The Psychopath Test
Encyclopedia
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (2011) is a book by Jon Ronson
in which he explores the concept of psychopathy.
, the eponymous author of the 20 part test
administered to detect psychopathy
. He explores the idea that many corporate and governmental leaders are psychopaths whose actions to others can only be explained by taking that fact into account, and he privately uses the Hare test to determine if he can discern any truth to it. He meets Toto Constant
, who he speculates is a psychopath, corporate leader Albert J. Dunlap
, who the magazine Fast Company
speculated was a psychopath, as well as a young man imprisoned in Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital
for being a psychopath, who claims to be a victim of the psychiatric industry's unfair diagnosis. He also researches some of the unorthodox treatments tried on psychopaths to cure them. Ultimately he raises the question of where the line can be drawn between sanity, insanity, and eccentricity.
Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is a Welsh journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author, whose works include The Men Who Stare At Goats. His journalism and columns have appeared in British publications including The Guardian newspaper, City Life and Time Out magazine...
in which he explores the concept of psychopathy.
Primary themes
Ronson visits purported psychopaths, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists who have studied them, and meets with Robert HareRobert Hare (psychologist)
Robert D. Hare, C.M. , is a researcher in the field of criminal psychology. He developed the Psychopathy Checklist and Psychopathy Checklist Revised , used to diagnose cases of psychopathy and also useful in predicting the likelihood of violent behavior...
, the eponymous author of the 20 part test
Hare Psychopathy Checklist
In contemporary research and clinical practice, Robert D. Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is the psycho-diagnostic tool most commonly used to assess psychopathy...
administered to detect psychopathy
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
. He explores the idea that many corporate and governmental leaders are psychopaths whose actions to others can only be explained by taking that fact into account, and he privately uses the Hare test to determine if he can discern any truth to it. He meets Toto Constant
Emmanuel Constant
Emmanuel Constant is the founder of FRAPH, a Haitian death squad organized in mid-1993 to terrorize supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide....
, who he speculates is a psychopath, corporate leader Albert J. Dunlap
Albert J. Dunlap
Albert John Dunlap is a retired corporate executive. He was best known as a turnaround specialist and downsizer. The ruthless methods he employed to streamline ailing companies, most notably Scott Paper, won him the nicknames "Chainsaw Al" and "Rambo in Pinstripes"...
, who the magazine Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
speculated was a psychopath, as well as a young man imprisoned in Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...
for being a psychopath, who claims to be a victim of the psychiatric industry's unfair diagnosis. He also researches some of the unorthodox treatments tried on psychopaths to cure them. Ultimately he raises the question of where the line can be drawn between sanity, insanity, and eccentricity.
See Also
- The Mask of SanityThe Mask of SanityThe Mask of Sanity is a book written by Hervey Cleckley, M.D., first published in 1941, describing the clinical interviews of Cleckley with incarcerated psychopaths. It is considered a seminal work and the most influential clinical description of psychopathy in the 20th century...
- The Sociopath Next Door
- Snakes in Suits