> [Time to bring the corporations off their psycho paths !]
>
> [snip]
>
> Evil lurks at the top?
> MD urges screening CEOs for psychopaths
In popular vernacular, "psychopath" is associated with violent, kinky
sex, serial and mass murder, cannibalism and other extremes of
spectacular, slasher flick behavior. This is, so far as I have
figured out, a mistaken association. The nutters who do such nasty
stuff are a subset of psychopaths with other psychological deviances
as well. And some may not even be psychopaths.
The DSM IV says that "psychopath is a synonym for "sociopath" and for
the preferred diagnostic term, "anti-social personality disorder".
There are several other similar and related personality disorders
recognized by the DSM, including narcissistic personality disorder and
borderline personality disorder that are differentiated, in the
diagnostic setting, by rather subtle distinctions. None of these
related disorders *neccessarily* involve sexual violence or perversion
or other violent or horrific behavior.
I've found it interesting to note that the persona of the corporation,
established by an accumulation juridicial fiat and by a century or two
of practice, is a close match for the DSM's charaterization of a
psychopath. It seems quite reasonable to me that, in a corporate
context, corporate values and one or another corporate culture work to
select personalities that are consonant with the underlying
psychopathic character of the corporate persona. This sort of
selection is obvious at the superficial level. That success in the
executive millieu represents a strong selective process for the
anti-social or narcissistic personality is less obvious but is a very
reasonable hypothesis. The very traits that mark the psychopath or
narcissist are valued in the executive and managerial context.
- Mike
---
Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/
