? Where are the counselors available for both parents right after birth, or psychologists who actually sit down with a new mom to make sure postpartum depression doesn't take hold? Or experts to guide parents through the whole growing-up process? Right now, you either have to deal with some random church-run marriage prep course, or—and this is the fun part—try to convince your primary care doctor to give you a referral so you can wait weeks for an appointment and pray they give you more than thirty minutes of their time... it should be a routine part of our healthcare and social safety net. Look, it won't solve every single problem in the world, but it’s definitely a massive step forward.
And then there's the question of "we don't have the budget" for psychologists or educators to act as advisors and lecturers—that's a bit of a loaded question, isn't it? Money is basically being thrown out the window on overpriced IT equipment, and they keep reinventing the wheel with new textbooks every few years just for the sake of it. In my opinion, learning how to spot a psychopath, an abuser, or a manipulator is literally a life-saving skill... something you just can't say about half the other stuff taught in school. Learning how to help yourself and others manage daily stress or recognize signs of mental illness—those are things 100% of the population will deal with at least once. Meanwhile, programming is a niche skill that only a tiny percentage of specialists actually need...

I believe Sigmund Freud once suggested that human beings are inherently dangerous creatures.

Perhaps we are the most hazardous species on Earth precisely because we possess self-awareness.

There is a certain photograph out there somewhere,
that carries a caption claiming the deadliest killer on the planet claims 34,000,000 lives every single year.
Yet, right alongside this killer, a massive great white shark swims peacefully through the water.

The figure in the photo is actually just a diver—a man.

....

I wonder if you can actually teach someone to be empathetic, compassionate, and ultimately just a "good" person. Honestly—I think some things just have to be felt and received from your parents and your environment before you can ever pass them on to anyone else. You can read about it in a textbook until tomorrow, but if you never actually received that love, there’s a damn good chance you won't know how to give it back.

At the same time, I think it's incredibly naive to look at those "quiet little kids" next door who wouldn't even hurt an ant. You mentioned noticing how that "sweet kid today, cold-blooded killer tomorrow" scenario keeps repeating itself; well, it repeats because everyone has their breaking point. Just because I haven't seen my neighbor or my sister snap doesn't mean they don't have one. You can never truly know how crushed, traumatized, insecure, or humiliated someone really is—or how long they've been suffering and what that pain is brewing inside them. I’d bet both my kidneys that my upbringing wasn't significantly different from the woman who locked her sister in the fridge, or the mass shooter who was considered a diligent honor student until yesterday's campus massacre. We're all "sweet kids" right up until we snap—that's not even up for debate.

But look, society isn't perfect, the system isn't perfect, and it’s just not realistic to think everyone will find a place in the sun. We’ll accept some, reject others, crush some, and push others over the edge... and those people we cast aside will eventually start wondering if they owe anything to a society that rejected them. That's the core of it, and it'll stay that way until we're replaced by some kind of robots who can't feel, who don't carry scars on their souls, and who wouldn't be capable of stabbing their own kin, let alone a total stranger, in a moment of madness. No PowerPoint presentation is going to change that—otherwise, we would've solved the issue of violence a long time ago. You could scrap every subject and fill the entire school schedule with psychology and debates on the topic, and it still wouldn't move the needle. This isn't an issue of economics, politics, or education; this is THE question that, I fear, we will never have an answer to.

Until we admit that we ourselves contribute to building these ticking time bombs walking among us—people who were our favorite neighbors just yesterday—all these discussions about psychopathy and abuse are just shouting into the wind. The fact that some things in life are simply predetermined and set in stone doesn't play well with the idea that "anything is possible if you want it enough," and accepting that reality produces way more depression and hopelessness once it sinks in. Now, not wanting to be put in a position where we have to dump that same dose of hopelessness in the faces of our children, siblings, or friends is a different story. But it is what it is—c'est la vie. Many won't be able to cope with that "predetermined" aspect, and what they do with that knowledge... well, let's just say I'm pretty sure we're still a long way off from any kind of relaxed gun control scenario in the US.

Money isn't even the main issue here—honestly, there's plenty of cash to go around. The real killers are the total lack of willpower and a broken legal system that's a whole other disaster. You've got the younger generation, who are usually the ones driving actual change, just leaving the country, while the older, more influential crowd just sits around idling until they kick the bucket. Plus, since the USA is basically New York City and a few coastal spots, any real initiative would probably just ignore the rural Midwest towns—and those struggling areas are exactly where you'd need to plant seeds to spark the kind of movement this project needs.

And don't even get me started on kids today, glued to their phones and blasting music through headphones 24/7... half of them aren't even aware of the people walking right past them, let alone being able to spot talent that even the pros miss after a few screenings. The concept is solid, but...

