Jen, you see it correctly, I believe.  I know that most people will disagree with me, but I believe in plain old fashioned evil, ordinary evil, and also a much deeper spiritual evil.  Someone very close to me called me a few weeks ago and said something I also agree with.  She said, "I finally understand evil; it is hunger and malice, emptiness full of need, and envy and hatred for others."  

My belief is that evil is a lack.  Sociopaths lack three fundamental qualities - a conscience, empathy, and any sense of responsibility for how their actions affect others.   It is an unholy trinity of absence.  Things that don't exist cannot be fixed.