Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us

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Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 2,156 ratings · 201 reviews

Most people are both repelled and intrigued by the images of cold-blooded, conscienceless murderers that increasingly populate our movies, television programs, and newspaper headlines. With their flagrant criminal violation of society's rules, serial killers like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are among the most dramatic examples of the psychopath. Individuals with this per...more

Paperback, 236 pages

Published January 8th 1999 by The Guilford Press (first published 1993)

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Apr 01, 2013 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, 2013

Dr. Robert Hare: This is a book about psychopaths...

Sarah: With hearts of gold?

Dr. Robert Hare: No, they're pretty heartless, actually.

Sarah: Because they need love?

Dr. Robert Hare: No. They're clinical psychopaths.

Sarah: Aw. They must be so sad.

Dr. Robert Hare: Not really.

Sarah: So, basically, what you're saying here is...they'll change? I can change them?

Dr. Robert Hare: You're an unbelievable idiot.

Sarah: I love you, too.

But seriously...
I do kinda wish this book had gone into a bit more depth...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Diana Damas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aunque el libro de Robert D.Hare está escrito mucho antes de la actual crisis, y su tema central es la psicopatía y no la economía, me apeteció releerlo porque arroja una interesante luz sobre cómo hemos llegado a la situación actual. Por supuesto, la facilidad con la que los psicópatas pueden llegar a puestos de responsabilidad en las grandes empresas que dirigen las economías mundiales es solo uno de muchos factores, pero no creo que sea en absoluto despreciable.

Además de la chapucera gestión...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Mark Jaworski rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hope that Dr. Hare would prepare ten minutes UTube to let everyone know how to recognize psychopaths before they ruin our marriages, homes and businesses. Too much complements and eyes of the snake predator are the best warning signs.
I wish I knew that before.

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Mar 18, 2010 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, if I had to read this in college, it's better than a textbook! The case studies keep it a bit more interesting but sometimes they become too much too. I skipped some parts but I read more than I would have if I were still in college...or even grad school for that matter! :) Interesting theory on psychopathy...now back to fiction for me!

Wait I do have more to add...I do think the author was a bit over dramatic about how concerned we should be about psychopaths in our own circles...Yes be sc...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Maureen rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Maureen by: Craig Haney

Shelves: psychology

Dr. Robert Hare has a theory he calls "psychopathy," that he uses to describes anyone whose behavior doesn't conform to his standards. He has tried for years to get it into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the psychiatrists' and psychologists' main reference work. Its editors have rejected Dr. Hare's proposition as being too vague. Still, people will read this and think that their landlord or the guy next to them on the bus is a psychopath. I have read many useful psychological evaluation...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Payam rated it 4 of 5 stars

I decided to step outside my typical reading pattern and read this book about Psychopaths. Overall, it provides a clear overview of Psychopathy, its symptoms, and its devastating impacts. Perhaps more interesting to me, were the implications psychopaths had on ethical theories, law, justice, and religious teachings.

Psychopaths are not well in-tuned to their emotions. As such, their world of right and wrong is determined by what they can get away with and what they cannot. It has no ethical foun...more I decided to step outside my typical reading pattern and read this book about Psychopaths. Overall, it provides a clear overview of Psychopathy, its symptoms, and its devastating impacts. Perhaps more interesting to me, were the implications psychopaths had on ethical theories, law, justice, and religious teachings.

Psychopaths are not well in-tuned to their emotions. As such, their world of right and wrong is determined by what they can get away with and what they cannot. It has no ethical foundation. It is not emotionally bound and as such it operates on a selfish and rational mode of thought. Numerous ethical theories build on assumptions of mutual emotions and natural human inclinations to operate together. These theories are obliterated by psychopaths. As such, we must by necessity classify them as mentally ill in order to preserve our ethical theories and our notion of justice. Instead, perhaps we might want to devise theories of cooperation or revisit ethical theories and begin to accommodate for psychopaths. As such, perhaps we can understand to avoid such assumptions and create more universal ethical theories. Having said that, these are only fragmented thoughts of mine :)

Since the book provide case studies to understand real-life examples of psychopathy, it acts as a teaching tool for self-protection. As you learn how the victims were victimized, you begin to self-introspect into your own behavior and identify your flaws. From this book, I will be taking away these core principals:
1. Do not trust without reason.
2. Do not be fooled by words alone but instead consider the other person's entire body language
3. Do not let optimism blind you from reality

In other words, do not let another individual distract you from establishing self-justice for yourself, whether that be by intimidating, seduction, or connivance. Utilize clear contracts and do not assume, that because you are a good person and those around you are good people, that all people are good. Do not let your guard down.(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Laurie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Protect yourself from sociopaths
Learn to recognize the traits—then stay away

Sociopathy is a complex personality disorder. Sociopaths exhibit a wide variety of maladaptive behavior which makes the condition difficult to diagnose. Sociopathy is not one trait; it is a syndrome—a cluster of related symptoms.

