He suggests that we should not judge individuals only by their 'maddest edges', or necessarily assume that ' normal' society is as rational as some might like to think on the other hand, real and serious problems that people can have should not be dismissed because it suits an ideology (such as Scientology). Ultimately, Ronson raises the question of where the line can be drawn between sanity, insanity, and eccentricity. The subject of how journalistic coverage of psychopathology is pursued – and whether that pursuit itself is sociopathic – is covered as, also, are conspiracy theorists such as David Shayler. He meets Paul Britton, the former NHS clinical psychologist and criminal profiler who had played a key part in the erroneous arrest of Colin Stagg for the murder of Rachel Nickell. Ronson also researches unorthodox or controversial treatments, such as nude group therapy in the 1960s or prescribing drugs for childhood bipolar disorder today. So very different people end up with the same score.'

He speaks to Anthony Maden, a professor and the forensic psychiatrist in charge of the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) unit at Broadmoor, who tells him that the controversial DSPD scheme would not have happened without Hare's checklist, adding: 'Personally I don't like the way Bob Hare talks about psychopaths almost as if they are a different species' and 'Even if you don't accept those criticisms of Bob Hare's 's obvious, if you look at his checklist, you can get a high score by being impulsive and irresponsible or by coldly planning to do something. Dunlap, who the magazine Fast Company speculated was a psychopath, as well as a young man detained in Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital who states he is a victim of the psychiatric industry's unfalsifiable diagnoses. He meets Toto Constant, who he speculates is a psychopath, corporate leader Albert J. Ronson explores the idea that many corporate and governmental leaders are psychopaths whose actions to others can only be explained by taking that fact into account, and he privately uses the Hare test to determine if he can discern any truth to it. Hare, the eponymous author of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a 20‑part test administered to detect psychopathy. Ronson visits purported psychopaths, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists who have studied them, particularly Canadian psychologist Robert D. It spent the whole of 2012 on United Kingdom bestseller lists and ten weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry is a 2011 book written by British author Jon Ronson in which he explores the concept of psychopathy, along with the broader mental health ' industry' including mental health professionals and the mass media.

The psychopath test ronson