Top posting, apologies: apropos this thread, one of the books on my recommendations list is The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson, which is an account of Ronson's peripatetic attempts to apply the Hare test to an assortment of people from criminals to CEOs.
Eminently readable stuff. Cheers Divya Sent from my iPad On 29 Nov 2011, at 17:24, Jon Cox <[email protected]> wrote: > > A nice summary of psychopathy: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hon3AzMO6vs&feature=related > > >> If true, this also means the astronomically expensive public bailouts will >> not >> solve the problem since many of the morally impaired individuals who caused >> this mess likely remain in positions of power. Worse, they may be the same >> people advising governments on how to resolve this crisis. > > > Of course the corporate bailouts won't help. > > Do we see any genuine signs of remorse? > No. > > Any meaningful steps toward confession or restitution-based atonement? > > None whatsoever. > > There are none on a personal level, nor are there any on the > corporate level -- nor will there be. > > >> This shark-like fixation on self-interest means that psychopaths often feel >> a >> clear detachment from other people, viewing them more as sheep to be preyed >> upon than fellow humans to relate to. For instance, psychopaths in prison >> often use group therapy sessions not as a healing process, but as an >> opportunity to learn how to simulate normal human emotions. > > > This is actually a structural component of public corporate charters. > The official duty of their chief officers is to maximize profits > for shareholders, period. > > The classic screening test is the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised > (PCL-R) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Psychopathy_Checklist > > A prototypical psychopath would receive a maximum score of 40, > while someone with absolutely no psychopathic traits or tendencies > would receive a score of zero. A score of 30 or above qualifies > a person for a diagnosis of psychopathy. People with no criminal > backgrounds normally score around 5. Many non-psychopathic > criminal offenders score around 22. > > > Scoring: > 0 The item does not apply, > 1 The item applies somewhat > 2 The item fully applies. > > > Factor 1: Personality "Aggressive narcissism" > > 1 Glibness/superficial charm > 2 Grandiose sense of self-worth > 3 Pathological lying > 4 Cunning/manipulative > 5 Lack of remorse or guilt > 6 Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric) > 7 Callousness; lack of empathy > 8 Failure to accept responsibility for own actions > > Factor 2: Case history "Socially deviant lifestyle". > > 9 Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom > 10 Parasitic lifestyle > 11 Poor behavioral control > 12 Lack of realistic long-term goals > 13 Impulsivity > 14 Irresponsibility > 15 Juvenile delinquency > 16 Early behavior problems > 17 Revocation of conditional release > > Traits not correlated with either factor > > 18 Promiscuous sexual behavior > 19 Many short-term marital relationships > 20 Criminal versatility > 21 Acquired behavioural sociopathy/sociological conditioning > >
