What to do, What to do???

[firecrest]

I should probably clarify Sociopath here. A sociopath is a psychopath without the apparent instability. Sociopaths merely lack empathy for others, they don't nesessarily have a tendency to be violent, they are simply unaffected by the suffering of others (this is to varying degrees)

One study during World War II showed that after 90 days of combat action, 98% of soldiers showed signs of combat fatigue, the other 2% were sociopaths. (the spectrum of future warfares . Carton Meyer)

 

[Tadpole]

I think the word you are looking for is not psychopath, but sociopath, and indeed the army does select in favour of them. roughly 1 in a 100 people are a sociopath. Ill find the program on the subject when it isnt one in the morning

So what you are saying is that the armed forces manage to weed out 75% of Sociopaths in their application process
Sociopaths make up nearly 4% of the male population and 1% of the female population (Strauss & Lahey 1984, Davison and Neale 1994, Robins, Tipp & Przybeck 1991)

 

[firecrest]

Im confused, not sure what you mean.

 

[leon-1]

Im confused, not sure what you mean.

Well you quoted that 2% of the armed forces were sociopaths from studies carried out from WWII.

Tadpole quoted statistics from 1984 and 1991 that state that 4% of the male population are infact sociopaths. That would mean that 50% of all sociopaths were filtered out by military training and selection.

In the end though any statistic that is quoted unless it relates to studies carried out on the armed forces in conflict since say the Falklands War are not accurate as the method of selection and training has changed considerably since WWII.

 

[ganstey]

Just catching up here...

It seems to me that all crimes are committed by criminals. So why don't we just ban criminals?

G

 

[firecrest]

Well you quoted that 2% of the armed forces were sociopaths from studies carried out from WWII.

Tadpole quoted statistics from 1984 and 1991 that state that 4% of the male population are infact sociopaths. That would mean that 50% of all sociopaths were filtered out by military training and selection.

In the end though any statistic that is quoted unless it relates to studies carried out on the armed forces in conflict since say the Falklands War are not accurate as the method of selection and training has changed considerably since WWII.

Oh I see. Yes 50% are filtered out as the dangerous variety, in that they are too eager to kill, same as with the police. Im not passing judgement here, Im just stating some facts, that some sociopaths are very useful in these jobs regardless of how uncomfortable it makes people feel.

 

[falling rain]

The problem is this country dosn't value their armed sevices as they should do. For all their faults the Americans really look after their service personnel compared to this country.
There is no sense of cameraderie in civilian society or very little. Everyone wants somthing for nothing, and an 'I'm alright jack' attitude prevails. That's why some soldiers find it hard to adjust to civilian life because everyone is out for themselves. There's a strong sense of cameraderie in the foces and people will go extraordinarily out of their way to help fellow soldiers. Other than some of the emergency services and rescue there is very little of this in civilian life. Armed srvice personnel will not 'grass' on another, even if it means they get punished themselves. In the corporate world you'd be dumped on as soon as looked at by a colleague to either get themslves out of trouble or because they believe it makes them look good (if any of that mkes sense
I really admire what our lads and lasses are doing over in Iraq but especially Afghanistan. I'm glad I'm not there. I drove 'pigs' and armoured landies in NI in the 80's and experienced riots and petrol bombings and an incredible hatred towards our soldiers, but it's nothing compared to what our troops are going through over in Afghanistan. Total respect for those folks, and it's about time they were looked after a lot better when something goes wrong.
We can bail out banks for billions but we can't spend money on a state of the art hospital, or give adequate compensation specifically for service personnel. The deserve the very best of medical care and compensation for any injuries sustained whilst serving. Our service personel are simply not valued and it's disgraceful.
Our country is beautiful and maybe we should look at what is good about it as well as all the troubles we've got.
As for ethnic diversity. People want to come here for a better life. Nothing wrong with that, anyone of us would do the same in their shoes. BUT we do need to be careful, we are only a little place and we can't take the whole worlds waifs and strays.
Britain is a great place to live and is 'GREAT' of course we have troubles and problems that need sorting out. Try writing down some good things about our country (instead of just focusing on the bad) There are loads (no licence to fish in the sea for a start. Free fish that would cost you a fortune if you bought them at the fishmongers When you can catch them I'm still waiting for my first double figured Bass ............Now tht would be 'Great'!!!!!!

 

[johannesburg]

So does anyone actually know the Rules & laws on carrying a knife, obviously not talking about walking down the street with one.

But would you be say ok if you had a knife in your pack and where obviously going camping/climbing/kyaking?

 

[crazydave]

it all depends on how pedantic they are and why you were stopped in the first place. if its in your pack then its concealed.

 

[High on Hex]

A fight started outside my shop window a few months ago. After some rubbish punching one of the lads produced a pair of scissors from the back of his tracksuit and stabbed the other man.

When i was interviewed as a witness some weeks later, the detective said that the victim had dropped the charges against his attacker. Both men were local and known to each other so presumably from a fear of further attacks.

The detective said because of that, the only charge it might be worth bringing was causing alarm to the public. (or words to that effect, i can't remember the exact phrase)

I was told i'd make a good witness and would be called if it went to court.
I was never called so i assume they didn't bother prosecuting him.

If the justice systems claws are this blunt in a case where the assailant really did stab someone, in front of several independent eye-witnesses, i don't think they will bother prosecuting me for having a couple of sharps in a rucksack halfway up a mountain.