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The Anatomy of Evil

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The Anatomy of Evil

By: Michael H. Stone MD, Otto F. Kernberg MD
Narrated by: Charles Constant
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About this listen

In this groundbreaking book, renowned psychiatrist Michael H. Stone explores the concept and reality of evil from a new perspective. In an in-depth discussion of the personality traits and behaviors that constitute evil across a wide spectrum, Dr. Stone takes a clarifying scientific approach to a topic that for centuries has been inadequately explained by religious doctrines.

Stone has created a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior, which loosely reflects the structure of Dante's Inferno. Basing his analysis on the detailed biographies of more than 600 violent criminals, he traces two salient personality traits that run the gamut from those who commit crimes of passion to perpetrators of sadistic torture and murder. One trait is narcissism, as exhibited in people who are so self-centered that they have little or no ability to care about their victims. The other is aggression, the use of power over another person to inflict humiliation, suffering, and death.

What do psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience tell us about the minds of those whose actions could be described as evil? And what will that mean for the rest of us? Stone discusses how an increased understanding of the causes of evil will affect the justice system. He predicts a day when certain persons can safely be declared salvageable and restored to society and when early signs of violence in children may be corrected before potentially dangerous patterns become entrenched.

©2009 Michael H. Stone; Epilogue copyright 2017 by Michael H. Stone (P)2018 Tantor Criminal & Forensic Psychology Murder Mental Health Young Adult Evil Psychology

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Profile Image for Miss Amy V

Perfect for criminology lovers

Thoroughly enjoyable listen. Perfect if you're a criminology lover - or just interested in forensic psychology. Well researched and written; and the narrator does it perfect justice.
I would recommend this to criminology and psychology students.

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Profile Image for Luke Reid

An excellent contribution to the field

Having read Hare and Peck in depth I found Stone's work to be an excellent contribution to the study of evil. His book is painfully thorough and it is sometimes difficult to listen to the matter-of-fact rendition of some truly awful crime. I don't recommend this book to people of a melancholy disposition as it will certainly leave you feeling depressed. I'll be buying the print edition to refer to in my further reading.

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Profile Image for Kiera

Meh

If you want torture porn, this is your book. If you want an exploration of the idea of evil, this is not your book.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Not what I expected

Given the summary for the book, I had expected a philosophical and psychological discussion on the concept of evil. Instead, this is a highly voyeuristic summary of hundreds of crimes, detailing the depravities and sadistic elements of each act. I found many of the psychological concepts outdated and a mysogynist vein that ran through the book. I have read numerous book written about true crime, including many written by forensic psychologists and forensic pathologists, so I'm generally not squeamish. This book, however, is one I'll never finish, but will always regret spending good money on.

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