To help professionals accurately diagnose the sociopath (also called a psychopath), Robert D. Hare, Ph.D., developed the Psychopathy Checklist. This is not a quiz you can try at home; it is a too...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Hinch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Without Conscience provides a thorough examination of the condition of psychopathy. Written by Robert Hare, a pioneer and authority of the field, the book is held in high regard by other professionals, and yet is easily understood by the layman.

The book explores psychopathy through numerous case studies, most drawn from the criminal world, and also presents the Psychopathy Checklist, the primary diagnostic tool used to assess the disorder. The book also explores issues of personal significance t...more

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Oct 04, 2011 R. Z. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

Scary book, but one that may be of some help should we ever fall prey to a psychopath in our lives. Psychopaths are probably hard-wired that way from birth which is why treatment (at least so far) cannot change them. They have distinct characteristics in common with each other and Dr. Hare and his colleagues have created a test to determine whether or not any given individual is actually a psychopath, one of which is an amazing ability to "read" unsuspecting persons, discover their weaknesses an...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Carlos rated it 5 of 5 stars

Robert D. Hare’s Without Conscience is an excellent read and great comprehensive overview of the world of Psychopaths. It is extremely well-written and simplified enough for laypersons to fully understand all of Hare’s research and findings. Most academic works are usually full of jargon and difficult for the everyday person to read and understand, but not this book.

Hare clearly and evidently wanted this information to be readily accessible and available to all. His many years of research and...more Robert D. Hare’s Without Conscience is an excellent read and great comprehensive overview of the world of Psychopaths. It is extremely well-written and simplified enough for laypersons to fully understand all of Hare’s research and findings. Most academic works are usually full of jargon and difficult for the everyday person to read and understand, but not this book.

Hare clearly and evidently wanted this information to be readily accessible and available to all. His many years of research and interactions with actual psychopaths led him to develop an understanding of this pathology so intricate that many people, including his peers, see him as an authority on the subject. This book only helped elevate him further in his career because of its simplicity and accessibility to all.

In the book, Hare does a wonderful job at explaining and clarifying the terms “psychopath,” “sociopath” and “anti-social personality disorder” since the three are usually used interchangeably. Although they refer to similar disorders/pathologies, Hare illustrates how they aren’t the same and why they shouldn’t be presented as such. He also explains how he developed the “Psychopathic Checklist,” which is administered to individuals, as a diagnostic tool to formalize how clinical diagnoses are made.

Aside from the checklist, Hare does a phenomenal job at explaining psychopaths in complete detail chapter after chapter. He paints the perfect picture of a psychopath’s makeup and general inability to relate empathetically to others. He also does a great job at showing how these people can range from being relatively ‘normal’ but emotionally barren to becoming serial killers. The broad spectrum of psychopaths is due, I learned from the reading, in large part of the upbringing of the person. If the person’s upbringing was ideal and ‘safe’ then they will probably grow-up to live a relatively normal life; however, if their upbringing wasn’t ideal then society would have yet another criminal on their hands.

Although most of Hare’s research and career was involving the criminal world, he does a good job at identifying the fact that not all psychopaths are criminals or become criminals. While many people surely think that is the case, the truth is that many go about their daily lives causing chaos and hurting those people they come across by wrecking emotional havoc in their lives. These might not break the law, but they are emotionally abusive, cruel, manipulative, and controlling to whoever crosses their path; be it a family member, co-worker, or boss. Their inability to create emotional bonds with others is a major component in their apparent behavior towards others.

