Paul Babiak, PhD & Robert Hare, PhD: Snakes in Suits: When psychopaths go to work

I came across Snakes in Suits as a further recommended reading whilst delving into Hare's Without Conscience. Since I have read both books, I found that Snakes in Suits repeated a good majority of the messages that had been relayed in Without Conscience. For example, the personality characteristics of a psychopaths and approaching a dangerous situation that you may find yourself in.

However, Babiak and Hare introduce some additional information. The reader is taught how to differentiate between narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder and another term they used, that I do not quite understand yet, 'Machiavellian' rather than just explaining the difference between psychopaths and sociopaths.

Furthermore, Snakes in Suits, provides a semi-detailed informative piece on how a psychopath is diagnosed. For instance, the points system is explained as well as the introduction of the Psychopathy Check List: Screening Version which is also discussed; all of which provides a valuable insight for budding psychology students. Personally, these snickets of information have given me the groundwork to research further into the forensic side of psychology.

Overall, the book contains a lot of business practices that may be more beneficial to those who have an interest in business matters with particular focus on psychopaths and difficult colleagues. The authors switch between, what is in essence, story telling and the nitty gritty facts which is refreshing to the reader, breaking down the long haul of reading potentially academic wording. 

Personally, when choosing which book to read, it should have been a choice between Snakes in Suits OR Without Conscience, not both. Both have their benefits, but for what I was looking for (general reading on the topic area prior to starting my first year at university), in my opinion, Without Conscience was much more fulfilling.

Final note: If you are hard of reading, for example dyslexic as I am, there are proof-reading errors in the book which make some parts difficult to understand; such as, replaced words, their instead of there and wrong names in conversations between numerous characters - all adding to the difficulties faced when you are not a confident reader. 

Robert Hare, PhD: Without Conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us

Robert Hare, PhD is one of the leading psychologists in his field and the creator of the Psychopathy Checklist; a diagnostic tool used by clinicians world wide.

His book, Without Conscience, is a dedication to explaining the difficulties in recognising a psychopath in our every day lives and explains the difference between being cold-hearted and complete lacking in emotional connections. Hare wrote his book to educate lay people and professionals on the consequences of misdiagnoses, as well as being confronted by a suspected psychopath, giving examples throughout the entire book to explain what could be considered as difficult in understanding for your average adult.

With this in mind, Hare has written about this troubling disorder in terms that can be recognised by all. I love the fact that for every bit of information that Hare gives helps us to comprehend the differences between average bad behaviour, criminality and psychopathy. Furthermore, he also gives us an insight into the differences within society and his clinical experiences.

Hare tackles a variety of issues ranging from the basic characteristics of psychopathy, child, adolescent and adult psychopathy, corporate psychopathy to an in-depth nature-nurture debate on the origins of the condition.

Aside from the choice of language that has been used the pages, paragraphs and chapters have been structured fantastically making it ideal for those who are not confident readers; such as myself.

Finally, I would recommend this book for both reading as a hobby or academic research.

Janet Malcolm: In the Freud Archives

It was a year ago since I read ' In the Freud Archives,' but from what I remember of the book, it was an interesting read. The books tells of Freud's life long difficulties ranging from queries about some of his patients, correspondence with the fellow psychoanalysts: K.R. Eissler and Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson to escaping the World War by moving

to the United Kingdom and finally, the development of his legacy; his life work.

This books takes a little bit of advances reading and understanding considering the complexity of psychoanalysis in itself. However, for those wanted to investigate who Freud was, this is a great start as back ground reading.

Jon Ronson: The Psychopath Test

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson is the personal encounter of a journalist (himself) who aims to investigate what it means to be a 'psychopath.' This book is filled with pages of fantastically funny interviews, meetings and 'dates' with various persons; some being diagnosed psychopaths, some are individuals who view the diagnosis as a conspiracy theory, leading professionals in the field and workers who deal with the devastation that psychopaths leave behind. Jon Ronson explains his journey to becoming a 'psychopath spotter.'

This book was thoroughly enjoyable and easy to read considering it's complex topic nature. I would recommend this book as extra reading to any person who has an interest in the forensic side of psychology, maybe not as an academic bible, but certainly as an insight.

This book was brought to my attention via the 'TED' website. A service that hosts a number of lectures, talks and speeches conducted by leading professionals in each field. Jon Ronson just so happened to be one of the talkers that had participated in this service. Here is the video that won my heart and led me to read this amazing book: