Sociopaths and Psychopaths in Society

[Polywog]

Ground breaking research by UBC Professor Emeritus Dr. Robert Hare is the basis for several books now in print that explore the presence of Sociopaths/Psychopaths in society.

Dr. Hare regards them as predators, and they tend to seek out and find their way into important power positions.

MRI scans reveal that sociopaths/psychopaths brains are literally different than everyone else. The emotion center in their brain does not light up. They do not feel empathy, or remorse. They can be charming, witty, and very deceitful.

Many are speculating they are a sub-species as they have been in the population through history.

Have you encountered one? Think you are dealing with one now? How can they be identified easily? What to do when you are faced with a predatory sociopath/psychopath at work or in society?

Let's explore this subject and more questions related, in a methodical, and very civil matter. This may become a hot topic, so please everyone, show temperament in your posts and do not overburden the moderators.

[psychprof]

Let's clarify something. Not all psychopaths are serial killers or even criminals. Psychopathy is a personality disorder marked by lack of empathy, callousness, parasitic lifestyle, etc. Lacking a conscience, these people are natural predators. Some choose to commit crimes and engage in horrific violence but the vast majority remain within the boundaries of the law.

Unfortunately, many of the characteristics that make up a psychopath look like ambition and leadership to employers. Workplace psychopaths create a hostile working environment with their classic divide and conquer tactics. They encourage competition between employees that can cause havoc and paranoia. And when they're bored, the invent new rules and mess with peoples' lives. One of the white collar psychopath's favourite tactics is "evaluation" - you may have been doing an excellent job for years or even decades and suddenly this person decides to need to be evaluated and they will question and criticize everything you do.

These are horrible people. Avoid at all costs.

[Polywog]

A recent documentary based on Dr. Hare's work, narrated by Peter Coyote is titled: I am <fishead(

the video is available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MWpxH-RlFQ
In the video it points out that "when 5% of the herd recognize danger, the whole herd suddenly knows about it"

The documentary seeks to raise the awareness of psychopaths / sociopaths in our midst who operate on us all as predators, to the 5% level..so we can do something about it..

The book by Dr. Hare is appropriately named : Snakes in Suits

Please review the subject matter prior to diving in on the thread.

Please help raise awareness in the herd!

[psychprof]

Paul Babiak has also contributed to the research on psychopaths and is, in fact, the co-author of Snakes in Suits which is currently sitting on my coffee table!

[Captain Awesome]

MRI scans reveal that sociopaths/psychopaths brains are literally different than everyone else. The emotion center in their brain does not light up. They do not feel empathy, or remorse. They can be charming, witty, and very deceitful.

Human society is not that different from jungle world. Some people are predators, some people are their food, some people are aggressive, some people are passive. I wouldn't call predatory, hard-driven people sociopaths. But it's true that if you look at top positions in our world - they're there simply because they have the drive to get there.

[Polywog]

Paul Babiak has also contributed to the research on psychopaths and is, in fact, the co-author of Snakes in Suits which is currently sitting on my coffee table!

I was hoping to thank someone soon for bringing that up in my hasty post. I haven't a copy of book yet, but have watched the video I am <fishead( .... and listened to a number of other authors interviewed on subject matter.
They're out there, for sure, and identified and identifiable now in a major may...

I suppose if you boil it all down, a base question may be, where does it impact in ones own life, and community., If there is a group, what next? If there is one in your life, what next?

something has been tripping humanity up, and ..this seems important.

are we ready to deal with Psychopathy, deal with any of the Predators in our midst? Is this the next jump in society?

[Polywog]

Human society is not that different from jungle world. Some people are predators, some people are their food, some people are aggressive, some people are passive. I wouldn't call predatory, hard-driven people sociopaths. But it's true that if you look at top positions in our world - they're there simply because they have the drive to get there.

They simply have the drive..... and looking at track records around us...they do it while ignoring major factors of concern...other people and the long term consequences of their actions. They are expedient.

Life is a Jungle if, you are a Predator. The rest of us are social and should like to be and act socially...unfortunately, there are Predators among us, and they turn life into a Jungle for everyone...is more to the point of the discussion.

[tryscotty]

A recent documentary based on Dr. Hare's work, narrated by Peter Coyote is titled: I am <fishead(

the video is available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MWpxH-RlFQ

Very interesting and worth watching. Thank you for posting this.

[rekabis]

Sociopaths and psychopaths have two main paths in life, depending on how rich their parents are.

If their parents are poor, they go into crime and up in jail.

If their parents are rich, they go to an Ivy-league University and end up in Business.

Basically, the vast majority of very successful businesspeople, especially CEOs and high-level executives, are the kind of people that you really have to thank their parents for being wealthy. Because you really don’t want to meet these kinds of people on the street at night had their parents been poor.

[Captain Awesome]

There are four types of personalities out there (according to DiSC system): Lion, Golden Retriever, Otter, and Beaver.

http://weirdblog.wordpress.com/2007/02/ ... retriever/

Roughly 10 percent of people out there are lions - very hard charging individuals who get the job done no matter what the cost is - yes, and they hurt feelings of other people. They are very unemotional, and can be very cruel. They also make great leaders no matter where they end up - business world (like Rek pointed out) or anywhere else. They usually are very capable of uniting people around the cause, and are very charismatic. Also, they scare the hell out of otters and beavers. And their qualities can be misunderstood - confidence can be mistaken for cockyness, determination for overbearing, goal drive for workaholism, etc.

Sometimes they're confused for sociopaths but it's a simple mistake. It's just a personality type.

[caffeine]

Agree with Captain Awesome. Psychopath/ sociopath - if you are referring to the personality disorder (anti-social personality disorder), by definition there is impairment in their function (social, occupation, relationships) due to their behaviour. This is different than the CEO, type A, hard driver - whatever you want to call it. They may have some traits of the disorder, but it would be difficult to diagnose them if they are functioning in society.

They are some people that are just *bleep*, but they are not sociopaths. Some of these guys may fall more into the narcissistic category, which is different, but still difficult to deal with.

[kina]

Human society is not that different from jungle world. Some people are predators, some people are their food, some people are aggressive, some people are passive. I wouldn't call predatory, hard-driven people sociopaths. But it's true that if you look at top positions in our world - they're there simply because they have the drive to get there.

They simply have the drive..... and looking at track records around us...they do it while ignoring major factors of concern...other people and the long term consequences of their actions. They are expedient.

Life is a Jungle if, you are a Predator. The rest of us are social and should like to be and act socially...unfortunately, there are Predators among us, and they turn life into a Jungle for everyone...is more to the point of the discussion.

:rate10: Sure they have "drive". Drive that isn't stopped by a little thing such as morality or laws or another person's well being.

[kina]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMG1qjpzNPg&feature=related
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMG1qjpzNPg&feature=related[/youtube]

[Polywog]

Kina, thank you so much for bringing this to the thread.

[Polywog]

Human society is not that different from jungle world. Some people are predators, some people are their food, some people are aggressive, some people are passive. I wouldn't call predatory, hard-driven people sociopaths. But it's true that if you look at top positions in our world - they're there simply because they have the drive to get there.

What you are describing is how a psychopath justifies their actions to themselves. You do see that don't you?