Hare explains that because of Hollywood and movies, like American Psycho, people have a tendency to think of all psychopaths as physically violent, criminal, and/or serial killers who are out to hurt as many people as possible. This, as we learn from the book, couldn’t be further from the truth. Even though many psychopaths do commit crimes and are in penal system, they aren’t the majority, nor do these violent psychopaths makeup a large percentage of psychopaths in general. This being another reason why I found this book so great and useful, with so much information about these individuals and the telltale signs of their eminent danger, people could be better equipped to distinguish them in their everyday lives.

Being able to recognize a psychopath in your life is very important because this way you might be able to avoid some of the damage/chaos that they are sure to cause you. However, Hare does tell his readers that a clinical diagnosis made by someone trained in the “Psychopathic Checklist” is the best way to truly learn if someone is in fact a psychopath. People just shouldn’t assume a person is one if they believe it to be true, because as he details in one of his chapters, mislabeling a person a psychopath could cause irreparable damage to that person’s life.

Another reason I would highly recommend this book would be the case histories and personal stories Hare included within the text. Some case studies included were from Hare’s personal file and very interesting indeed. They gave the reader an all access pass into the mind and dealings with prior patients of Hare. Aside from these, he also included personal stories/statements from other individuals who submitted writings to him about their interactions with psychopaths and other stories about his researchers’ interaction with their patients. These only added more depth to the reading and really allowed the reader to get a more personal feel to dealing with psychopaths on a daily basis.

Overall, Without Conscience was a very enjoyable and enlightening read. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in psychopathology as a way to ease into the literature. Since Hare made his book simple enough for laypersons to read and understand, people would benefit from reading this book first, before getting into the more academic readings. (less)

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May 29, 2011 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, non-fiction, library, recommended

I was watching Doctor Who yesterday, and the Doctor, ever the optimist, said something like, “people are good, down in their bones”.

Well.

Nice thought.

What about the psychopaths, though?

In Without Conscience, Robert Hare posits that there are some 2million psychopaths in the United States (and approximately 20% of the prison population is comprised of psychopaths). It’s something that doesn’t necessarily correlate with childhood abuse; some people are just bad, down in their bones. Of course, the...more

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Jul 12, 2009 H. rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: 20-somethings

Recommended to H. by: Amazon ratings

Shelves: research, nf-science, dont-own

According to some light Googling, Dr. Hare appears to remain an authority on the subject of psychopathy along with having laid much of the framework, as presented in this 1993 work, for the way the syndrome is currently studied. His perspective is satisfyingly unsympathetic and clinical, the subject matter undeniably fascinating, and the style of writing decent and smooth. It reads like what I would imagine pop science from 15 years ago would--in tone it is not overly slick or full of buzz-words...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Tucker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: brain, existential, finished, sociopaths

A good overview of what psychopathy is--basically, the lack of feeling and moral conscience--from a psychologist who worked with psychopathic offenders in prison and who developed the diagnostic tool that has since become the standard. The book is somewhat of a plug for his then-recently developed tool, called The Psychopathy Checklist. He makes it quite clear that he believes that psychopaths have freedom of choice, they're aware of social rules even if they don't feel the emotional force behin...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychopath-disturbed, non-fiction, psychology

Robert D. Hare's book is well-written and elegantly structured, achieving a balance between being comprehensible and informative to the layman while still being enlightening to those with a depth of knowledge in the field of psychopathy -- largely because it gathers together a comprehensive look at this mysterious disorder.

The first chapter, "Experiencing the Psychopath," brings together anecdotes and excerpts from case studies about what it is like to encounter a psychopath, while chapter 2, "F...more Robert D. Hare's book is well-written and elegantly structured, achieving a balance between being comprehensible and informative to the layman while still being enlightening to those with a depth of knowledge in the field of psychopathy -- largely because it gathers together a comprehensive look at this mysterious disorder.

The first chapter, "Experiencing the Psychopath," brings together anecdotes and excerpts from case studies about what it is like to encounter a psychopath, while chapter 2, "Focusing the Picture," seeks to clarify the issues involved by what we mean when we use the term 'psychopath.' Together, these chapters frame the issue of what we are dealing with and the difficulties on trying to get a handle on it so that systematic research, response -- and treatment -- can begin to be possible.