Kate Nguyen2 said:Hey everyone! So, I was scrolling through this other political thread the other day—total rabbit hole situation—and it got me thinking about how little we actually get as a society when it comes to psychology, psychopathology, and just... human behavior in general. There was this one specific case being discussed about a terrorist who everyone swore was just this totally chill, harmless guy. And it hit me—that pattern repeats *so* often. That "quiet kid next door" or the "perfectly polite neighbor" who suddenly snaps and commits some horrific act... it’s terrifyingly common. It’s the same thing with domestic violence, too. Neighbors and friends are always left standing there like, "Wait, what? But he was such a gentleman!" or "She was always so bubbly and sweet!" while they're actually suffering behind closed doors. Not even mentioning all those tragic cases of self-harm or suicide where even the closest friends didn't see it coming until it was too late... I know empathy and just plain old caring are huge factors here—people tend to look the other way or downplay red flags because, let's face it, it's not their business—but I can't say it's always like that.
My thought is—hear me out—what if we doubled or even tripled the amount of psychology classes in our public schools? In a perfect world, every student would learn how to spot the warning signs of depression, violent tendencies, narcissism, or manipulation... plus, they'd actually learn how to react, how to deal with it, and more importantly, how to help themselves and others.
Another big change that I think we desperately need is making a chat with a psychologist or psychiatrist part of the standard annual physical checkup. Sadly, so many mental health issues go completely unnoticed until things reach a breaking point. People are still so heavily stigmatized and just plain uninformed about mental health, which honestly just makes everything so much harder for the person struggling.
I realize this would cost a ton of money and time, obviously, but in my opinion, it would pay for itself in the long run. I'm curious to hear what you guys think... and if this topic has already been covered, mods, please feel free to merge this.

I believe everything starts with the family and upbringing. That is where the emphasis should be placed.
Social services need to do their jobs in the field rather than just on paper.

A psychologist can point out a problem, but it is difficult to fix someone who lacks fundamental life values.
A psychologist is not a magician, but through cooperation with the rest of the government apparatus, much can be achieved.

Healthy family and social relationships are the cure for depression and anxiety.
Work should be done there.

Psychology isn't a crystal ball; you can't just predict how people will act.

Even seasoned experts don't hand out diagnoses lightly. They know that over years of working with a patient, a diagnosis can shift regardless of their experience, education, or the massive diagnostic toolkit at their disposal (things like formal psychological assessments, medical screenings, and deep dives into specific symptoms). Beyond that, a diagnosis doesn't offer a perfect forecast of future behavior—it only provides statistical probabilities. For instance, psychopathic traits show up at higher rates among criminals, yes, but also among CEOs and surgeons. Just because someone displays those tendencies (which, by the way, isn't even an official standalone diagnosis in the manuals) doesn't mean you can predict they'll turn to crime. There are too many variables in play.

Furthermore, there’s no real logic in suggesting that a certain amount of psychology would suddenly make someone a great clinician (which is actually a specialized field pursued after a psychology degree, meaning it requires significantly more training than what's being proposed). You could use that same argument for pretty much any field. It would probably be just as useful if doctors knew more about economics, or law, or just about everything else.

The reality is that the US doesn't have enough psychiatrists or clinical psychologists to serve patients in treatment centers, let alone the entire population. On top of that, there are ethical concerns to consider. If a person isn't genuinely invested in participating in testing for therapeutic purposes, they can easily fake their answers. The built-in safeguards in personality tests (basically redundant, slightly rephrased questions) are often too obvious and easy to bypass.

James Miller2 said:I believe everything starts with the family and upbringing. That is where the emphasis should be placed.
Social services need to do their jobs in the field rather than just on paper.

A psychologist can point out a problem, but it is difficult to fix someone who lacks fundamental life values.
A psychologist is not a magician, but through cooperation with the rest of the government apparatus, much can be achieved.

Healthy family and social relationships are the cure for depression and anxiety.
Work should be done there.

The influence of the family is being overestimated here. A person isn't destined to be a lifelong prisoner to their parents' opinions and values as if they were infallible icons. In reality, they are just ordinary, flawed individuals whose moral compasses are often nothing more than a collection of arbitrary norms derived from outdated ideologies or the simple fear of what the neighbors might think. As people mature, they scrutinize the values they were raised with, subjecting them to critical thinking and mental deconstruction. They rebel, they push back, and they forge their own paths to develop true individuality.

