While this book is a little dated, it survives for its ability to relay how psychopathy and the study of it developed over the years, primarily in the hands of this very author. It also survives for Hare's clear and everyday explanation of a personality disorder that is largely misunderstood, and far more prevalent in our society than anyone realizes. Trust me, over Hare's warning, you'll be diagnosing someone in your school or work or family before the last page - and you'll probably be right.

5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended ( )

I recently finished reading The Sociopath Next Door and recognized some of the traits it described in a number of people I’ve had the misfortune of running into over the years. Thank goodness I didn’t recognize any from this book. ( )

I should be upfront and advise that I was required to read this book for a college course entitled "Psychopaths, Sociopaths, and Serial Killers". Keeping that in mind, I have to say that this was a very interesting and informative book. This book offered information on being able to identify psychopaths, how to handle them in your work environment, and how best to keep yourself safe from them. The one lesson that this book enforced was that not all psychopaths are out to hurt you. There are well-established careers that employ psychopaths on a regular basis such as attorneys and surgeons.

There are examples given of psychopaths in prison who achieve high levels on the Psychopath Test which is one given so as to classify true and dangerous paths from those who may be less dangerous. All in all, this was an eye-opening read that made me better understand the world around me. ( )

Was going to give it two stars because:

- It's sensationalist (serves me right for reading a book on this topic, I guess).
- It focuses almost entirely on convicted criminal psychopaths, when the vast majority are never convicted of any crime.
- It is anecdote after anecdote with almost no enlightening statistics information about studies or evidence
- He asserts things without offering proof, and sometimes the things are objectively wrong (e.g. saying that people are getting more violent)
- He says a few things that make me think he really admires psychopaths and wishes he wasn't weighed down by conscience

So that is all two stars... And then he said this:

Some criminals learn to do crime. They are raised in families or social environments in which criminal behaviour [...] is the accepted norm. [...] Dramatic examples of these sub-cultures of criminals include [...] the brands of Gypsies common in some parts of Europe.

You can't just make a sweeping statement about a race like that! NO STARS FOR YOU. ( )

Great book, if you are interested in the subject. Much deeper detail than many other books. ( )

So much more than a mere glimpse into the human psyche. This work probes into the darkest recesses of mankind's inability to experience the emotional balance that draws the thinnest of lines between that which is simply the darker thoughts of the man's depressive nature and that which moves well into the realms that become pathology and complete imbalance. ( )

The Disturbing world of the psychopaths among us

Essential reading if you want to understand moral insanity and it's variants.

I have come to understand "psychopath", "sociopath", and "moral insanity" as nuanced terms for the same basic phenomenon: habitual lack of remorse for having harmed someone else.

So much stems from this simple phenomenon, and it is so alien to the way we feel. It has an enormous impact on our society. Nearly everyone has met someone with this characteristic and everyone has felt the effects of their actions.

Dr. Hare tells us in vivid detail about psychopaths in this book, which will perhaps be his most enduring work.

This book brought me closer to understanding how Dr. Hare and his research team developed the PCL-R test. I got some understanding of how his work has impacted the direction of the DSM ASPD diagnosis.

If you have someone in your life who seems reckless, manipulative, chronically deceptive, always "on their game", read this book. But don't tell them you are reading it! ( )

Forget Lord Voldemort. On the evidence, Robert Hare, the author of Without Conscience, was the first Death Eater.

I say that because, although Hare writes this book to warn about psychopaths, you can't help but feel that, deep down, he likes these people. He's always talking them up, as if they have a magical ability to make you believe anything they say. And then they'll take you for a ride, and you'll be left sadder, poorer, and possibly pregnant-er. Assuming you aren't dead-er.

All of which presents a very frightening picture, and some of it seems to be true. There are people who have little or no desire to help others, and who have little or no executive function to inhibit them from socially destructive behavior. There is evidence that these people have abnormal brains.

But are they really a distinct subgroup, incurable (says Hare), marked by brain abnormalities and a common set of traits? And has Robert Hare really created a magical Psychopathy Checklist to find them so that we can lock them up and throw away they key -- or, as Hare has done in his Frankenstein-esque experiments, torture them until he determines if they are really incapable of learning?

It should be noted that the American Psychiatric Association does not think so. Psychopathy is not a diagnosis they admit to their manuals. What they have is Antisocial Personality Disorder -- a description of a group of very unpleasant people, who fit some of the traits described above (lack of respect for others and lack of impulse control). But most of them aren't as bad as Hare's group; they may be larcenous, self-serving, power-seeking, destructive corporate cheaters, but most of them don't commit murder or rape or fraud otherwise engage in major criminal behavior. It has been claimed that all psychopaths have Antisocial Personality Disorder, but not all people with ASD are psychopaths. Perhaps so. But if Hare wants to go beyond what the diagnostic manuals say, he needs more than a checklist and a history of talking to dreadful people. And, on the evidence, he doesn't have that data. Think about this: If he has so much data on psychopathy, why does he keep citing fictional examples such as Hannibal Lecter? And keep citing the same high-profile murderers such as Ted Bundy?

The worst of it is, he has convinced many prison systems to take him seriously, and his checklist is sometimes used to determine whether prisoners get privileges or even parole.

Please don't misunderstand me. There are certainly many terrible people out there. And psychopathy may be a real psychological condition. But this book isn't the proof of it. It's a collection of horror stories. And if you want to know what's most horrible, consider this: Would you want to be locked up in prison for the rest of your life just because you scored high on the Psychopathy Checklist? With no one accepting that you are repentant or can learn? What if the person who administers the test has it in for you? Too scary a thought for me!

Hare's research -- despite his occasional sadism, both toward his experimental subjects and toward his readers -- has an important place. We need to find out about these people. But he has, I think, rushed to judgment. We as readers should not get caught in the same race. ( )

Without Conscience: the Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, a summary of what was known at the time (early 90s) about the diagnosis, cause and treatment of the psychopath. Includes some suggestions about avoiding or dealing with any that one may meet, pointing out that not all killers are psychopaths, nor are all psychopaths killers.

Without conscience is an interesting and important book about psychopathy. It does a good job elucidating some real life examples, takes us down the road of depravity of Antisocial people. It is non gender specific and it takes its toll in many ways in the victims and perpetrators. I see this book adding value to knowing more about individual like these. We continue to require more research on this and how to effectively treat it. ( )

I really liked this book. Every once-in-a-while I like to break up my endless Sci-fi/Fantasy reading with some non-fiction. I try to pick interesting subjects, and this was one of them. I like the look at what makes a psychopath and how they definition gets muddled in film and tv.

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes psychology or just reading about the topic. ( )

Sociopathy, or Psychopathy interests me because it shakes my still formative notions of a universe that is ultimately fair, and a creation that is essentially one (having only the appearance of being made up of parts). To have no conscience is to be soul-less, isn't it? How can a part of the whole, that we are, be soul-less? What could be gained from this, and what are the implications of being devoid of empathy? ( )

Excellent detailed overview to year 1993 (copyright date). Much progress has been made on the neurophysiology of the psychopathic brain over the past two decades, but Dr. Hare was instinctively accurate with all his descriptions and analysis. (What a horrible way to spend one's medical career -- dealing with these incorrigible people). If I had any power on a school board, I would make this book mandatory reading for all high school kids. WE MUST ALL BE AWARE OF THE DETAILS COMPRISING THE PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY. OUR LIVES MAY DEPEND ON IT. ( )

Little has been published for lay people regarding the sociopath/psychopath in the general population, and for most of us the word "psychopath" denotes only the most brutal of criminals: fascinating in a macabre way, titillating, but not someone we’re likely to actually meet. And because psychopathy is considered by professionals to be untreatable, little research or publication for the specialist is being done. Robert Hare has been working for several decades to help the public, the psychiatric profession, and the judicial system recognize the truth about psychopaths: they are all around us, millions in the U.S. alone. They aren’t all in prison or even likely to be, because many satisfy their need for manipulation and control in ways which fly under the legal radar, although the havoc they cause in the lives of those they target can be devastating. The parents of child psychopaths face a particular hell of guilt and lack of resources.

