Without conscience

Robert Hare is the author of Without Conscience.

Canada’s foremost expert in the field of psychopathy—the specific set of personality traits and behaviors that characterize psychopaths—will present a talk at Dalhousie on Monday, Sept. 21 at 4:30 p.m.

Robert Hare, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, will speak with students in Room 117 of the Dunn Building in a special talk hosted by Dalhousie’s Department of Psychology.

Grad student Marcus Juodis says Dr. Hare has left an indelible mark on the field of forensic research. In particular, his research on the assessment, development, neurobiology and treatment of psychopathy has gone a long way to understanding the mindset of psychopaths.

“I would say he saved the field of forensic psychology,” says Mr. Juodis, a clinical psychology PhD student at Dalhousie.

Mr. Juodis explains that 30 years ago, the field of forensic psychology was in crisis. Psychologists and psychiatrists who were called before the courts to give an opinion about a person’s risk to re-offend or his/her danger to society were “wrong more often than they were right,” he says. As a result, the justice system was calling into question the validity of the field and subsequent research revealed an over-prediction of violence.

“So then Robert Hare came in saying, ‘I think I might have something that might help,’” relates Mr. Juodis. He developed the Hare Psychology Checklist, a diagnostic tool used to assess psychopathy and predict the likelihood of violent behavior. “It’s reliable and valid.”

Dr. Hare is the author of two books, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us (1993) and Snakes in Suits (2006) in which he extends his theories of psychopathy to the corporate world.

In Without Conscience, Dr. Hare describes psychopaths as “ social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations and empty wallets.”