Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert D. Hare
Publisher: The Guilford Press
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  110 reviews
Sales Rank: 5743
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 236
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1572304510
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.8582
EAN: 9781572304512
ASIN: 1572304510
Publication Date: January 8, 1999
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Amazon.com
"Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please..." In Without Conscience Robert Hare argues convincingly that "psychopath" and "antisocial personality disorder" (a psychiatric term defined by a cluster of criminal behaviors) are not the same thing. Not all psychopaths are criminals, he says, and not all criminals are psychopaths. He proposes a psychopathy checklist that includes emotional/interpersonal traits such as glibness, grandiosity, lack of guilt, and shallow emotions, as well as social deviance traits such as impulsiveness, lack of responsibility, and antisocial behavior. His writing is lucid and illustrated with numerous anecdotes. The final chapter, "A Survival Guide," is especially recommended: as Hare writes, "Psychopaths are found in every segment of society, and there is a good chance that eventually you will have a painful or humiliating encounter with one."
Product Description
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 personality disorder are fully aware of the consequences of their actions and know the difference between right and wrong, yet they are terrifyingly self-centered, remorseless, and unable to care about the feelings of others. Perhaps most frightening, they often seem completely normal to unsuspecting targets--and they do not always ply their trade by killing. Presenting a compelling portrait of these dangerous men and women based on 25 years of distinguished scientific research, Dr. Robert D. Hare vividly describes a world of con artists, hustlers, rapists, and other predators who charm, lie, and manipulate their way through life. Are psychopaths mad, or simply bad? How can they be recognized? And how can we protect ourselves? This book provides solid information and surprising insights for anyone seeking to understand this devastating condition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 105 more reviews...
 Fascinating and Informative August 7, 2008
This book gives insight into a phenomenon that is misunderstood by many in America: psychopathy. Use the word "psychopath" amongst your peers, and the first people they will think of are high profile serial killers. Yet your miscreant son, your untrustworthy stock broker, or your transient, cheating spouse may all be psychopaths. Dr. Hare gives the reader a specific set of characteristics displayed by psychopaths, how their actions effect those around them and society at large, and possible solutions to minimize those effects. The book is a fascinating, well-written, and concise look at this destructive personality disorder. My only major criticism is that Dr. Hare seems content to simplify the language too much, needlessly buffering the reader from the more technical, psychological language. He should have given his readership more credit.
Overall, this was an excellent read. I highly recommend it.
 A Truly Insightful Book July 29, 2008
This book explains the problems with identifying and dealing with antisocial personality disorder. It describes the disease in specific terms that are very helpful to the reader desiring an understanding of this challenging mental illness.
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us April 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great book for the layman from a leading researcher and clinician on the subject of the pyschopathic personality. It is very readable and brings a good deal of clarity to a confusing and very difficult area of human relationships. It was actually a relief to read this book and recognize the "wolves in sheep's clothing" who have upset and victimized friends, family members and myself. I think it should be part of any training program for managers, clergy and anyone responsible for the well-being of a group of people. I wish I had had the information in this book under my belt when I left college and entered the "real world" -- it would have spared me and several loved ones a lot of trouble and grief.
ASSISTANCE IS FUTILE! April 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fascinating book. It's like you get to see inside the minds' of people whose reality is totally different from yours - hopefully! As the author says, their's is a black and white world, devoid of many emotions that normally color a person's life. Scary stuff. But good for realizing some things, like how to look for cues to identify such people, how to spot the techniques they use to con others, and how futile it is to think they will truly change for any reasons whatsoever. The studies, the experts, all say they will NOT. If there is such a thing as demon seed, this book describes it in detail.
Highly readable intro to psychopaths by world's leading expert March 14, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It is not often that top level scientists can write a popular introduction to the field and successfully combine insights drawn from decades of clinical experience blended with anecdotal mini-histories that make the concepts come alive. The renowned researcher Dr. Robert D. Hare--the creator of the most widely used tests for analyzing psychopathy around the world--has written just such a book. It is concise, packed with new information, and compellingly written!
Though originally published some 15 years ago, Without Conscience remains a best-seller in its field because no one else has described the inner workings of the psychopath with such clarity and verve while remaining absolutely true to the scientific field he himself helped create.
Let me be clear about what this book "isn't" and doesn't pretend to be: the book is based on the famous PCL-R testing procedure Hare and his colleagues have developed over many years, but it does not show how to use the testing procedure (which requires very substantial training) nor does it provide all of the current footnotes some might want. (Those are easily available elsehwhere--see the recent and technical handbook, The Psychopath, edited by Herve and Yuille with contributions by Hare for current references and refinements in research.)
Who are psychopaths? Hare shows how the key psychological characteristics--glib and superficial, egocentric and grandiose, lacking in remorse, lacking in human empathy, deceiptful and manipulative, and shallow in their emotions--are combined with behavior problems (often problems going back to childhood) to produce a completely unique profile of people who are potentially highly dangerous and lack any internal "brakes" on whatever havoc they create in the lives of others.
They are a dangerous breed and a breed apart. If you're interested in what makes these often charming and normal-acting tricksters work, how and why they camoflage their own deadliness, this remarkable book is the place to start. It will be fascinating for both general readers as well as psychology students and people in both the mental health fields and law enforcement.
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