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The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science Of Those Without Conscience (2014)

by Kent A. Kiehl(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

077043584X (ISBN13: 9780770435844)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Crown

review 1: Kiehl's strikes an excellent balance in his book on psychopath research. Packed with stories of his encounters with the psychopaths he studied in prisons and hospitals, he also explains the science and reasoning in his research. His findings are incredible. Kiehl is clearly fascinated and dedicated to his subject, what causes psychopathology and can the crimes it causes be prevented. Helped along the way by numerous educational institutions, prisons, politicians and assistants, Kiehl is also refreshingly thankful and lavishes praise on all who helped.By far, the most interesting bits of the book are on interviews with the psychopaths he studied. Some were of the charming and manipulative variety, others vicious and out to shock. Still others, like serial killer Brian Duga... moren, were flatly unemotional, seemingly inhuman.I certainly hope Kiehl writes a follow-up book or two. I'd love to hear if he followed the "careers" of some of his first interviewees. I'd like to know if the psychologist who misdiagnosed killer Chris Gribble and told him he was a psychopath was ever disciplined or disbarred. I'd also love to some more information on some of the fascinating hooks Kiehl mentions - do heredity and genetics affect psychopathology? Why are so many more men?An excellent read with enough science to explain the research, without overwhelming the layperson. Plus lots of fascinating stories and comparison case studies.
review 2: The subject matter is interesting, but the author, like many scientists, seems more interested in the results of his "experiments" than in the human beings behind them, or in making any kind of real insight into his own motivations for studying the minds of so-called "psychopaths" (the word bothers me, but not because I feel bad for psychopaths. I don't like the words "illness" or "damage" either, I just wish we had a better word to describe what seems to be a kind of "difference", and if this particular brian type or atrophy didn't result in violence much of the time, wouldn't it just be better labeled as a "kind" of brain? Like autistic or creative brains? I know that we want to separate ourselves from people who lack empathy, but the fact is that many people I know do NOT have empathy for people that they perceive to be sub-human or their enemy...but, to use a metaphor, understanding why a rabid dog gets rabies helps to inoculate against and eradicate rabies, rather than just hating and fearing and shooting everyone who gets rabies...and it's not ALL science, guys. Some of it requires, I don't know, thinking about it).So that is what is ultimately fascinating about this . . . and the best part, I thought, was that instead of being a fear-mongering type of book ("They're out there! They're gonna get you!"), the author suggests that if psychopathy is a kind of brain atrophy in areas like the amygdala and temporal lobe (and others), then maybe if we put juveniles who score high in psychopathy in special treatment centers, that they will learn to exercise those parts of their brains through therapy, etc. and eventually be somewhat able to rejoin society. It's really sad, the things humans do to each other and to children. I really want to do something about it, and I'm not sure what...even becoming a social worker wouldn't necessarily help someone who is born with psychopathic traits. CARING about people like this seems to enable them. And some of the case studies make me wonder if some of these psychopaths had atrophied areas related to emotions, etc. because they were treated horrendously as children. I've definitely met people who claim to not be able to feel anymore. I've even WISHED (as a hyperemotional, supersensitive type) that I could stop feeling. We've all met people who we were told would "never change" and that it's futile and crazy-making to try. I think that is useful advice in most cases. And yet, this book makes me feel like it's not all hopeless. I know that I'm not an expert in violent crime, and I do believe that people are capable of anything, and I'm not easily shocked, but the author did seem kind of naive in the way that he perceived things. He didn't really seem to want to talk about WHY he found Ted Bundy so fascinating as a kid, or why he liked killer whales, or what perhaps the thread was that tied all of this together, why humans are fascinated and repulsed by violent crime. Scientists and doctors seem to think that they are above all this "human" stuff, that they are "detached" and "professional" and look at data . . . at one point he talked about about getting his dog out to find some buried money that an interviewee had stolen and buried...without catching himself and realizing that it was as dishonest to take stolen money as it was to steal the money in the first place. Honestly I find scientists kind of psychopathic. A lot of the interviews seemed to be with people who, yes, lacked any emotion or empathy, but also, they kind of seemed like kids who wanted/needed attention. And as though they do all this violent stuff just so that they have stories to tell. And we listen to these stories. It's kind of a cycle of violence . . . I found myself wondering why I was fascinated by all this. I told myself that it was because I want to learn to recognize it, to avoid it, so that I can be out in the world and not be hit by random violence. But so many of the stories seemed totally unpredictable--like the one about the female psychopath who just jumped up and beat the therapist out of nowhere.It's scary that we can't predict everything, no matter how scientific we get. But there are certain "tells", I guess. Like if someone ends up in maximum security...I feel like it is a kind of reverse-success for some people. Like being the baddest motherfucker out there. I do think it is something that we love in this country. And maybe as humans. I mean, I love bad characters in stories. They are waaay more interesting than the good guy. I'm not gonna hate that quality in myself, but maybe I will try to not reward it emotionally when I interact with people any more. I don't know. Hmm.I kept wondering if all this money being spent on scientific research and MRIs were spent on just training more people to be able to hep damaged children, if that would help, but I don't think enough people CARE. It's difficult. Everyone has heard horror stories. Maybe we can all do something small, though. Like try to understand the rabid dogs. Try to corral them without getting bit. I don't know. This is some tough stuff. It extends to everything that scares us--from Ebola to ISIS types. I keep trying to remember that I can understand it without needed to defend it or be afraid of it. less

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