Should Ian Brady be declared sane.....

I am fascinated by what make some people do evil deeds. One theory I heard discussed was that there is, indeed, a 'gene' which gives a propensity for criminal activity, but it is only triggered by adverse life experiences. Brady apparently had some minor problems with the police which gave him a sense of injustice. He seems to have a megalomaniac personality disorder which led him to believe he could outwit the police. Would it have manifested itself quite so strongly had he not met Hindley and formed a 'folie a deux'?
I would never seek to excuse his deeds, but I would like to understand his true motivation.

I'm fascinated by what makes people do evil things as well Greatnan. I don't believe the evil gene theory, in fact I think we are all capable of doing evil things and there have been several psychology experiments which have shown this, such as the Stanford prison experiment' run by Zimbardo in the early 1970s. I find it quite chilling really and wonder what it takes for someone to step beyond social norms and apparently lose all empathy for others.

I thnk believing you have nothing to loose, or are invincible somehow, makes it possible, nightowl.

I remember a programme about an experiment with American students, when most of them were willing to inflict pain on others (so they believed) as long as they thought it was sanctioned by authority (Nazi Germany?) and others were willing to do it.

Milgram.

So he stays in Ashworth. I hope we hear no more until the evil bastard dies.

With you in that jingle.

greatnan - the nature/nurture debate keeps on rolling doesn't it. The concentration camps in the 2nd war remain a lesson to us all I believe. So many people were needed to operate that efficient killing/torture machine and so many did so. I appreciate that is different than the issue of single serial killers, or the possible folie a duex issue with couples who kill. The central point remains though, what is it that enables individuals to be so disturbed/self indulgent/disinhibited that they deliberately set out to do harm to others.

The trouble is there will be people who will avidly read a book about Brady as have people who read avidly about Hindley.

There are certainly people who are born without any empathy and cannot feel the pain of others. In other cases, possibly such as the young boys who killed Jamie Bulger, their own bad experiences fills them with hate and anger.
Many psychopaths live perfectly respectable lives, I believe.

Yes I believe there are many psychopaths who are very successful. I have worked with several people who seemed to fit the profile, including at least one manager who frightened the living daylights out of a few of us, though interestingly only the female staff. There was nothing concrete, in fact he was charm itself but the more you got to know him the more you realised he was empty behind the smile, if that makes sense.

I am reading 'The Psychopath Test' by Jon Ronson' at the moment - very thought-provoking and also very funny.

I can't help being fascinated by Brady, even though I hate him and all he stands for. It's impossible to understand what makes some people so evil. I'm glad he is staying in Ashworth, if only because therefore he is not getting his own way! And I'm not sure he should have been given this opportunity to showcase his twisted thinking. It must have been very distressing for the families of his victims.
Let us hope we hear no more of him.