Psychology itself offers very little to the human condition. People are fundamentally concerned with who they are, their origins, their ultimate destination, the purpose of existence, whether there is an afterlife, and whether humans differ from animals in kind rather than just degree. They grapple with questions of free will, divinity, eternal life, and moral responsibility. Since psychology lacks the answers to these existential inquiries, it is somewhat presumptuous to suggest it can truly understand the root causes of human "evil."

Jacob Mitchell3 said:The influence of the family is being overestimated here. A person isn't destined to be a lifelong prisoner to their parents' opinions and values as if they were infallible icons. In reality, they are just ordinary, flawed individuals whose moral compasses are often nothing more than a collection of arbitrary norms derived from outdated ideologies or the simple fear of what the neighbors might think. As people mature, they scrutinize the values they were raised with, subjecting them to critical thinking and mental deconstruction. They rebel, they push back, and they forge their own paths to develop true individuality.

Psychology itself offers very little to the human condition. People are fundamentally concerned with who they are, their origins, their ultimate destination, the purpose of existence, whether there is an afterlife, and whether humans differ from animals in kind rather than just degree. They grapple with questions of free will, divinity, eternal life, and moral responsibility. Since psychology lacks the answers to these existential inquiries, it is somewhat presumptuous to suggest it can truly understand the root causes of human "evil."

By family, I don't just mean blood relatives. I mean those who raise you. Those who play a major role in your life.

It has always been this way. First the tribe, then the family, then the community. You cannot live alone. Well, you can, but it is much harder.
Humans are social creatures.

Once we mature and gain life experience, we have a choice. We decide how we want to live. We choose what to adopt and what to discard.

Great topic... I occasionally find myself thinking back to something that happened a long time ago. Maybe twenty-something years back? I was out at the time when this young guy brutally murdered his parents.
Every single media outlet, literally all of them, was all over it. You couldn't turn on any TV channel without seeing that case pop up. It felt like every psychiatrist and psychologist had their own take on why it happened.
That went on for nearly two months, and then, almost immediately after, two more similar murders occurred.
I remember they brought a psychiatric sociologist onto the nightly news to explain "behavioral emulation." Basically, if something is repeated constantly, people who are emotionally vulnerable might start mimicking those actions. A sort of imitation effect.
Does that apply to bad news as much as good news?
If the media keeps hammering home that something is wrong, someone might decide to fix it. Unfortunately, that often happens through violence, since just pushing those stories out is its own kind of mental assault.

Jamie Adams6 said:I wonder if you can actually teach someone to be empathetic, compassionate, and ultimately just a "good" person. Honestly—I think some things just have to be felt and received from your parents and your environment before you can ever pass them on to anyone else. You can read about it in a textbook until tomorrow, but if you never actually received that love, there’s a damn good chance you won't know how to give it back.

At the same time, I think it's incredibly naive to look at those "quiet little kids" next door who wouldn't even hurt an ant. You mentioned noticing how that "sweet kid today, cold-blooded killer tomorrow" scenario keeps repeating itself; well, it repeats because everyone has their breaking point. Just because I haven't seen my neighbor or my sister snap doesn't mean they don't have one. You can never truly know how crushed, traumatized, insecure, or humiliated someone really is—or how long they've been suffering and what that pain is brewing inside them. I’d bet both my kidneys that my upbringing wasn't significantly different from the woman who locked her sister in the fridge, or the mass shooter who was considered a diligent honor student until yesterday's campus massacre. We're all "sweet kids" right up until we snap—that's not even up for debate.

But look, society isn't perfect, the system isn't perfect, and it’s just not realistic to think everyone will find a place in the sun. We’ll accept some, reject others, crush some, and push others over the edge... and those people we cast aside will eventually start wondering if they owe anything to a society that rejected them. That's the core of it, and it'll stay that way until we're replaced by some kind of robots who can't feel, who don't carry scars on their souls, and who wouldn't be capable of stabbing their own kin, let alone a total stranger, in a moment of madness. No PowerPoint presentation is going to change that—otherwise, we would've solved the issue of violence a long time ago. You could scrap every subject and fill the entire school schedule with psychology and debates on the topic, and it still wouldn't move the needle. This isn't an issue of economics, politics, or education; this is THE question that, I fear, we will never have an answer to.

Until we admit that we ourselves contribute to building these ticking time bombs walking among us—people who were our favorite neighbors just yesterday—all these discussions about psychopathy and abuse are just shouting into the wind. The fact that some things in life are simply predetermined and set in stone doesn't play well with the idea that "anything is possible if you want it enough," and accepting that reality produces way more depression and hopelessness once it sinks in. Now, not wanting to be put in a position where we have to dump that same dose of hopelessness in the faces of our children, siblings, or friends is a different story. But it is what it is—c'est la vie. Many won't be able to cope with that "predetermined" aspect, and what they do with that knowledge... well, let's just say I'm pretty sure we're still a long way off from any kind of relaxed gun control scenario in the US.

