Hare's Psychopathy Checklist Revised, PCL-R

Robert Hare Expanded on Cleckley’s Work and Wrote a Survival Guide

Aug 18, 2009
Jill Stefko

Psychopaths Wear Masks to Fool their Targets - http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/551320

Hare listed twenty traits of people with Antisocial Personality Disorder, found in jails and free in society. How can one protect oneself from these exploitive people?

Hare's PCL-R is a diagnostic tool used to rate antisocial tendencies. Hervey Cleckley was the pioneer in Antisocial Personality Disorder and compiled a list of sixteen traits. Hare expanded and refined the list.

Psychopaths prey on others with charm, deceit, violence or any other method that gets them what they want. Psychopathy’s hallmark is a lack of conscience. Originally designed to assess people accused or convicted of crimes, the PCL-R has a twenty-item criteria rating scale that allows mental health professionals to compare a patient's degree of psychopathy with that of a typical psychopath. Many in the field regard it as the best way to determining the presence and extent of psychopathy in an individual.

Description of Hare’s PCL-R

The PCL-R contains two parts, a semi-structured interview and a review of the person's records and history. The interviewer scores twenty criteria that measure central traits of the psychopathic personality. The interview covers two aspects that help define the psychopath, selfish and insensitive exploitation of others and an unstable, antisocial lifestyle.

Hare’s PCL-R Twenty Traits

Glibness and Superficial Charm – Smooth-talking, engaging and slick.
Grandiose Self-Worth – Greatly inflated idea of one's abilities and self-esteem, arrogance and a sense of superiority.
Needs Stimulation/Prone to Boredom – An excessive need for new, exciting stimulation and risk-taking.
Pathological Lying – Shrewd, crafty, sly and clever when moderate; deceptive, deceitful, underhanded and unscrupulous when high.
Manipulative – Uses deceit and deception to cheat others for personal gain.
No Guilt/Remorse: no feelings or concern for losses, pain and suffering of others, coldhearted and unempathic.
Emotional Poverty – Limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness.
Lacks Empathy – A lack of feelings toward others; cold, contemptuous and inconsiderate.
Parasitic Lifestyle – Intentional, manipulative, selfish and exploitative financial dependence on others.
Poor Behavioral Controls – Expressions of negative feelings, verbal abuse and inappropriate expressions of anger.
Promiscuity – Brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs and an indiscriminate choice of sexual partners.
No Realistic Long-Term Goals – Inability or constant failure to develop and accomplish long-term plans.
Impulsiveness – Behaviors lacking reflection or planning and done without considering consequences.
Irresponsible – Repeated failure to fulfill or honor commitments and obligations.
Fails to Accept Responsibility for Own Behavior – Denial of responsibility and an attempt to manipulate others through this.
Many Short-Term Marital Relationships – Lack of commitment to a long-term relationship.
Early Behavior Problems – A variety of dysfunctional and unacceptable behaviors before age thirteen.
Juvenile Delinquency – Criminal behavioral problems between the ages of 13-18.
Revocation of Conditional Release – Violating probation or other conditional release because of technicalities.
Criminal Versatility – Diversity of criminal offenses, whether or not the individual has been arrested or convicted.

Hare’s Psychopathy Survival Guide

People must know what they’re dealing with. Psychopaths are found in every strata of society and can manipulate and con anyone, including mental health experts. The best protection is to understand the nature of these predatory beasts. One should try not to be influenced by the façade that's created by a psychopath.

Psychopaths have a repertoire of nonverbal language including a penetrating stare and dramatic body movements. Ignore these or look away; listen carefully to the words. Don’t be blind; psychopaths hide their dark side and wear a mask of flattery, false concern, pathological lies and deceit.

If the person is too good to be true, be hypervigilant. Be guarded in risky situations including singles bars and groups. People must know themselves. Psychopaths are uncannily skilled at finding and exploiting others’ weaknesses. Guard against people who aim for weak spots. Lonely well-to-do people are favorite targets. Be aware who the victim is. Psychopaths play the role of the victim by pity parties and other methods while they are exploiting the true victim.