The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues about the So-Called Psychopathic Personality

The classic that has transformed the psychiatric definition of sanity and continues to provide insight on American society and psychological introspection.

Although highly controversial, Hervey Cleckley’s Mask of Sanity provides one of the most influential clinical descriptions of psychopathy in the twentieth century. At the crux of his argument, Cleckley claims that many psychopathic personalities go undiagnosed because they maintain a social mask that conceals their mental disorder and enables them to blend in with society. Furthermore, many of these affected individuals appear to function normally in accordance with standard psychiatric criteria.

Intent on detecting and diagnosing the elusive psychopath, Cleckley has compiled an assortment of case studies and offers suggestions for palliative care. This ambitious work aims to define and examine every aspect of this abstract state of being. Ultimately, Cleckley refines the term “psychopath” and strips it of stigmatization.

“I know of no more stirring presentation of the clinical picture, the social consequences, and the therapeutic difficulties incident to the problem of the psychopath. ” —The Quarterly Review of Biology

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