Signature 👍.

While I believe maximizing psychological support could help, it's a zero-sum game. Redirecting resources means someone else loses—maybe people go hungry, or kids get less attention. On average, you end up right back where you started. It all depends on what you choose to prioritize.

In my view, the first step is pure logistics: rationalizing national resources and then spending decades building actual prosperity. But hey, who actually wants that...

Kate Nguyen2 said:Hey everyone! So, I was scrolling through this other political thread the other day—total rabbit hole situation—and it got me thinking about how little we actually get as a society when it comes to psychology, psychopathology, and just... human behavior in general. There was this one specific case being discussed about a terrorist who everyone swore was just this totally chill, harmless guy. And it hit me—that pattern repeats *so* often. That "quiet kid next door" or the "perfectly polite neighbor" who suddenly snaps and commits some horrific act... it’s terrifyingly common. It’s the same thing with domestic violence, too. Neighbors and friends are always left standing there like, "Wait, what? But he was such a gentleman!" or "She was always so bubbly and sweet!" while they're actually suffering behind closed doors. Not even mentioning all those tragic cases of self-harm or suicide where even the closest friends didn't see it coming until it was too late... I know empathy and just plain old caring are huge factors here—people tend to look the other way or downplay red flags because, let's face it, it's not their business—but I can't say it's always like that.
My thought is—hear me out—what if we doubled or even tripled the amount of psychology classes in our public schools? In a perfect world, every student would learn how to spot the warning signs of depression, violent tendencies, narcissism, or manipulation... plus, they'd actually learn how to react, how to deal with it, and more importantly, how to help themselves and others.
Another big change that I think we desperately need is making a chat with a psychologist or psychiatrist part of the standard annual physical checkup. Sadly, so many mental health issues go completely unnoticed until things reach a breaking point. People are still so heavily stigmatized and just plain uninformed about mental health, which honestly just makes everything so much harder for the person struggling.
I realize this would cost a ton of money and time, obviously, but in my opinion, it would pay for itself in the long run. I'm curious to hear what you guys think... and if this topic has already been covered, mods, please feel free to merge this.

Good ideas, but I highly doubt the government or those in power actually care about people becoming self-aware or understanding their own minds. And frankly, it's not true that we know little about the human psyche... we actually know quite a lot. The problem is that what we *do* know is mostly used to manipulate the masses rather than helping people become empathetic and happy.

You can have empathy—you can totally understand someone else's struggle—without actually having any intention of doing anything to make their life easier. Like, you can walk right past an old lady begging outside a Walmart, and then ten minutes later, after grabbing some cash, head straight to the casino to blow it all. It doesn't mean you don't realize she’s having a hard time; you just don't see how helping her benefits you right now. There's no magic epiphany needed here, and honestly, adding more psychology classes wouldn't change a thing because most of us already know the difference between right and wrong. Still, that doesn't mean everyone has the drive to be a world-saver.

Trying to achieve total peace and social harmony as a practical goal? Honestly, that's basically a utopia. I think people struggle to accept a reality that clashes with the values they were raised to believe are the absolute truth. The real deal is that we're all essentially competitors in an arena, fighting over the same resources, territory, jobs, even partners... and in that arena, there isn't much room for empathy or solidarity. Well, okay, there is—but only *after* you've looked out for yourself and crushed it. Once you've done your thing, you can just join some Facebook group and give some virtual support to feel better about yourself, like, "Yeah, I'm a good person, I'm empathetic, I'm a saint."

Whenever I have a spare minute, I find myself scrolling through threads like "toxic parent" or "Depression," mostly just because they catch my interest. But here's the kicker: I see people offering support, and then I see others looking for it, only to turn around in a completely different thread and watch those same "humanitarians" spew toxic, hateful comments at other users. They demand this specific dose of compassion that they have absolutely zero intention of giving back. You'd think since they know what suffering feels like, they'd spare others from it. Yeah, right. They couldn't care less about the damage they cause. In one thread, they're playing the victim looking for a digital hug, and in another, they're just straight-up bullies.

This isn't even about classic hypocrisy or being two-faced; it's more like a never-ending cycle of pure, unadulterized malice that we all occasionally fall prey to. Trying to fix it is like trying to organize a line in the middle of the Serengeti. These people aren't necessarily "evil" masterminds; they just can't help themselves, period. The wildest part is they type this stuff while they're at work, chilling at home, or maybe even on their phones at a local pub. Imagine how they act when they truly lose it, because this is probably the most basic, low-level cruelty I can think of. You know it's wrong, you know you're just hurting someone for the sake of it, and yet you can't stop yourself—and then we're expected to just "fix" it with a couple of hours of therapy a week? For the folks who are already hanging on by a thread mentally, no amount of psychology is going to save them.

