Why are some people sadistic?

[raccoon]

Why do some people enjoy dog fights, cock fights, torturing other people or animals, seeing other people or animals get hurt?

Psychologists, psychiatrists, etc., please check in here. Others check in as well.


This thread got me to thinking about this
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1375815#1376405

[Virginia Dare]

1. It's indicative of a sociopath..

George Bush supposedly enjoyed blowing up frogs in his youth.

[yurbud]

4. and his brother said he liked to shoot bb's in his ass at close range.

[unpossibles]

2. imo, it is based on an inability to empathize with someone/something else n/t

[The2ndWheel]

3. The same reason some people aren't

Diversity.

[CoffeeCat]

5. I believe a great deal of this is due to...

...how children are mistreated and the epidemic of abuse in this country.

When you grow up, being sexually, physically and/or emotionally abused--you "turn off"
your emotions, in order to numb yourself. Feeling intense sorrow, loss, rage and pain
for a child is traumatic. They can't run away, or fight back as an adult would. Their
only solution is to emotionally hunker down and feel nothing.

As a result, many (but not all) children who endure abuse, end up unable to feel anything
for themselves, and others. Stuffing down emotions becomes an automatic response. They
no longer feel and they no longer recognize emotions in others. They lose their empathy
and their humanity.

The statistics are absolutely staggering. One in four girls and one in seven boys is sexually
abused before the age of 18. Most often, the abuse is perpetrated by a close family member--
usually a father, stepfather, uncle or grandfather. The damage is untold. This abuse,
and our society's unwillingness to deal with this epidemic--is rotting our society--one human
being at a time.

The statistics I mentioned only deal with sexual abuse. The numbers of children who are physically
abused, emotionally abused, neglected, living in poverty--or raised by narcissistic parents who
ignore their children---must be completely staggering. It's sad to say, but the majority of
children in this country probably don't make it out of their childhoods without some severe damage.

That's my take on it. I'm not an expert. I've read more than 100 books on dysfunctional families,
sociopaths, abuse and recovery. I'm fortunate to have a therapist who is a nationally renowned
PTSD expert. He was first on the scene at the Oklahoma bombing. He treats perpetrators and victims
and I've learned a lot from him about the mind of the perpetrator and who these people are.

They are not toothless men in a trench coats, wandering in the park. They are accountants,
bricklayers, dentists and ministers. They are our next-door neighbors and co-workers.

Until society owns up to this horrendous secret and until survivors feel safe enough to break their
silence, our society will continue to manufacture people who are in a great deal of pain---which
translates into sadists, masochists, sociopaths, psychopaths, narcissists and pedophiles.

[marions ghost]

6. Excellent post.

I agree that this is a large part of the problem of general sadism. It explains the groundswell of support for 'winnable' imperialist wars as well. The urge to "bomb em back to the stone age"--is indicative of a very sick society.

[area51]

7. sadism

I think so many people being sadists ties in w/the fact that we have a lot of people with untreated mental illness because we have an extremely expensive for-profit healthcare system. If we had single-payer like the civilized countries have, I think we'd see fewer sadists.

[DemGa]

8. Because as children they were beaten and abused

We could solve so much if we would begin by NOT hitting kids.

[Deja Q]

16. Bull.

Or at least I tend to thwart the stereotype.

I am still a social misfit - but I sure as hell don't, nor would condone cutting, slicing, lighting on fire, dropping from high places, drowning, punching, kicking, or worse to defenseless life forms. Even tasty ones such as chickens. I try to value morality rather highly.

I think it's too much video games and needlessly violent movies. Recall the dum-dum teenieboppers who saw that one movie from the 1980s where the kids lied down on the double yellow line and tried to do it themselves? Or MTV's own "Jackass", and other sordid copycat shows, solidify my point nicely too.

Besides, much such people were not bullied as a child. They were bullies as children. One letter can make a world of difference. Perhaps for some, that letter was "F"?

[Beelzebud]

9. Because evolution is a fact, and we still have DNA remnants of our primitive ancestors in us.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Money.

It's a betting sport.

[EFerrari]

11. I'm not any of those things but had the opportunity to study sadism.

All human beans seem to have sadistic tendencies. From the work I did, it just seems that that's how we're built.

What we do with that bent is another thing.

If you think about it, suckling is a sadistic activity. Our challenge is to move beyond that, to do our best to get needs met AND not to hurt other people in the process.

[hfojvt]

12. I'm glad you didn't mention boxing or professional wrestling

I would hate to see you get torn to pieces by an angry mob.

I think there is alot of hatred and anger in the world. People receive it and pass it on.

[raccoon]

17. I figure with either of those sports, the participants choose to get in the ring.

The dogs and roosters don't have a choice.

"I think there is alot of hatred and anger in the world. People receive it and pass it on."

Yes, and whoever said "misery loves company" had it right.

[aikoaiko]

13. Its really just a matter of degree -- who hasn't experienced schadenfreude

Sure, its important to draw lines, but almost every single abnormal behavior is just engaging in excessive normal behavior.

[Forkboy]

14. I don't know but I'm willing to beat the answer out of you.

:yoiks:

[TahitiNut]

15. You mean the sadists calling for capital punishment and stringing people up by the balls??

:shrug: It's tough to keep it straight when the shit gets flung from all directions.