Book: The Sociopath Next Door--Martha Stout, Ph.D.

We are used to thinking of sociopaths as violent criminals like wild-eyed Charlie Manson, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking four percent of ordinary people have an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that the person possesses no conscience.  Stout contends that one in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, are secretly sociopathic, and they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt.

How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them, as Stout puts it..."more alive."  They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify while leaving us easily seduced. Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on, however, to show sham emotion, but underneath they remain indifferent to others’ suffering.

Sociopaths live to dominate and thrill to win, and they are adept at seeking pity.  In fact, Stout's chief contention is that the most universal behavior of unscrupulous people is not directed at our fearfulness, as you would imagine, but perversely, by an appeal to our sympathy. Sociopaths have no regard whatsoever for the social contract the bulk of humanity operates under, but they do know how to use it to their advantage. Most of us would agree that giving special dispensation to someone who is incapable of feeling guilt is a bad idea, but often, when an individual presents him or herself as pathetic, we do so nonetheless.  Pity and sympathy are forces for good when they are reactions to deserving people who have fallen on misfortune. When these same sentiments are wrested out of us by the undeserving, by people whose behavior is consistently antisocial, this is a sure sign of potentially dangerous engagement with a sociopath.

I viewed this book as watered down to the lowest common denominator in learning about sociopathic behavior.  If you really wish to delve into the subject, try reading The Crime Classification Manual, or anything within the criminal justice field.  Once there, find books that have chapters like....Chapter Ten:  Blood Splatter Patterns.  ABSOLUTELY guaranteed to clear the seat next to you on the Metro.  John Waters once said that he loved reading questionable books in public places:  Michael Jackson Was My Lover by Victor Gutierrez being a fav.