I mean, look at us—we're sitting here debating programs, schedules, and money, when half of us aren't even capable of the simplest "program" there is: just not being a jerk. We can't even manage that, yet we're dreaming about some utopian harmony that doesn't even exist in Star Wars.

Kate Nguyen2 said:Hey everyone! So, I was scrolling through this other political thread the other day—total rabbit hole situation—and it got me thinking about how little we actually get as a society when it comes to psychology, psychopathology, and just... human behavior in general. There was this one specific case being discussed about a terrorist who everyone swore was just this totally chill, harmless guy. And it hit me—that pattern repeats *so* often. That "quiet kid next door" or the "perfectly polite neighbor" who suddenly snaps and commits some horrific act... it’s terrifyingly common. It’s the same thing with domestic violence, too. Neighbors and friends are always left standing there like, "Wait, what? But he was such a gentleman!" or "She was always so bubbly and sweet!" while they're actually suffering behind closed doors. Not even mentioning all those tragic cases of self-harm or suicide where even the closest friends didn't see it coming until it was too late... I know empathy and just plain old caring are huge factors here—people tend to look the other way or downplay red flags because, let's face it, it's not their business—but I can't say it's always like that.
My thought is—hear me out—what if we doubled or even tripled the amount of psychology classes in our public schools? In a perfect world, every student would learn how to spot the warning signs of depression, violent tendencies, narcissism, or manipulation... plus, they'd actually learn how to react, how to deal with it, and more importantly, how to help themselves and others.
Another big change that I think we desperately need is making a chat with a psychologist or psychiatrist part of the standard annual physical checkup. Sadly, so many mental health issues go completely unnoticed until things reach a breaking point. People are still so heavily stigmatized and just plain uninformed about mental health, which honestly just makes everything so much harder for the person struggling.
I realize this would cost a ton of money and time, obviously, but in my opinion, it would pay for itself in the long run. I'm curious to hear what you guys think... and if this topic has already been covered, mods, please feel free to merge this.

In theory... maybe. In practice, even "educated" people are capable of falling for stupid stuff like that. It’s almost as if they bought their degrees from a diploma mill.

We really ought to be teaching people how to cultivate genuine goodwill—not just as a passing feeling, but as a conscious, daily practice. If you truly desire happiness, both for yourself and for your family and everyone else around you, you create a sort of spiritual shield—one that naturally keeps negativity at bay.

At the end of the day, we are all products of our own consciousness. If your goal is to clear out the negativity from your immediate orbit, the most effective strategy is to maintain a positive orientation toward everyone you encounter. It’s almost like an energetic filter; by leaning into positivity, you effectively distance yourself from toxic individuals. I know this to be true because I’ve experienced it firsthand through my own commitment to practicing positive thoughts toward every person I meet.

Let me start by making one thing clear: I am not an expert, nor do I have any professional credentials to speak on this subject from a clinical standpoint. I am speaking strictly from the perspective of someone who has been in close proximity to two incredibly disturbed individuals in two separate instances. The fundamental issue here is that people simply refuse to believe that innate evil exists. They think you have to be running around swinging an axe to be considered dangerous, but that isn’t true. It is enough to simply hold power over someone weaker while possessing a total lack of empathy and an inflated sense of self-importance. As for how to deal with such people, I believe it is vital for individuals to realize they don't have to remain victims indefinitely. One example I encountered involved an abusive father who had already conditioned his son to mimic his exact behavior. The wife in this scenario wasn't some helpless caricature; she was essentially the sole provider keeping the entire household afloat, yet she never once considered leaving. In fact, she was quite effective at covering for him and defending his actions—essentially defending her own choice to stay. This is where our society failed her. Even after enduring everything we've faced—wars, economic instability, constant poverty, and endless stressors—there should still be a line of human dignity that one refuses to cross. Someone else posted earlier that being able to identify a psychopath is more important for the average person than any academic knowledge gained in school. I agree. Despite being in direct contact with one, it took me about 15 years to truly accept without a shadow of a doubt that these types of people exist. You cannot apply standard logic to them. Concepts like "try to understand why they act this way" or "put yourself in their shoes" are completely useless when dealing with them. I honestly don't know how to bridge the gap between psychological theory and common sense for the general public—especially since even the professionals can't seem to reach a consensus—but it is absolutely necessary.