Dr. Martha Stout explains sociopathy in plain words.
Sociopathy is the absence of conscience.
So, therefore, a sociopath is a person without a conscience.
A person like this could (and usually does) know what he or she is doing is wrong, but the sociopath simply does not care. If you’re stuck in any kind of a relationship with someone with like this, you’re going to feel ignored, used, devalued, and ultimately dehumanized.
How could it be any other way?
If a sociopath simply does not care what he or she does, then what will stop a sociopath from behaving very badly around you? Nothing, and it’s all but guaranteed that he or she will.
A Person With No Conscience
The Sociopath Next Door by Dr. Martha Stout is one of the most important books you can read if you want to better understand the behaviors and patterns of dark psychology. (Please use this affiliate link to purchase it.)
Yes, it might turn up the knob on your cynicism. But sometimes that’s necessary if you’re going to protect yourself.
One of the many reasons why I hold this book in such high regard is because it strives to define and demonstrate sociopathy in simple, easy-to-understand terms for everyone who reads the book.
A sociopath is a person with no conscience.
That’s it.
Understanding sociopathy is especially important since Stout estimates that 25 percent of the population is a sociopath. That means one in four people you meet could very well be a sociopath. So, a sociopath can literally be right next door. Talk about scary.
Stout cuts away other words that confuse the discourse. She doesn’t use “psychopath” or “psychopathy” or “antisocial personality disorder” interchangeably with “sociopath.”
Dr. Martha Stout argues that these words muddy the core understanding of sociopathy for the general population. There are a lot of people out there without a conscience, and everyone else needs to understand this.
Stout further explains her use of the term “sociopath” in this 2010 interview covering The Sociopath Next Door:
Sociopathy and psychopathy, to my mind, are interchangeable.
Usually, in the popular mind, psychopathy refers to violence. Ted Bundy and the people we’ve all heard about who become violent and probably serial killers.
I used the word “sociopathy” in The Sociopath Next Door to try to get away from that and to indicate to people that most people without a conscience are never violent.
It makes sense, and it simplifies the topic for a basic understanding.
Diagnostic Terminology
The term “sociopath” does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders V (DSM-5).
Instead, the clinical, diagnostic terminology for it is “antisocial personality disorder” (ASPD) and is described as a “pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others since the age of 15.”
Three (or more) of the following are required for a diagnosis:
— Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.
— Deceitfulness, indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.
— Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
— Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.
— Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others.
— Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations.
— Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.
Don’t forget this caveat to be diagnosed with this personality disorder:
“These traits and behaviors must be pervasive and persistent, not just occasional, and they must cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”
No Discomfort Or “Dis-Ease”
Even though “antisocial personality” is how it’s described clinically, Dr. Martha Stout sees no great different between this and a sociopath.
She also calls into question diagnosing sociopaths to begin with, saying the following in The Sociopath Next Door:
The argument can easily be made that “sociopath” and “antisocial personality disorder” and “psychopathy” are misnomers, reflecting an unstable mix of ideas, and that the absence of conscience does not really make sense as a psychiatric category in the first place.
In this regard, it is crucial to note that all of the other psychiatric diagnoses (including narcissism) involve some amount of personal distress or misery for individuals who from them.
Sociopathy stands alone as a “disease” that causes no dis-ease for the person who has it, no subjective discomfort.
Sociopaths are often quite satisfied with themselves and with their lives, and perhaps for this very reason there is no effective “treatment.”
I do find some of the distinctions between interpretations interesting.
For example, how Dr. Martha Stout describes no discomfort or “dis-ease” among sociopaths is very much how Dr. Ramani Durvasula describes the behaviors of pathological narcissists. Yet Stout seems to disagree concerning narcissism, as the statement above demonstrate.
That aside, the work Dr. Martha Stout has done to define sociopathy for the general population is significantly important.