Hare is the author of the Psychopathy Checklist, now used internationally to help predict criminal recidivism and as an educational tool for prison officials, parole boards, courts, and psychiatric professionals. While most of Hare’s work has been with prison inmates, he is clear that all non-psychopaths are at risk and that most of us will have dealings with one sometime during our lives. So while most of his examples concern those who have been convicted, the information is useful to anyone who may run across someone like this. Hare is clear that a real diagnosis must be done with extensive interviews and reviews of records, but at the same time the general public must have some guidelines of what to look for and how to protect themselves. He discusses the following list of key symptoms, at the same time warning that many non-psychopaths have some of these traits and that it is the total group of symptoms (the syndrome) which guides the diagnosis:

Glib and superficial
Egocentric and grandiose
Lack of remorse or guilt
Lack of empathy
Deceitful and manipulative
Shallow emotions
Impulsive
Poor behavior controls
Need for excitement
Lack of responsibility
Early behavior controls
Adult antisocial behavior

The book is almost 20 years old now, but little else is available of this caliber, and further information is available at Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy, a non-profit organization Hare helped found (http://aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org/). If you are dealing with or have survived someone you think might be a psychopath, even a child, this book is a must-read. ( )

A brilliant book about the psychopaths among us. Dr. Robert D. Hare started his career as a prison psychologist, which is where his interest in psychopaths began. He has been involved in a research project in Canada which allowed him access to prisoners, where he was able to further study psychopaths. Based on his research, he created "The Psychopathy Checklist" which has become the "gold standard" for diagnosing someone with the personality disorder.

He covers the definition of psychopathy, whether the disorder is genetically based or based in the person's physical environment or social environment. He covers the lifestyle and personality of the psychopath, what kind of crimes they are engaged in, if any (he points out that a life of crime comes naturally to psychopaths), and whether or not treatment would be effective, and why most treatments don't seem effective at this point.

In his final two chapters and the epilogue, he discusses what interventions might possibly be effective, what one can do to protect oneself from such a person, and what parents can do to protect themselves and other family members from a psychopathic child and what can be done for the child. He also discusses what he believes society's response to these individuals should be, and why it hasn't been forthcoming as of yet. Until such a point arrives, where people are aware of the fact that psychopaths are everywhere, people will be used and abused by these individuals.

A highly recommended book! ( )

Very interesting subject matter, but told in a trashy and sensationalist manner, which is a bit hard going. ( )

Excellent book on this topic. ( )

Robert Hare provides, in _Without Conscience_, a solid introduction to the mind and lifestyle of the psychopath. As a psychologist, Hare has spent much of his career interviewing people with this personality disorder, some in prison, some not, and has compiled a well-researched and useful tool--the "Psychopathy Checklist"--for recognizing psychopathy in individuals, as well as ways to deal with such individuals in one's personal and business life.

Hare's extensive research is very lucid and convincing; his "Psychopathy Checklist," which is the cornerstone of his book and which he refers to often, provides a good framework for understanding this mental disorder. While I found the book easy to understand and quite interesting, it is a basic _introduction_ to the topic. To illustrate the various points on the "Checklist," Hare uses brief descriptions from dozens of psychopaths' behavior, rather than more in-depth case studies. Points are referred to and re-referred to multiple times. I don't at all mean this as a criticism, but I do think that, on its own, _Without Concience_ is probably not hefty enough to do justice to the material. Read in conjunction with Martha Stout's _The Sociopath Next Door_, _Without Conscience_ is a fine introduction to a very interesting, disturbing topic. Four stars. ( )

I like true crime stuff, especially serial killers, and I'm interested in mental illness. A family friend actually gave this to us and told my mom and I both to read it. Well, several years later, I finally did. It was very good, very readable, well-researched, appreciated the notes. Drew a distinction between sociopaths and psychopaths. Was kind of like a how-to guide, regarding protecting yourself. ( )

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Emily Sutton-Smith