Without Conscience

The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us

By: Robert D. Hare

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Most people are both repelled and intrigued by the images of cold-blooded, conscienceless murderers that increasingly populate our movies, television programs, and newspaper headlines. With their flagrant criminal violation of society's rules, serial killers like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are among the most dramatic examples of the psychopath. Individuals with this personality disorder are fully aware of the consequences of their actions and know the difference between right and wrong, yet they are terrifyingly self-centered, remorseless, and unable to care about the feelings of others. Perhaps most frightening, they often seem completely normal to unsuspecting targets. Presenting a compelling portrait of these dangerous men and women based on 25 years of distinguished scientific research, Dr. Robert D. Hare vividly describes a world of con artists, hustlers, rapists, and other predators who charm, lie, and manipulate their way through life. Are psychopaths mad, or simply bad? How can they be recognized? And how can we protect ourselves? This book provides solid information and surprising insights for anyone seeking to understand this devastating condition.

©1999 Robert D. Hare, Ph.D. (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A fascinating, if terrifying, look at psychopaths.... Hare makes a strong case for the view that psychopaths are born, not made.... A chilling, eye-opening report - and a call to action." ( Kirkus)

When Bad People do Bad Things...

An authority on the subject of psychopaths, the author freely admits that he, too, had been fooled by one even though he wrote the book on the subject. For any of us who've been hoodwinked by these charming, fast talking con artists, this information provides a measure of relief with the knowledge that it can, and does, happen to any and everyone. Unfortunately, there is no effective cure, treatment, then when the book was written a decade or more ago,and nothing has happened since then to change their behavior or the results on the rest of us. Run away, run far, far away when you encounter one of these "without conscience" characters....and the word "character" is misapplied to these societal outcasts, because even villains love cats, or cigars, or music, or something -----or else they wouldn't be satisfying characters.

THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ALL PERSONS

One way or another most people are touched by psychopaths whether these individuals are related or connected in some other way. This book will arm you so you are not deceived by the psychopaths amoung us. There are other books snd journal articles to round out the knowledge you get from reading this book. For sure, keep this book handy because you will need to refer to it as you navigate the dangerous waters of life inhabited by both sociopaths and psychopaths.

Shocking yet so self-evident

This is a book that both shakes faith in humanity whole also making it clear those who commit atrocities are simply not like us. I found this fact both disturbing but relieving... studying in the sender that psychopaths are common among us, but they do things unspeakable because they cannot feel and not in spite of it. A quick listen that certainly will have you questioning if you haven't known a few psychopaths.

Interesting and disturbing at once

The book is an astounding portrait of the psychopath, with lengthy descriptions of how they act, how they think, and how they see the world. The author clearly knows what he is talking about and the narrator is fluent with excellent diction and tone.
The multiple examples are engaging and easy to relate to.
I did find it a little repetitive towards the end.
My main dissatisfaction, though, stems from the book's inconclusiveness. The author paints this very detailed picture of this major problem but then offers little practical advice on how to deal with it both as individuals or as a society. I would have liked more concrete advice.

wow

just finished this book. I'm speechless a lot to think about. Narrator was great. especially the parts about patience in cases

This book will help you!

This book gave me insights into the psychopaths mind and actions in ways which were both easy to understand and really helpful in working through my own wounds and confusions after being in a relationship with a person diagnosed to be a psychopath.

If you’re looking for a book on psychopathy, this is it.

the psychopath bible

outstanding book, makes you think about people you meet and know also about the difficulty treating psychpaths

Listened intently!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, but to a limited audience.

What did you like best about this story?

Plenty of case studies.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Presentation was a little flat and I had a hard time imagining the reader really wanted to be doing this one.

Do you think Without Conscience needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

Like most books based on the authors own research, it was a little over the top with self-grandizement. It was, non-the-less very interesting and gave reason to think about things from a different perspective.

Felling Null

I'm not trying to be morbid, but since the new season of Dexter just started, Dr. Hare's research of psychopaths in "Without Conscience", is just terrifying because there are real serial killers among us. I was glued to my headset to this book because it was so fascinating.

Not only Robert Hare breaks down each mainstream serial killers, such as Jeffrey Dahmer and explaining his mind set of his justifications as being a psychopath, but Dr. Hare also gives normal like examples of children being a bad seed and going toward the wrong path by harming others and having no remorse.

It is obvious that most of us have a moral judgement from what is wrong and right, but in a psychopath there is no middle ground of being bad or good. It seems like that they cannot foresee the consequences of their action.

After reading Dr. Hare's research, I have come to a conclusion that there are some of us that our feeling is "null" and having zero value.

It's still an amazing book

This is an older book and the material shows that, as much research has been done since it's original release and our collective understanding of psychopathy and sociopathy are much more robust... thanks in no small part to Dr. Hare. That said, even with some of the material being a bit dated, it's an amazing book that gives one a fairly comprehensive look into the world of the psychopath.

I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in forensic or another psychology, or anyone who simply wants to understand the condition better.