What role does a criminal profiler play as consultant to large corporations?

John Clarke, criminal profiler for the New South Wales Police is engaged by organisations that suspect psychopaths are at work.

Clarke’s book, Working with Monsters: How to identify and protect yourself from the workplace psychopath is an unsettling and occasionally frightening look at the ways of identifying certain behaviours and how such individuals ply their trade*.  Reassuringly, Clarke also deals with ways to counter or neutralise psychopaths and more importantly how to protect yourself.

A psychopath can be someone who appears to be altogether normal and yet is not. Psychopaths deftly exploit and manoeuvre the sensitive, the gullible and the malleable to their advantage.

But………What is a psychopath?  Is it possible to detect a psychopathic personality? Does the psychopath behave noticeably differently compared to the ‘normal person’? How do they conceal themselves?

In a chapter aptly titled, Introduction to a Monster’.  Clarke reveals the skill psychopaths have of wedging people into unwinnable positions.

But would a psychopath behave differently if, he was confronted by someone who had identified what he or she is doing. Clarke is not optimistic.

“Psychopaths see confrontation as a personal challenge and a threat. The reaction would be to try and destroy those around him or her who had mounted the threat. This may be through beginning a series of undermining rumours or turning people, the psychopaths’ accusers - against each other.”

There are cases where the behaviour of a workplace psychopath has so worn down people that they have resigned from their jobs or developed work-related illnesses.

Different malicious rumours

For psychopaths, rumour is an important tool for character assassination and dis-creditation. The more clever and subtle operators circulate different malicious rumours at the same time about individuals. This can have the desired effect of actually building collective prejudice as someone becomes a target.

With the benefit of his experience with the Police Force, Clarke makes a very unnerving statement,

”I have discovered that there is very little difference between compiling a psychological profile of a serial rapist and developing a profile of an organisational psychopath.”

“Once the primary motivating factor of power and self-gratification is understood, it is simply the path of destruction left by both types of psychopaths.’

“The power is expressed differently. They don’t have a conscience and realise that it is through power that they psychologically destroy their victims.”

“What the serial rapist does is use physical behaviour to exert power. The workplace psychopath uses psychological power to effect the result of fear and submission.”

Clarke is aware that a book that explores the behaviour of workplace psychopaths may lead people to think they have a psychopath sitting at the next desk, a point he notes in the book.

“Misdiagnosis or improper use of a label is just as destructive for a person as a psychopath can be.”

“There is risk that this will be the case in writing the book. It is important to get the professional help. I wanted to write something about psychopaths in the workplace for the benefit of educating as many people as possible.”

“If this book leads people to speak to someone about whom they suspect as a psychopath, then that’s a positive outcome.”

For more information on Corporate Psychopaths, check out a recent Background Briefing program on the ABC Radio National Website; http://www.abc.net.au/rn and follow the Links to Background Briefing and the Story archives.

*PORTRAIT OF A PSYCHOPATH

If you have suspicions that you may be working with a psychopath, Clarke offers this definition:

“As a general pattern, psychopaths show a distinct cluster of personality characteristics, as well as anti-social behaviours.”

The characteristics and behaviours include, a lack of remorse or guilt, criminal behaviour, an impersonal sex life, impulsive behaviour, lack of responsibility, prolific lying and deception, manipulation of other people to get what they want, an apparent lack of conscience, a constant need for stimulation and excitement, superficial charm and good intelligence, unreliability, insincerity, antisocial behaviour, poor judgment and a failure to learn by experience, a sense of their own self-worth, egocentricity, an incapacity to love, lack of emotion, absence of life goals and a chequered employment history.

“Not all psychopaths will have all the above characteristics. Different types of psychopaths will have different patterns or clusters of these behaviours.”

John Clarke’s book, Working with Monsters: How to identify and protect yourself from the workplace psychopath is published by Random House RRP: $22.95