The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience

My father has psychopathy, so I was looking into books to figure out how to deal with him. When looking for books I stumbled across this one and gave it a read. It didn't help me learn how to deal with him but what it did do is validate all of my experiences. I also couldn't put it down! The way the author writes is so interesting and absorbing. It's both informative and story based. You get to sit in on his conversations and experiences with psychopaths which is super accurate and on base with what I've experienced first hand. The most accurate read about psychopaths I've ever read. All in all, it didn't help what I was searching for but it helped a part of me that I didn't know I needed help with. The author has officially become my answer to "if you could have dinner with anyone living or dead who would it be?" I would love to pick his brain about a few things. Definitely lending it to my sister next!

Early in his career, working in a maximum security prison, Kent Kiehl became interested--no, fascinated by--psychopaths. They are an odd and frightening assortment of (mostly) men, who seemingly have no conscience, no empathy, no emotional depth, and no limits on what they might do, including the most horrific crimes. They don't worry, they seen to have little or no anxiety, and they don't respond to punishment of any kind. Dr. Kiehl and colleagues all over the world are learning what makes these characters tick. In this 288 page (plus notes and index) book, some of the research is sketched out for the interested reader.Author Kent Kiehl has written an entertaining memoir of his experiences in the field, some of what he has learned, and some future directions for study. The writing covers a lot of scholarly material but manages to stay accessible and entertaining. A technical background is not needed to enjoy this work. Of some interest to those in the mental health field, the concept of psychopathy is not exactly the same as the antisocial personality disorder of the DSM and lends itself better to study and research. As some reviewers have noted, the book has little to say about treatment, probably because that is still in its infancy. History buffs will enjoy the comparative study of two presidential assassins--one a classic psychopath, the other definitely not.I enjoyed this book immensely, finished it in two days, and learned a great deal in the process. I recommend it highly to anyone with even the slightest interest in neuroscience or the mental health field. This one is worth reading! Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

This book was great overall. The author studies the brains of psychopaths and find the physical differences in their brains that make them function the way they do.The only problem was, the author wasn't really sure if he wanted to just write about the findings or if he wanted to write a memoir -- so you get a little of both. If you're here just for the science, that can get frustrating, but it didn't bother me terribly. A lot of people online also REALLY hated how braggy this guy is, but again, it wasn't so awful that I put the book down. It does an amazing job of revealing so many fascinating things about psychopathy and the associated brain differences, but the tough part is that there was nothing in there to tell us what can be done. If we know what is going on, HOW are we going to treat these young kids who will grow up to be con men and serial killers? If you can handle learning about awful things that have no solutions, this book is for you! (sorry, dark humor). 4.5 stars.

Written in layman's language this is a remarkable book laying out the decades long journey of one man's efforts to decipher the mind of the psychopath through a combination of in depth interviews correlated with investigations of the structure and function of the brain starting with brain waves and evolving through the use of high tech fMRI. Absolutely fascinating. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

The author was a student of the famous Professor Robert Hare, who devised the still-in-use-today Manual for the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Kiehl built on his mentor's work and relates his journey of discovery: through EEGs, advanced MRIs, case studies in prison, and trial results, he uncovers actual physical differences in the brains of psychopaths. In the book he further goes on to explain how these brain differences make a psychopath what he is. It's a fast and exciting read, not dry at all.

Now that I've digested this topic for a few months I only have one issue. Psychopathy and all the other words are symptoms of a genetic malformation of the brain. It is a disability that causes the world trillions of dollars. The science is new but should be concentrated on public education and a search for a cure, maybe gene crisping for younger subjects? It is difficult to find conversations but there are many U Tube videos..if you're careful to only pay attention to the most up to date ones. This is a subject that should be at the very center of public health discussions. Also important is to discount the fools that propose that societies need antisocial personality disorder individuals to do the dirty work no one else will do.. Another point is that the title of the book should be embarrassing to the doctor who wrote it. I do have all the respect in the world for his work, but not the title he chose.

it's a fantastic read; very educationalnot dull or dry nor is it technicalbut it's written in a way that's both informative and biographical (?) and really inspiringit made me want to get back to university but i won't but still

I bought this book after reading an article about it. It is easy to read and is incredibly informative. I have recommended it to several people. Other books on this topic are dry in comparison.

It's easy to put people into categories, black and white. It's even easier to do that when these people have pissed off the moral conscience of a society. But given the evolving science of the brain and mind, it's people like Doctor Kent that give me hope that we will soon work from bottom up, with the individuals that need science the most.

I recommend it for anyone who is interested in the subject. The imaging data is also very interesting, it is important to have evidence-based conclusions.

In contrast to the typical 'kitchen philosophy' books about psychopaths that are around, this one is finally solid. The author is an expert in his field and knows how to write a book that you pick up and don't put back before you're finished. It's a very nice mix of the authors career story, his prison interviews and experiments and the neurobiology of antisocial personality disorder. I'm a neuroscientist myself and I found the book amazing!