"The Profile: Feelings and Relationships" describes the difference in how the psychopathic individual experiences emotion and relationship: notably, there is a lack of capacity for deep affect, mutual relationships, and what we might call real, unselfish love, as well as the presence of grandiosity, glib and smooth (or convincing) speech, deceitfulness, and manipulation of others. All of the criteria from this point forward are built around the 'psychopathy checklist' which Hare and his colleagues have developed, and which functions both as a rigorous diagnostic tool and as the philosophical-scientific scaffolding through which he understands the phenomenon (or construct) or psychopathy. Most pronounced among the emotional poverties of the psychopath is, of course, the inability to feel empathy; combined with impulsively and marked pleasure-seeking behavior, this helps to explain the extremely destructive behaviors that psychopaths inflict on the people and societies around them.

"The Profile: The Lifestyle" moves away from describing the inner lives and personality traits that define psychopathy toward characteristic behaviors which either flow from or reinforce the internal aspects of the syndrome (or, of course, a combination of both). The psychopathic individual is impulsive, displaying little capacity for long-term foresight or planning, has poor behavioural self-regulation (though displays of anger are shallow and short-lived), excitement-seeking (though not explicitly stated, you will likely not find an introverted psychopath as they consistently seek stimulation both in risk-taking and other behaviors) and displays little to no responsibility toward obligations or in their assessment of their own actions. Psychopathy is characterized by the early-onset of symptoms during childhood, including persistent lying, truancy, theft, violence, and (sometimes) cruelty to animals. Even at an early age, and especially apparent as a child ages, these traits are not typical of poor childhood impulse control or transient behavioral issues but, rather, pervasive and persistent inflexible traits. As adults, psychopaths are consistently unable to follow society's rules, whether that be in a lesser regard (as with lying) or the an extreme (as with serial murder).What this chapter makes clear is that socially deviant behavior alone does not define psychopathy, as a greater percentage of people engage in these behaviors than the percentage which can be properly understood as psychopathic: what distinguishes the psychopath among us is both the complex of behaviors and the characteristic lack of what we would consider the capacity for a full and normal emotional life.

Chapter 5, "Internal Controls: The Missing Piece," analyzes why psychopaths break social rules by positing that they lack the capacity for the internal controls normally developed by socialization. Not only do they lack compassion or a fear of punishment, and not only are they driven by self-gratification, they seem to lack the ability to project how their behavior will affect their ability to self-gratify in the future -- for example, by landing them in prison. They do not develop a conscience and lack the 'inner speech' that grounds behavioral self-regulation. By and large, this can be seen as the confluence of others traits such as impulsivity, lack of empathy and shallow emotions.

Chapter Six describes the path to crime as a logical outcome for people with this cluster of traits, while chapter 7 expands the scope to include white-collar crime. The book goes on to explore characteristics of language-usage in psychopathy, how they suck people in, and how they distort reality; to expand on the phenomenon of psychopathy in youth and how its traits are, while 'shapped' to a slight degree, highly rigid. While I personally adhere to the stress-diathesis model in most cases, I have to admit that Hare paints a convincing picture of a complex of traits highly resistant to influence. It is in this light which we read of the ethics of labelling, possible future treatment courses, and how to protect ourselves.

The early sections of this book really form the core around which the later sections are read, and they are, while informative, mainly elaborations on information in the earlier chapters. Hare makes clear that psychopathy as he understands it is distinct from Antisocial Personality Disorder (301.7) because this diagnostic tool ignores and emotional-inner-life aspects of psychopathy in its diagnostic criteria, favoring behavioral manifestations instead (though some of these things are mentioned in the section for Associated Features and Disorders in the DSM-IV-TR; that section of the DSM can be found on pp701-706 for those who are interested).

As a layperson I found Hare's book interesting and accessible, and I recommend it as a way to get a more accurate view of what psychopathy is and is not and, as he finishes in the last sections of his book, find ways to protect ourselves from the psychopaths among us. (less)

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Nov 16, 2012 Dawn Grenley rated it 4 of 5 stars

4 stars. Read this book to safeguard yourself and your loved ones from the 'charming' destruction these people can wreak on your lives and the lives of others!

Perfect book on psychopathology of the mind for the lay person. Hare uses composite descriptions of psychopaths to bring the message home that there are approx 2% of the American population who would fit his criterion. He has a checklist of behavioral symptoms that indicate a predispostion to psyhcopathology.

One of the most telling featur...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Colin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

After reading "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson, I wanted to read something more focused on psychopathy. Hare's book is probably a little out of date by now - it has been nearly 20 years - and I am sure that our knowledge of psychopaths has increased alot since then. Nonetheless, I found this an informative book that answered many of my questions.
The style is in many ways akin to a textbook, but I think he wrote it for a broader audience than psychology students. The book focuses on what make...more After reading "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson, I wanted to read something more focused on psychopathy. Hare's book is probably a little out of date by now - it has been nearly 20 years - and I am sure that our knowledge of psychopaths has increased alot since then. Nonetheless, I found this an informative book that answered many of my questions.
The style is in many ways akin to a textbook, but I think he wrote it for a broader audience than psychology students. The book focuses on what makes psychopaths pyschopaths and gives a ton of examples to illustrate the points. It can get a bit repetative at times. There are a few examples which are used more than once (used to illustrate different points) and because this is based on the checklist he designed, he mentions it a million times. The annecdotes and examples are all interesting however and for me that made the book engrossing.
One concern I had was that many of the examples given do not necessarily depict psychopaths. They may, but they may not. Hare warns against applying the Psychopath Checklist without using the proper porcedures included in the manual for the checklist. It is a good point and an important one. He also mentions the dangers of diagnosing a person as a psychopath from afar - he turned down a request to diagnose Saddam Hussein. Despite this many of the stories used to illustrate psychopathic behavior are annecdotes which do not seem to be deffinitive cases of psychopathy.
I think this is his attempt to broaden the scope beyond the prison inmates he normally works with. As he points out, psychopaths may be difficult to diagnose outside of prison because they have to agree to an interview with a professional and few are likely willing to do that. Hare is trying to make a point with this book: that psychopaths are all around us. While many are in prison, many are not, and they are good at wreaking havoc on our lives. Given that, it may be important that he include as many examples from outside of his prison files as possible.
To be fair, he rarely says that these annecdotes are about psychopaths. Instead he uses them to illustrate behaviors and traits associated with them. In this regard, they work and work well. still I wish he had put more emphasis on that fact. Without it, it can sound alot like the armchair psychiatry he warms against and which Ron Jonson fell into in writing his own book "The Psychopath Test".

This is deffinately a worthy read for anyone interested in the subject. Given the time that has passed since it was published it may be time for Hare to rewrite it and bring it up to date.(less)

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Aug 03, 2008 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay, maybe you have to be a psychologist to appreciate this, but I thought it was fascinating. Wait: No, I don't think you have to be a psychologist to appreciate this -- it's just fascinating how nasty and evil people can be!

If this kind of thing intrigues you (all you people out there who like to read about real-life serial killers, this is for you!), then don't hesitate to pick up. Again, fascinating!

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Sep 28, 2011 K.C. May rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I found this book and its subject matter absolutely fascinating. The author presents the subject of psychopathy in layman's terms so those of us without a Ph.D. in Psychology can easily follow. He comes across as the expert that he is, with decades of hands-on experience working with psychopaths and doing research into the disorder. While the subject matter is chilling, it's a necessary read for those who've been in contact with someone who fits the description. Although the book is a little rep...more

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Feb 20, 2011 Sarah Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sarah Jane by: Pierce Ruple

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology

As a psychology student, I really enjoyed this book. It has TONS of information and statistics, but the writing is accessible. Hare is obviously dedicated to a cautious and ethical approach. All of his claims are based on repeated experiments and decades of study. He is clearly reluctant to jump to any conclusion, and I consider that a very good trait in anyone that claims to be an "expert."

Overall, Hare paints a scary, but realistic, picture of psychopathy and its prevalence in our society. By...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Piktas rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: exploring-mind, audiobooks

The actual findings of the research and its conclusion would make approximately one tenth of the book. The rest of it is meant to shock the reader in a way that crime reality shows dramatize and magnify car chase or paint a random shoplifter as the most dangerous man alive by giving them an hour of screen time to ramble for no reason.

It’s like reporting a murder in a newspaper by writing two sentences about it but posting four pages of close shots of the victim’s dead body and childhood photos o...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Justin Rees rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: true-crime-criminology

I thought this was an excellent book, but I find one major flaw with it. First I would like to say though, that this was a concise presentation on the clinical definition, diagnosis, and dangerous impacts of the psychopath. Though a bit dry at points with the case studies, he presented a very interesting case. But now the downfall, he is over confident. The field of studying these individuals without feeling among us is ever change and still very mysterious. He brings the criteria that defines a...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Brandi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read another book about this subject sometime last year and was a little disappointed by the lack of real case studies (they were composites). A reviewer mentioned that this one is better and I agree.

