The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So Called Psychopathic Personality 5th Edition

by Hervey M. Cleckley (Author)

21 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0962151903

ISBN-10: 0962151904

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Product details

Publisher : Emily S. Cleckley; 5th edition (November 1, 1988)
Language : English
Hardcover : 471 pages
ISBN-10 : 0962151904
ISBN-13 : 978-0962151903
Item Weight : 2.3 pounds
Dimensions : 6.75 x 1.25 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,549,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10,910 in Medical General Psychology
- #53,260 in Psychology & Counseling
- #264,617 in Textbooks

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21 ratings

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Dr. Cleckley's Final Edition

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2008

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(ASIN:"The Mask of Sanity, 5th edition, Hard Cover")

This 5th edition is an absolute masterpiece of a pychiatrist's life work that began when he first encountered the psychopath in a closed institutional hospital setting, which could not even begin to do anything for him. Attempting to understand, to have empathy for, and to treat this kind of person became Dr. Cleckley's lifetime work. His incredible insight into the psychopath is detailed with longitudinal case examples that are poetically descriptive. If Dr. Cleckley were alive today, he would be so proud to be reading the current scientific literature that substantiates his initial hunch that the psychopath has a biological impairment of emotional learning that cannot be fixed by any means yet available to humankind. The history and science of the psychopath begin with Dr. Hervey Cleckley's final edition.

22 people found this helpful

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Earnest Sludge

excellent, very illuminating

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 1999

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Takes an almost poetic approach to trying to capture the true nature of the psychopathic mind. But it can be a little hard to read, it tends to be stiff and academic. Many incidental nuances are beaten to death to no good purpose.

15 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2016

Verified Purchase

THIS is a classic work on psycopathy it should be in the library of every mental heatlh worker,

5 people found this helpful

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Nancy Foster Penn

A Wonderful and Worthy Book!

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2019

If you are a therapist or a survivor of a psychopath’s behaviors this is a must read. Please disregard the negative reviews they are EGO driven by the authors. Dr. Cleckley was a pioneer in this field and brings to light characteristics that many people encounter in daily life without knowing they have encountered a psychopath. I have been a therapist for over 30 years and I thank my clinical supervisor from graduate school who made me read this valuable book.

3 people found this helpful

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G in Ohio

The Mask of Sanity, 3rd Edition

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2010

I just read the third edition of this book, which I found when looking for a book I read some time ago but could not recall -- it was about "sociopaths" and included a long section on Alexander the Great and Swinburn. It might have been a different edition of this book, which is an excellent and entertaining (in a way) read. The case studies, which comprise most of this 595-page book, are hard to put down, they are so interesting. I wish all psychologists wrote so well! Some of the other reviews here puzzle me, especially the one identifying this as a study of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOT the same disorder) and the other one bothered by it not being "politically correct," as if someone writing in the 40s or 50s (depending on the edition) could ever be expected to conform to the way people write and think in the 20teens. The section on homosexuality as a pathology will not please every reader, although it was considered a pathology at the time and still is by many people, and some of the conclusions (particularly the few paragraphs about possible benefits from lobotomies) are obviously dated. But the descriptions of the disorder itself and its affects on other people are spot on. As another reviewer wrote, Cleckley was not concerned with spectacular criminals but with ordinary people whose families were trying desperately to help them, but who had no interest in being helped -- despite all indications of being intelligent, knowing right from wrong, and otherwise being completely normal. His conclusion that they really did suffer from a disorder that made them unable to function, despite not fitting traditional definitions of insanity, is still true today. What is to be done about people like this? It sounds like a terrible sort of question, unless one of these people is your brother or your son or your neighbor or your husband. Then it become as a vital question indeed.

16 people found this helpful

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Maastricht

Also available as free PDF-download!

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2008

I heard of this book through the Cassiopeia web-project, a website dedicated to psychopathy. They've scanned Cleckly's book, and offer it as a PDF. Just google for Cassiopeia and Cleckly.

I read a large part of the book, and as a (Dutch, please pardon my spelling in places) psychologist I am in awe of this book. Much has been said in the other reviews.
Cleckley doesn't choose the easy way; he painstakingly and consciently tries to distinguish between sociopathy (as psychopathy is currently called) and a number of other human and mental conditions. Such as schizophrenia, narcissm, ordinary human variation, your runn-of-the-mill neuroticism. And, very importantly, and perhaps the hardest distiction to make, Checly puts in perspective how sociopathy can be distinguished from rebelling against the moral standards of a particular era. The book was first written in 1948, and sexuel promiscuïty meant something different then then it does now. Such distinctions are where a dated book most clearly shows it flaws, and Checkly comes out as timeless and fresh as when it first came out.
His book is a very well written (his style reminded me of Oliver Sacks in places) essay into the meaning of a certain, everyday kind of human evil. The book answers the frustrated question of everyone who has dealt with a such a psychopath: "How could he DO that?" Cleckley estimates that 5 % of the population will have some psychopathic tendencies, although many of those psychopaths lead succesful lives with careers and marriages. So the odds are, you will meet one. If you want to understand him or her, and have enough background knowledge to tackle this book, read it.

31 people found this helpful

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