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Insight: June 3

This week Insight finds out what makes a psychopath.

insightThis week Insight finds out what makes a psychopath, their level of empathy and how this impacts on relationships.

A self-proclaimed psychopath joins host Jenny Brockie on the stage for an in-depth look at his extraordinary claims and to take audience questions.

Jim Fallon is a neuroscientist who says he accidentally discovered that his brain scans showed similar activity to that of a psychopath.

He says he has many psychopathic traits: he’s a risk taker, charming, narcissistic, manipulative and feels no remorse. But James says he’s a “pro-social” psychopath, so he’s rarely acted violently. He says his happy childhood is probably what prevented him from becoming violent.

Host Jenny Brockie sits down with Jim and world experts in the field to explore a psychopath’s level of empathy and how this impacts on relationships with family and friends.

Guests include:

Jim Fallon
Jim Fallon is a neuroscientist from California who says his brain scans show the same activity as that of a psychopath. He says he discovered this by accident in 2005. He subsequently learned that he had several murderers in his family tree on his father’s side. Jim says he isn’t violent but admits he does bully people intellectually and manipulates them. And he says he’s a big risk taker. “The things I do with my family and friends, I put them in a lot of danger”, he says. Jim says his happy childhood is probably what prevented him from becoming violent.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Simon Baron-Cohen is a professor of developmental psychopathology at Cambridge University. He has a particular interest in empathy and has authored three books on the subject. Simon believes that everyone has a certain amount of empathy, whether a lot or a little. He says psychopaths have zero empathy, which can lead to cruelty.

Eva Kimonis
Eva Kimonis is a professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of New South Wales and works with children who show callous and unemotional behaviours. She believes that treating these children can curb aggressiveness in later life. “These are kids that are telling you they don’t really care about others’ feelings,” she says. “So they may express anger to get what they want from other people.”

Lars Madsen
Lars Madsen talks to violent prisoners every day for work. He’s the founder and director of the Forensic Psychology Centre. His work focuses largely on how to ensure violent criminals won’t reoffend. Lars says when treating psychopaths “you don’t try and treat the psychopathy, you try to treat the things that make the person violent or dangerous.”

Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.

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