Tow #29: Documentary Rhetorical Analysis (Part 2)

Any amount of violent crime in one country is too much crime. However, it is impossible to prevent all of the crime that happens in one place before it happens, but, according to the documentary "Psychopath", the use of the Psychopathy Checklist could prevent a significant amount of crime. The Psychopathy Checklist is a diagnostic tool that determines whether or not a person is a psychopath and their degree of psychopathy on a scale of 1 to 40. The United States could greatly benefit from including the Psychopathy Checklist in a child's doctor check-up because a person's basic personality is mostly developed by the age of eighteen, and roughly half of the violent crime committed in the United States is committed by psychopaths. If there is any hope to change the behavior of psychopaths, it should be done when they are children. A child's personality is much easier to mold than that of an adult. For example, if a child has the personality trait of being too noisy all the time, a parent will scold them to change their behavior. Eventually the child will learn to only be noisy in appropriate situations. If an adult has the same problem, it is much more difficult for them to change their behavior because no one holds any authority over them. Psychopaths should be identified at a young age so their tendencies to commit violent crimes are reduced. It is important to address their issues early so that they are less likely to commit violent crimes in the future. Psychopaths should also be identified early in life because they are responsible for about half of the violent crime that is committed in America, according to "Psychopath". If psychopaths are identified in childhood, they can learn from a young age what is right and what is wrong, especially if they are taught by parents who are aware of their condition. Parents can be more careful about letting certain behaviors slide. Even if half of the psychopath's behaviors are corrected, there is still a significant amount of violent crime reduced. I understand that this solution may be unethical; I'm sure mothers would not be thrilled to learn their child is a psychopath. However, violent crime is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. By having children tested early in childhood, lives could be saved, including those of the victims and the psychopaths themselves. Psychopaths commit half of the violent crimes in America, but their personality cannot change too much after the age of 18. This is why something needs to be done about the issue soon, before the amount of crime in America escalates even further.