So what was going wrong with these children

Migratory birds, rutting stags and leaping salmon are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

In your mind the thought that “these kids must have really terrible parents” may be bouncing around. The belief that badly behaved children are the product of bad parenting is so deeply rooted in our culture that it is difficult to dispel. But let me try. I have talked to many families over the years and a common thread has been that the parents had tried literally every possible option before coming to see us – counsellors, medication, special schools, social workers. These were caring parents with resources. Nearly all had other children, none of whom were psychopathic.

Engaging in psychopathic behaviours seems to be driven by inherited factors, as we know from adoption and twin studies. These studies show that parenting and other environmental factors explain only a small fraction of the aggression of psychopathic children.

So what was going wrong with these children? Part of our research measured activity in the prefrontal cortex, right above the eyes, and a region called the amygdala. The amygdala (Latin for almond) is a lump of fat and fibre about half an inch in diameter that is buried beneath layers of cortex under each temple. Among other things, it plays a critical role in recognising fearful facial expressions.