The case studies come from prison and many of them are chilling, but the part that actually interested me the most was how psychopaths differ linguistically. I always thought that they were consistent in how they talk but it looks like they can simply wear many of their victims down with a consta...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Linda Branham Greenwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology, non-fiction

This book was written in 1993... I have seen some more recent research on psychopaths and how their brains actually process information and emotions differently on an MRI/CT scan. BUT... having said this this book really good description behavioral information about psychopaths
I especially liked how Dr. Hare describes psychopaths as seeing themselves as the real victims, and their convoluted thinking mechanisms that they use to explain this belief to others.
Near the end of the book he explains w...more

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Feb 26, 2008 Bird rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh, you gotta read this. Excellent descriptions and explanation of psychological method. Horrifying interviews. I've met these people and you have, too. On the downside, ain't nuthin we can do about it. Except pack heat, maybe.

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Jun 24, 2011 Beth666ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good introduction to psychopathy from a scholarly psychological perspective--but written for general readers. Lots of sidebars with examples from true crime books or notorious criminals, and there are also lots of stories/narratives about the lives of psychopaths that help the reader better understand how they behave and rationalize. The book is immersed in its time period (the early/mid 1990s), and so perhaps its observations have been updated since, but if you want a good, understandable def...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Christa is currently reading it

This book truly unvails the people that roam in our society that we interact with every day. We seem as a society completely unaware of the people that we interact with every day. The scary truth is, we watched pyschopathics in our favorite John Wayne movies. Psychologists and philosophers have together discovered through critique and close analysation of this famous man that he was indeed a psychopath, or at least the parts which he played. We found that throughout history we have idolized the...more

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Apr 02, 2010 Lise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Lise by: Diane Rehm

Shelves: library, brain-psych

This book seems to be a fairly good introduction to the subject of psychopaths, but it was a bit repetitive for my taste.

The book read a little bit like an informercial for Dr. Hare's diagnostic procedure, and greatly emphasized distinguishing traits of the psychopath (lack of remorse and empathy being the key elements emphasized). I would have liked very much to have seen more on the physiological differences (how the psychopath processes language and emotion, and on how the lack of physiologi...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Samikha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: pop-psych

It's an excellent pop psych introduction to the concept of psychopathy, easily read with plenty of anecdotes to keep the reader interested. Definitely recommended if you want to hear what's what by one of the experts in the field.

I subtracted some points for two reasons. First, Hare's constant referral to his own Psychopathy Checklist gets on my nerves after a while - there are alternative measurements out there, and it comes across as product placement. Second, he never addresses some of the mo...more

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May 16, 2013 Robin Templin rated it 3 of 5 stars

So-so. It was a very good description of a sociopath/psychopath. But since most first hand research on psychopaths takes place in prison (the numbers are greatest there obviously), a lot of the book is about psychopaths who commit real crimes. I was hoping for more insight into the psychopaths who mostly devastate families and friends. Nothing against this book.... especially if you want to learn what makes a psychopath tick. I would love to see this same author tackle the subject as it relates...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Celia is currently reading it

Shelves: psychology, nonfiction

Sociopathy vs. psychopathy: "the choice of term reflects the user's views on the origins and determinants of the clinical syndrome or disorder described in this book. Thus, some clinicians and researchers—as well as most sociologists and criminologists—who believe that the syndrome is forged entirely by social forces and early experiences prefer the term sociopath, whereas those—including this writer—who feel that psychological, biological, and genetic factors also contribute to development of t...more

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“He will choose you, disarm you with his words, and control you with his presence. He will delight you with his wit and his plans. He will show you a good time but you will always get the bill. He will smile and deceive you, and he will scare you with his eyes. And when he is through with you, and he will be through with you, he will desert you and take with him your innocence and your pride. You will be left much sadder but not a lot wiser, and for a long time you will wonder what happened and what you did wrong. And if another of his kind comes knocking on your door, will you open it?

-From an essay signed "A psychopath in prison” — 10 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/119730.Without_Conscience?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344713389l/119730.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/119730.Without_Conscience?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D. Hare[/url]

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us

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