The Psychopath: Theory, Research, and Practice.

The Psychopath: Theory, Research, and Practice

Hugues Herve and John C. Yuille

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

10 Industrial Avenue, Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

0805860797 $59.95

The Psychopath: Theory, Research, and Practice is a brilliant book! Although I, as a psychoanalyst, shuddered when I first opened the book and saw that it is based mainly on research on psychopaths, notably the research of Dr. Robert Hare, I soon became totally absorbed in the book. It opened new doors of understanding for me, so that after years of study and clinical practice, I feel I finally understand what a psychopath is.

The book consists of seven sections on psychopathy written by different authors, all of whom are well known in their field.. The contents of the book range from the evolution of the construct, through methodology and measurement issues, to etiology, to characteristic behavior and problems, to the generalizability of the construct, to subtypes of psychopathy, and end with practice concerns. As with most books compiled by many authors, the quality of the chapters varies greatly. Some are so fascinating it is difficult to put the book down, while a few are so boring one is tempted to skip over them. This review will concern itself mainly with the former chapters, as they are probably the most valuable.

According to Wong and Burt (p. 461), "Psychopathy is a serious personality disorder marked by a constellation of affective, interpersonal, and behavioral characteristics. Affectively, psychopaths are emotionally shallow, selfish, callous, and lack any remorse. Interpersonally, psychopaths are cunning, deceitful. and manipulative. Behaviorally, psychopaths are irresponsible and impulsive and lack realistic long-term goals." The star of the book undoubtedly is Dr. Robert Hare, who conducted ground breaking research on psychopathy. Before Dr. Hare did this research, no tools were validated for the assessment of the devastating illness. His research is of tremendous importance to the science of criminology, psychology, to mental health professionals of all schools, to those miserable individuals involved in relationships with psychopaths, and most of all, to their future victims. The test has increased the diagnosis sensibility of psychopathy, and highlights important risk factors of this socially devastating disorder. For example, through use of Dr. Hare's Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) scales, it can be predicted which criminals will recidivate, perhaps to commit murder and other serious crimes, and which ones can be released with minimal danger to society. The test also is able at pinpoint those individuals who are not psychopaths, who are more likely candidates to undergo successful therapy, and are deemed safe to return to society. By studying various components of the tests, perpetrators of specific crimes can sometimes be located. To do their jobs properly, correction managers, therapists, parole board members, supervisors, and line staff require valid information about the psychopathic personality, which is found through study of Dr. Hare's scales. By further developing his research, it is possible that insight will be obtained on why and how psychopaths develop, and perhaps even on how to avoid their development in the future.

The Psychopath: Theory, Research, and Practice is highly recommended for all those who are curious about the concept of psychopathy. It should be required reading for all mental health practitioners and enforcers of the law.