The Sociopath Next Door Analysis

Not all sociopaths are criminals, they do not feel remorse or guilt for their wrongdoings because of their inability to to emotionally connect with people. it is not known as to how exactly how or why people become sociopathic yet man sociopaths go on to lead very normal lives. Sociopaths are nurtured and not natural. This means that they are not born the way that they are. What causes sociopaths to be sociopaths has nothing to do with genes. Unlike the commonly sociopath with physocopath. sociopaths are in fact able to emmotionally connect with humans unlike physcopaths. With this in mind a sociopaths brain is actually nuerolically not the same as t than the average person. Interestlingly enough it could be both nutured and natural. for example. In a study sociopathic patients amygdala located in the brain does not light up like it is

Sociopaths are successful in leadership because they lack the trait of human compassion, instead they see others as objects which can become possessions that are discarded at will. Doesn’t sound very friendly does it? They have the ability to put others interests to the side so as to make a decision which one would normally struggle to make. I mean could you make the tough decisions that revolve around our highest

Our conscience is the indicator into what we think and the actions that follow our thinking process. It acts as a guide into different paths of behaviors, such as wrong and right. Sociopaths lack a conscience, have a personality disorder, and act uncontrollably in extreme, and violent behaviors when in encountered in unappealing situations. As “4% of people are sociopaths-1 in 25 people.”(10) Many sociopaths have the tendency to murder and harm others without feeling remorse for their actions. Martha Stout, the author of The Sociopath Next Door, really digs deep into the conscience of sociopaths and their cycle of thinking through many studies.

The first step in diagnosing someone as a sociopath is to create a standard of sociopathic behavior. Formally, sociopathy is referred to as Antisocial Personality Disorder or ASPD. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines ASPD as “A mental health condition in which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting, or violating the rights of others"(Sociopathic Traits 1) and lists seven identifying traits. It is important to understand that ASPD is a condition of varying degrees. To be considered a sociopath, one does not have to display all seven traits. In fact, there is much debate about what level of sociopathic behavior deserves a diagnosis of ASPD. Possibly the most widely accepted scale is the Hare PCL-R, which ranks sociopathic tendencies. Even though Hare is the most commonly accepted standard, it is still somewhat disputed. The professional agreement, it seems, is that ASPD can vary in intensity. Therefore, even though he does not display the

The common sociopath has trouble with interactions through the early stages in life. An example being the social normality throughout school and adolescence. The social awkwardness perceived through peers can create the anxiety and paranoia through a sociopath’s mindset. Potentially turning paranoia and anxiety into a violent spurt. They rarely use their conscious when making decision that can affect other people. A majority, are in a constant state of traveling either as a runaway or living in shelters. Many are prideful about their anti-authoritative nature which can lead to a more sadistic lifestyle making rebellion a natural state of mind. As time progresses the condition gradually worsens. Generally, these people are satisfied with their

Those who are diagnosed as sociopaths display no reproach, regret, or fault for the things they have done. Psychologists believe this absence of emotion begins in early childhood when they may have faced rejection. Sociopaths also have almost no ability to place themselves in the situations of their victims, therefore making it almost impossible for them to have sympathy for them. (Simons, 2001)

In the article “Confessions of a Sociopath” it’s stating that not all sociopaths are violent. However, they might have violent thoughts but they will not act upon them. Sociopaths have a lot of signs that cause them to know if they are sociopaths like have a death stare, having violent thoughts of killing or really injuring someone, and saying cruel thing to friends or family member. Meanwhile, some sociopaths do act on these violent thoughts and kill people. One in every twenty-five people are sociopaths. Most of those sociopaths are not serial killers. Only about twenty percent of men and women in prison are serial killers. One story that might have caused the one girl sociopathic behavior is because her dad was abusing her and her family

She is living in Cape Ann in Massachusetts. Martha Stout has written a number of widely read books on psychology such as The Paranoia Switch, The Myth of Sanity, and The Sociopath Next Door. She obtained her Ph.D. at Stony Brook University in Psychological fields and She advises developing an awareness of the nature of antisocial behavior in order to avoid becoming its victim and proposes thirteen rules as self-help guidelines to assessing relationships and behavior for these characteristic. "Trauma changes the brain itself ‘it causes’ it to overreact or more precisely, is react to the current realities of life" (Stout 421). She explains and deconstructs the idea of sanity and how traumatic experiences can augment how we individually experience or interpret reality. According to Stout, people have trauma by their past experiences that totally changed them, by which they were there but, their stimulus was not present in that

The raw concept of exploring a specific sociological inquiry (to which I have little preconceived understanding) is daunting; therefore beginning this exploration with a broad topic portfolio is ideal. The two vast entities I am intrigued to elaborate upon are crime and the ethics of violent sociopaths. To expand, I am searching for reasoning behind the crimes committed by sociopaths and if it has relation to reoccurring behavioural patterns found in the surveyed individuals. My content analysis will define what crime is and how the act within itself inevitably negatively affects society. Further, my analysis will define the particulars of a sociopath, depict common threads and patterns of behaviours closely tied to those who are violent and

The person accused may often be labeled insane, but sometimes that isn’t the case at all. When looking at the number of people that make up the sociopathic group it is only four percent of the population, and only 12 percent of that population is those arrested. (Statistics, 2017) Those with sociopathy have no moral compass, and to someone affected with this disorder it wouldn’t seem wrong or immoral to murder someone if it benefits themselves.

Research shows that just 1% of the population are psychopaths and have the potential to carry out fatal criminal acts, but many do not; instead they blend into society, living normal lives. Despite this, 20 to 25% of prisoners are psychopaths, which is a significant amount compared to the number in the world, showing they do tend to carry out criminal acts.

They have a conscious and feel guilt and remorse when they do something that is wrong. However, there is a minority of people, who do not know the difference between right and wrong behavior. To put it more bluntly, they do not care about right and wrong. A sociopath does not care about what is right and wrong, only what is convenient and expeditious at the time. He/she believes in doing as they please regardless of the consequences to others. What matters to them is the achievement of their specific

Even children are diagnosed this young, as little as 5 weeks old. 20% of children are diagnosed of antisocial personality and a learning disabilities, like ADD. (“Antisocial Personality - Part 1” 4) Identical twins have a 50% better chance at being sociopathic than fraternal twins since of their genetic makeup being identical. Some professions you can find these guys, violent or nonviolent, are cult leaders, swindlers, corrupt businessmen, demagogic politicians, hitmen, armed robbers, and gangsters. (“Antisocial Personality - Part 1” 2) The term they tend to associate with sociopath is antisocial personality, rather than psychopathy as to personality disorder.

People think that all they can do is manipulate people but sociopaths are not like that. Psychopaths will always be psychopaths. It is in their genes and a part of their chemical makeup that makes them to be people who lack ethics and empathy that most of us has. Sociopaths on the other hand is a product of his/ her upbringing. Sociopaths are results of environmental factors such as abuse or trauma caused by a difficult childhood. These childhood experiences create them to emotionally shutdown and they would gradually become a sociopath. Someone who has learnt to shut down their emotions and lack trust in people. This matters because sociopaths are highly misjudged. We all only understand and know the first part and not the whole story. Also, not all sociopaths are like what society places them to be. Sociopaths are feared by society but they are not bad. The case of how sociopaths are ‘created’ is still controversial. Some say it is caused by nurture some say it is in their nature. If the truth is sociopaths are results of bad nurture, then it would be hard for society to accept

According to Martha Stout, a sociopath is a person without a conscience. Stout explains that conscience is something we feel, it’s our “seventh sense” and is defined by a sense of obligation based in an emotional attachment to another living creature, or to a group of human beings, or even in some cases to humanity as a whole (Stout, p.25). As noted in The Sociopath next door, Stout explains the American Psychiatric Association uses a manual to define mental illnesses and it is as follows: