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and high levels of sensation and thrill seeking (the fun of crime); and the
interpersonal
aspect, featuring inflated self-
esteem, pathological lying, callousness, unemotionality, detachment, and lack of empathy (other people are garbage) (27).
    The Book of Deuteronomy describes a “stubborn and rebellious son” whose incorrigible behavior merits death by stoning (28). Talmudic commentary clarifies that an actual case of incorrigibility meriting execution was improbable and, in fact, may have never occurred (29). Rather, the intention was to present a teaching case—a metaphorical warning of the danger that results when incorrigibility reaches dangerous proportions in a young person.
    What is fascinating is how closely the elements that make up the stubborn and rebellious son match our contemporary understanding of psychopathy: extreme lust and gluttony (impulsive factors) and crime (interpersonal factors). Talmudic sages living two thousand years ago realized what some modern scholars have come to learn rather painfully: If extremes of bad behavior are not quelled very early in childhood, they are extremely difficult to reverse.
    There are no actual data regarding rates of rehabilitation as they relate to age, but clinical experience has taught us that the older the child, the less pliable his behavior. The optimist in me wants to say,
Never give up on anyone
. But the chances of eliminating entrenched psychopathic behavior in an adolescent are extremely low, if not zero.
    Nevertheless, it’s important to examine the components of psychopathy in order to tease out how they impact upon crime. Young psychopaths are not a totally homogeneous group and vary in terms of where they fall along the impulsive and interpersonal dimensions. Those high in impulsivity are more likely to be explosive; those loaded on the latter tend to commit cold, cruel, premeditated crimes.
    Further complicating the picture, there does exist a very small subset of psychopaths who display
schizoid
symptoms—schizophreniclike weirdness and extreme social isolation that approach but never reach full-blown madness. Schizoid psychopaths are violent hermits who act odd but understand what they are doing and possess the ability to plot, scheme, and evade capture. They are true psychological islands with no need whatsoever for intimacy or social connection. Even in prison they are feared and shunned, and they often exhibit the highest levels of cruelty.
    Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski comes across as one of these evil isolates. His deviant behavior began in childhood. Bright enough to elude identification for decades, Kaczynski might very well have stretched his criminal career till the day of his death if his brother hadn’t turned him in. As is typical of psychopaths, Kaczynski evinced no remorse and arrogantly attempted to justify his crimes using a combination of neo-Luddite and radical environmentalist pseudophilosophy. However, his writings reveal his primary motive to be hurting and killing other people. Fortunately, schizoid psychopaths are extremely rare—a minority among a minority.
    Though variations in psychopathy do exist, psychopaths as a group are
less
variable than normal people. As one veteran detective once told me, “If you’ve met one career criminal, you’ve met ’em all. They’re out of the cookie cutter.”
    This is certainly true of organized serial killers. As a crime novelist, I’m loath to admit this, but the Bundys and Gacys of this world are worlds away from brilliant, charmingly evil Hannibal Lecter. In fact, stripped of their lies and their evasions, real-life serial killers are flat, stereotypical, and downright
boring
—walking versions of Gertrude Stein’s classic description of Oakland: There’s no
there
, there.
    How do they get that way?
    No one knows, but two schools of thought have emerged along the same old ideological battle lines that have divided