Psychological Matters

This is the final article in the series looking at Antisocial Personality Disorder. I plan to start a new series discussing various aspects of Depression in January 2013. Hope everyone has a wonderful, happy holiday season! Resource List Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths go to Work by Paul Babiak, PhD & Robert D. Hare, PhD (2006) HarperCollins Publishers Not all individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) are in prison, many are among us. They work and play alongside us. Babiak and Hare reveal the common ploys of psychopaths, especially in the corporate world. The authors provide detailed suggestions about how to screen for psychopaths in the interview process as well as how to protect the work environment from those whose main goals are to manipulate and exploit the workplace. This is an outstanding book for those in the business world who would like to become more aware of the subtle warning signs of psychopaths.   The Sociopa...

Photo courtesy of   ©iStockphoto.com/ hammondovi Sociopaths are hazardous to everyone. This is a hard truth to accept, thus we downplay their ruthlessness and extreme self-interested behavior. We prefer to see sociopaths as misjudged or free-spirited. Let's use the character Neal Caffrey in White Collar as an example. We tend to ignore Neal’s deceptions, con jobs, and thefts, but rather focus on his good looks, sad past, quirky friends, and charming personality. He is simply misunderstood, instead of dangerous. His likeability reduces our internal sense of threat. This type of misdirection is commonly employed by sociopaths. What are the indicators that we are dealing with someone dangerous? The best resources for this information are found in Martha Stout’s The Sociopath Next Door and Babiak and Hare’s Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths go to Work . I have pulled out several tips from these outstanding books for the benefit of this article. According to Martha St...