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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 Scary Young Adult Evil Psychology
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The Anatomy Of Evil

Straight forward detailed analysis of the motivation behind crimes, criminals, and thieir behaviours!!! Evil - from the inside-out!?

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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So bad

Goodness me. He really needs to slow down and at least put some feelings into the stories. It seems that he is just reading from a script. So boring.

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Anatomy of evil

Very well read,full of information on all the psychological aspects of what we call evil. I would recommend this to any crime aficionados out there.some of the details are pretty graphic so don’t entertain if you have a weak stomach.five star’s all round.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

The Stone / Kernberg accounts of the background and levels of “Evil” proved easy to assimilate but chilling to accept and understand.
Sadly looking around in 2023 it appears that we have collectively learned nothing about detecting controlling or preventing these behaviors.

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Not the best

The book seemed outdated with a few errors ie Dunblane, moor murders…. The author could have done better research and may be the book wouldn’t have come across as outdated. It was a free audio book, so hence the 3 stars.

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Interesting subject

Two things that stood out to me were towards the end of the book opinions were passed off as facts and throughout there was some odd pronunciation of words which if researched could have been avoided.

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No doubt this will be referenced as a seminal work

This was an absolutely fascinating and very accessible exploration of what constitutes "evil" as defined within the narrow boundaries outlined by society and the law (primarily around the American jurisdiction). I am not a clinical or forensic psychologist so I cannot attest to how up-to-date or relevant some of the theories are when compared to today's criminal landscape but the book tends to postulate upon the psychology of evil rather than try to faultlessly define it's meaning. I found the narration to be excellent; some of the descriptions in this book are extremely (I mean no-holds-barred) graphic - they have to be to necessitate the depravity of the crimes - and the narrator does an excellent job of keeping a measured pace throughout the more clinical parts of the book as well as when the crimes themselves are being narrated. This was completely riveting; anyone interested in the forensic psychology field or true crime genre should give this book a spin.

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Very factual account

This book is crammed with facts and accounts relating to different accounts of evil. The accounts are very detailed and the author has carried out extensive research. This is commendable but sometimes makes it difficult to listen to and I often had to rewind.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Dark but truly fascinating, a macabre masterpiece.

A recent interest in studying the ‘dark tetrad’ and the ‘abnormal psychologies’ of sociopaths and psychopaths lead me to this book- and what a journey. The numerous case studies are not for the faint hearted, some of the details are truly horrific. I love the references to Dantes’s inferno and would have like more of this. I would have also like some more of the psychoanalytic views of various real cases as they are most interesting. These points should not detract from what an epic work this book is, expertly read, the delivery is very easy to listen to for long periods, even if the subject matter is far from easy. An excellent book.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Managed to listen to the whole book in 1 day

Fascinating, gripping and very well written. Everything flowed well & made sense.
I’d like to listen to a more in-depth investigation into one case from each grade from 1-22 and learn how the writer decided upon the category in which they fit. I’d have liked more detail into each individual case but understand that wasn’t the purpose of the book.
I’m keen to listen to the next one!

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