Martha Stout's The Sociopath Next Door: Socialized Psychoopaths

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Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Gacy are all well-known names of the most ruthless criminals America has seen. We like to think that these people are rare, genetic mutations with unfortunate situations that lead them to where they are, or at least that’s what we hope. In reality, one in twenty-five people are capable of doing the most heinous, unthinkable, despicable actions to fellow humans without a pinch of guilt. How, you might ask? They lack the “7th sense”, consciousness, according to Dr. Martha Stout, author of “The Sociopath Next Door”. Clinical Psychologist, Stout, has spent the past 25 years at Harvard University studying these socialized psychopaths. With their undeniable charm, impulsivity, cunning manipulation, …show more content…

This however, does not mean that we need to tolerate or accept them. We need to be more aware of their presence and understand how to combat their seductive influence. With a little education on how sociopaths operate, it becomes unmistakably easy to spot them. Stout provides the reader with thirteen rules to dealing with the sociopath(s) in their life, some of her best and easiest to apply are as follows. The rule of threes, when it comes to promises and claims someone makes. Similar to baseball, three strikes, or in this case lies or broken promises, and you’re out. There is no need for people to consistently lie to us, it is a sign that they don’t actually feel bad about doing so, or they would actively try to minimize that behavior. Whether they are small details about events or large imagined pieces of their background, each one should be a blazing red …show more content…

While you might think these terms are very different, it is easy to confuse the origin of our actions. For example, a co-worker and you are striving for the next raise. Unbeknownst to you, your co-worker lacks a conscious and will do anything to surpass you. She asks you to-do many mindless tasks, which you do because you respect her as a peer, or do you actually fear that she will be chosen over you. Finally, this is something I know I am extremely guilty of, pitying too easily. Sociopaths use the emotion of pity to assert control over their victims. Having empathy for someone makes us more likely to agree with their requests, as to not add to the burden or to further upset them. This gives sociopaths an “in” to exploit you and your kind nature. Be wary of people who consistently evoke this emotion from you since they are not doing it for your true

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