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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How can you protect yourself from a psychopath's flattery?

2. Why was Jeffrey Dahmer able to convince policemen that he was not committing crimes?

3. What is the two-pronged question clinicians face in dealing with psychopathic children?

4. Why do the victims of psychopaths often have trouble convincing others?

5. Why do clinicians hesitate to label a child psychopathic?

Short Essay Questions

1. What distinguishes the lying of psychopaths from that of other liars?

2. How have family members often unwittingly contributed to a psychopath's misbehavior?

3. Why does Kiki Olson say that the inclusion of more women in the workforce has opened new pathways for psychopaths?

4. What theory does the author feel may possibly explain the self-contradictory nature of psychopathic speech?

5. Why is the typical advice to quit indulging misbehaving youth and get them into therapy considered by the author to be doomed to failure?

6. What kinds of professions are likely choices for white-collar psychopaths?

7. What is the danger of inaccurate diagnosis of psychopathy?

8. What benefits came from public exposure to the man who claimed to be a Berkeley Ph.D. in psychology and was discovered by a local reporter to have faked his resume when he ran for the school board?

9. What benefit does a psychopath typically get from therapy programs?

10. Who is Dr. Death, and why was he given that name?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay comparing and contrasting criminal psychopaths with non-criminal psychopaths. Include statistics and examples from the text that illustrate both similarities and differences.

Essay Topic 2

Dr. Pinel described psychopathy as "insanity without delirium," and psychopaths as "morally insane." Do you think there is a distinction between moral insanity and other kinds? Can a case be made that psychopaths are actually psychologically damaged in such a way that they should not be held accountable for their actions? In your essay, take a position for or against this contention and support your position with material from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Do you feel better prepared as a person for any encounters you may have with psychopathy in your own life after reading this book? In your essay, tell why or why not.

(see the answer keys)

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