2 good books on psychopaths/sociopaths: Without Conscience by Robert D. Hare and The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
Thanks
Great summary, and Hare's book is quite readable, not like a lot of academic-type books. Dr. Hare is one of the world's pre-eminent experts on psychopathy.(Put his name into YouTube and some good short videos will come up. He is a thoughtful as well as very knowledgeable person)
I would quibble with you only on your interpretation of the stats -- yes, the
diagnosis is rare, but psychopathic people are not. 5% is 1 out of every 20 people -- that means 1 in every elementary school classroom, several in every university course, dozens in many workplaces, 1 or more in every extended family.....
Hare estimates that 5% may meet diagnostic criteria, while another 5% are "on the spectrum" of psychopathy and exhibit many of the traits. Besides lack of empathy, their defining characteristic is having absolutely no internalized moral values. Everything is ME,ME, ME. Other people are merely players in their drama, not beings with an independent destiny and rights and dreams.
Psychopaths rarely turn to crime (or at least to violent crime) precisely because they are so intensely self-involved and looking out for number 1 -- they avoid activities that could limit their freedom and autonomy (that includes most street crime, gang and gun crime, murder, etc. though Enron and various financial schemes were almost certainly brought about by psychopaths who were usually successful at distancing themselves from the dirty work and its consequences). Psychopaths like Bernardo, Ted Bundy, and Clifford Olson are exceptions.
Chances are, some posters here are married to a psychopath, work for one, have one in the extended family, or in the neighbourhood. One in 20.
Hare's book gives some options and suggestions how to deal with such people; counter-intuitively, treatment and therapy makes these people
worse. They learn the jargon of empathy and caring but simply use it to manipulate others even more successfully. They can even learn to fake empathy. As Hare says, they know the notes, but not the music.
Instead of violence, these psychopaths wreak interpersonal havoc and emotional disaster wherever they go. I had a psychopathic boss a few years ago and boy was I glad I had read Hare. See also a book entitled "Snakes in Suits" about psychopaths in the workplace.