According to Psychology Today, the prevalence of sociopaths in the general population is about 2% (3% of men and 1% of women). That would mean that just in NYC alone, there are over 170,000 sociopaths.
I’ve met so many of them, mostly in the past 7 years. This is what happens, I presume, when there is money on the street with your name on it.
The more technical term for sociopathy is antisocial personality disorder. According to medlineplus.gov, it is defined as “a mental condition in which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting, or violating the rights of others without remorse. This behavior…is often criminal.”
It has been said that the double bind of dealing with sociopaths is that if you overreact, you encourage them and if you ignore them, you risk escalation because they so crave to get under your skin.
Given the compulsions of sociopaths, it is fair to assume that a good number of them would gladly set upon me without receiving renumeration. But to have money on the street sets off – I would imagine – a feeding frenzy among the criminal cohort.
How does one deal with a culture of cruelty and sadism?
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” – JFK quoting Episcopal clergyman Phillips Brooks at the Washington D.C. Presidential Prayer Breakfast, Feb 7, 1963