12. Lack of remorse or guilt—a lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of others; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, coldhearted, non-empathetic. This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one’s victims (i.e., parents).

13. Shallow effect—emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness.

14. Callousness and lack of empathy—a lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, tactless.

15. Promiscuous sexual behavior—a variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of several relationships at the same time; if a son, he may have fathered numerous children; if a daughter, multiple unplanned and unwanted pregnancies and using abortion as birth control.

16. Many short-term relationships—a lack of commitment to a long-term relationship reflected in inconsistent, undependable, and unreliable commitments in life, including marital.

17. Juvenile delinquency—behavior problems between the ages of thirteen and eighteen; mostly behaviors that are crimes or clearly involve aspects of antagonism, exploitation, aggression, manipulation, or a callous, ruthless tough-mindedness.

18. Criminal versatility—a diversity of types of criminal offenses (regardless of whether he has been arrested or convicted for them); sometimes taking great pride at getting away with crimes.  

Okay, brace yourself, Mom and Dad. If you answered yes to several of these, you may be surprised to learn that all eighteen traits are actually the clinical traits of someone possessing what professionals now refer to as an “antisocial personality disorder,” formerly known as sociopathic behavior.

A sociopath has something wrong with his conscience—either he doesn’t have one or it’s severely fragmented or corrupt. Today, politically correct psychologists often call this a “character disorder,” defined typically as people who don’t want to take responsibility for their own actions and lives. As with any psychological disorder, there are varying degrees to which a person is affected. Yet regardless of the degree to which our adult children possess these alarming traits, they are not beyond our prayers. On the contrary, now is the time we must pray all the harder. Pray and plan.

Yes, by setting in motion a plan whereby we cut the cord of enablement, we are releasing them into a world where they can sink or swim, but we are also releasing them into a world where we can all, parents and children alike, fully realize the power of God to work in miraculous ways to bring his children out of bondage and into a life of utter freedom and peace.