Can bullies be helped?
People who are unwitting bullies can be helped by removal of pressure – then their behaviour improves. Sociopathic serial bullies cannot be helped at the moment. Work on psychopaths shows that the condition does not respond to treatment – in fact, treatment may make the condition worse. Their behaviour is as ingrained as a paedophile. Work with paedophiles suggests that it may take at least two years of counselling and therapy before the paedophile can begin to see their victim as a human being rather than an object for their gratification, although the recidivism (re-offence) rate is high. I suspect the same applies to serial bullies. As an adult, the serial bully has to want to change – which they emphatically do not. And who would pay for the counselling and therapy?
