Bad To The Bone: When Children Are Born Evil

Are we naturally good or bad? We tend to believe the first, especially when we think about 'innocent' children. But the truth is much more complicated than that.

We might learn moral beliefs from our parents and society, which shape our moral core, but experts have proved that some kids are born psychopaths.

"Researchers believe that two paths can lead to psychopathy: one dominated by nature, the other by nurture."

This condition, which can be spotted in a child as young as 3 or 4 years old, has long been considered untreatable. Now, a new clinical approach offers hope.

In this piece for The Atlantic, Barbara Bradley visits a psychopath 11-year-old in a treatment center, and talks to parents, experts, and former patients to explain what a psychopath is and, most importantly, how the system should deal with these cases.

The Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, in Wisconsin, opened in 1995 in response to a nationwide epidemic of youth violence in the early '90s. The idea was to break the cycle.

"What they have done, by trial and error, is achieve something most people thought impossible: If they haven’t cured psychopathy, they’ve at least tamed it."

The secret? Downplaying punishment and dangling rewards.