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THE THERAPIST PSYCHOLOGIST BOOK STORE
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Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work By Paul BabiakRobert D. Hare ( Collins )
Release Date: 2006-05-01
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $26.95
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 Starts well, but very repetitive.
This book contains some good information, but it is very repetitive and includes a lot of superfluous information. The back-and-forth style (the book intermixes standard textbook-like prose with mini-stories and sidebars through-out) also makes it difficult read in multiple sittings.
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 A Guidebook to a Strange World ( drfood )
Except for one brief, horrible period, I've spent most of my life
avoiding bureaucratic organizations of the sort where Snakes in Suits thrive. So I read this book with a fascination like you might bring to a National Geographic special about the grisly customs of some group on the other side of the world.
Apart from the sheer shock and porn value of the stories, the authors have done a great service. We need to bring an awareness of Psycopaths and Sociopaths into the foreground of public discussion. It would be especially important as we see the rise of the class known as 'political operatives'-a whole profession that seems rooted in mercenary immorality.
The book could have been better written and one wishes there were an editor more actively involved, but this is gripping non-fiction and very likely to change the way you think about things.
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 A must read for every working person
This books gives a wealth of insight into how to deal with psychopaths in the work place. It clearly outlines how the psychopaths with the use of lying, manipulation and charm often easily manages to get pass the screening interviews for high powered jobs in the workplace. It describes the whole process by which the company and the whole workplace becomes toxic due to the psychopath's influence and it offers the steps and solutions to counteract in order to protect oneself and also for businesses to protect themselves.
Yes a powerful book, that adds to the other book by Robert Hare called "Without Conscience".
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OK, so how do we deal with them? ( torresalfredo )
The book offers an in-depth description of psychopaths in the corporate workplace, and makes them easy to identify anywhere in fact. The advice given in this respect is indispensable. The authors advise that good Human Resource practices are the first (and possibly only) line of defense against allowing these monsters into companies and agencies. However, the book comes short on strategies for how to deal with the psychopaths already among us.
In fact, the authors' advice on dealing with psychopaths can be boiled down to these two tenets: be a good and ethical employee no matter what, and know when it's a good time to leave the company/agency. Being something of a fighter myself, I found this type of counsel unsatisfactory, but also very impractical. I believe that psychopaths may be even more prevalent than the authors intimate. They are indeed everywhere, and one can hardly afford quitting a job every time a psychopath is encountered. I realize that we can't bring violence to the psychopath for his/her actions, but as workers, we need real and practical strategies for dealing with this class of people. For this failing alone I am forced to give a 4 star rating to the book instead of a 5.
One good strategy for dealing with the few psychopaths I have encountered has been that of exposure, or bringing to light the underhanded actions of the psychopath. Avoid being alone with the psychopath. Whenever possible, have witnesses present. The authors recommend that you keep detailed documentation on everything that happens, but I would add that it is better if several people keep such documentation. Another strategy is to connect with other workers in the same situation. Psychopaths thrive on fragmenting workplace communities and isolating individuals. They try to make you feel alone when in fact you are not alone. Once you connect with fellow employees undergoing psychopathic manipulation/attack, and you decide on a plan of action, their game is nearly up. And their "game" is that of promoting themselves by using and discrediting the reputations of other workers. Once you can discredit the psychopath and cast a few, well-deserved aspersions on his/her character, you really have them where they live.
Depending on your situation, the methods and tactics of the criminal detective may apply--especially to any efforts that concern evidence gathering. If you wish to use recording devices, check the pertinent legislations for your state to make sure you are not breaking any laws. It may be illegal to use recording devices without notifying the parties concerned, but not always illegal in the same way or to the same extent everywhere, so check your local laws before you proceed in this vein.
The book focuses on the psychopaths' effects on the corporate and therefore private sector. As a public sector employee myself, it was easy to recognize a lot of the behaviors ascribed to psychopaths in some of the people I have worked with. I was left wondering if there is any literature on the prevalence or effect of psychopaths in the public sector. After reading this book, it is my "educated" guess that researchers may find a prevalence of the supposedly more rare female psychopath within public sector workplaces.
Female psychopaths may be found in roles that no one may have thought of, such as that of the social worker, teacher, nurse, psychologist, or education consultant--roles that have been traditionally associated with more caring and nurturing female professionals. At least, such has been my experience. If anyone knows of any book on the subject of the female psychopath, please drop me a line.
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when rational discussion doesn't work, read this book
After 8 years working with someone I just could not understand no matter how many ways I tried to look at the situation, this book finally helped me make sense of my work environment. The authors were so clearly describing the situations I found myself in at work, that by the time I came to their suggestions for handling it, I had no alternative but to quit the job.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves in a toxic work environment they are struggling to make sense of. The insights into human nature the authors convey here would have saved me years of struggling against a personality that would not yield to rational discussion.
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