Harmony Books The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus the Rest of Us

I bought this book after suffering anti-social behaviour from an elderly pensioner. Most people are unable to believe that a grandad could be so wicked. Especially, when what they see is a smiling grandpa in a cardigan and slippers dunking biscuits in his tea. The old woman who wrecked havoc in her neighbourhood had many parallels.I couldn't understand the purpose or reason for the repeated attacks, on my property by the person, as we had never had any confrontation or dispute . After reading "The Sociopath Next Door", it became clear these people have no conscience, it is a game they are winning. Disrupting and causing chaos in normal people's lives feeds their ego and boosts their self esteem. They also like to make out you are the crazy one imagining everything. Of course normal people with a conscience can't believe anyone could behave in such a wicked way and do such things. My personal research has shown a problem with retired male pensioners with no hobbies or friends.

Hmm. I was hoping for a more intelligent, insightful examination into the psychology of sociopaths, if I'm honest. At first, I was taken in by the book, fully expecting it to be a really interesting read. What I found after a while was that it was actually quite repetitive, and a little hollow, for want of a better word. Stout explains early on that sociopaths have no conscience at all. She also poses the question, at the beginning of the book, of what you would do if you, too, had absolutely no conscience. As the book progressed, Stout just seemed to keep coming back to these ideas: that sociopaths have no conscience at all, and then she would pose the question of, just what would you do, if you had no conscience impeding your actions. After a while, this just got tedious. The only other slant to her book was, to quite weirdly, suggest that with the aid of her book, you would be able to identify sociopaths as you come across them in your day-to-day life, and therefore protect yourself from them.For me, this book just wasn't what I was hoping for, or expecting. If you are looking for a more intelligently written, examined book about this particular branch of psychology, I am guessing that there are other books out there which would be far better.

Really difficult to decide what to write in this review. Ok this book is accessible, gives a basic understanding of the subject and may be helpful to those not too badly damaged by the sort of relationships the author is describing. Given the statement that sociopaths are found everywhere, there might well be some basis for reluctance to seek help from a therapist in case they do more harm than good. So this book might seem a safe and cheaper alternative. But l found it concerning that the reader could find this book enlightening and convincing with no psychological support offered other than the advice to avoid sociopaths. Really if we could have done that we would have. So l cant help thinking that sales were a more important motivation than altruism and this book is irresponsible.

If you suspect someone you know is a sociopath then this is a must read. So informative and actually confirmed my suspicions about a now ex-friend.

If you have ever wondered why you just don't like some people and have fallen foul of their manipulations this is the book to read.I recommend it to many of my patients who have a psychopath in their lives.Excellent, great case studies, could not put it down. I had a major problem with a psychopath at work this really helped me to understand that even therapists can be psychopaths.