Without conscience is a book by Dr. Hare, Robert D based on more than thirty years of his research on psychopathy. It is written in an easy and sincere readable fashion for all categories of audiences. It is a very useful book that gives full profiles of different psychopaths. This book is rich in insightful information that could help someone differentiate a day by day psychopath from the rest of the population. It generally speaks of prison cases, famous cases and covers a bit of ground which majorities of us walk on each day. It’s a scary book about psychopaths and Hare asserts that neither psychotics nor sociopaths but well rounded persons are pretty much aware of the difference between wrong and right. These persons have no feelings of guilt, empathy or remorse and they are egocentric too.
Without Conscious critiques is arguably an ideal book to start the study of psychopathy, Hare’s work is by far the best as he has used good, simple and comprehensive English that anyone without a background in Psychology could easily understand. It starts by identifying the basics in psychopathy noting that not all Psychopaths are criminals and not all of them turn physically violent. The truth is that the majority of them are our close friends, family members, our own children and most probably our associates. This book is based on 25 years of distinguished scientific research by Dr. D. Hare, who vividly describes a world of hustlers, con artists, rapists among others who lie, charm and maneuver their way through life (Hare 43).
Dr. Hare provides a variety of case stories from hundreds of interviews with psychopaths and their victims as well. The psychopath described in this book is superficial and grip and feels no remorse or regret after committing a terrifying or illegal act. Most psychopaths are highly manipulative, deceitful and impulsive. Reading this book puts you at on the right path as it covers a lot that could help one make a wise decision about the kind of person we could be dealing with. Much of the information and literature in this book about psychopaths is science in general.
Although the book is alarmingly enjoyable, much of it is regrettable and factual and the saddest part of it is that it retells of sociopaths and psychopaths who appear to be incurable as no treatment for the adult’s and their innocent child victims exist. This literature is empirical and interwoven with numerous descriptions of psychopaths and their character and personal anecdotes as well. Hare critically and directly provides much insight into the personalities of psychopaths by providing devoted research for the reliable identification of psychopaths. In addition to this, Hare notes that most of (APDs) Antisocial Personality Disorder clients should not by any chance share the same pessimistic prognosis since they are not psychopaths. He also notes and blames the media and professionals for confusing and failing to make a clear and precise distinction on the issue.
Aside differentiating psychopaths from sociopaths, Hare has also done profound research on the rare creatures ‘psychopaths’. Much of this credible work comes from his associations with inmates. The book talks of well known criminals the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne and Diane Downes, notorious psychopaths who have by and large illustrated and demonstrated profound knowledge that all their actions are wrong. Ways of spotting a psychopath are elaborated in the book where Hare includes numerous red flags that could alert you to the presence of a psychopath in your life. Conversely, on page 34, he warns people of using these symptoms in diagnosing others or themselves because a diagnosis requires specific access and training in the formal scoring manual. However, this to me is more of a contradiction than a warning, to affirm my statement; I base this argument on the fact that if average persons aren’t influenced enough to spot the alleged red flags in others, then the point of reading this book could be based on other grounds other than the psychology of psychopaths (Seifert 78).
Arguably, most parts of without Conscious to me are pretty much interesting although it mostly seems to consist of numerous anecdotes and Dr. Hare’s own assurances of his knowledgeable expertise. He constantly phrases his ideal contact with his clients who make him appear somewhat egotistical. Alongside that, Hare also provides some comfort to the readers who could by chance have been taken by a psychopath. He urges them to remain focused and not beat themselves up for failing to recognize the psychopath. He even soothes and tells parents of psychopaths that they had no responsibility or control on their children turn out. In addition to that, he tells parents even if they cannot make good progress towards changing this regrettable behavior, they cannot give up on their children.
This book beyond doubt discloses people that roam in our society that we unknowingly interact with each day. Seemingly the scary truth is that we actually watched psychopaths in the favorite films by John Wayne. This book has profound information about psychopaths who are made by either nurture or nature. As a psychology student, you really enjoy this book as it has TONS of statistics and information. Notably Dr. Hare presents the subject of psychopathy in clear layman’s terms that enable one to easily flow. Though a scary book, it is one of a kind that could greatly help should one fall prey to a psychopath in their lives.
Works Cited
Hare, Robert D. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us. New York: Pocket Books, 1993. Print.
Seifert, Kathryn, Karen Ray, and Robert Schmidt. Youth Violence: Theory, Prevention, and Intervention. New York: Springer Pub. Co, 2012. Print.
