Since everyone simply assumes that conscience is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that you are conscience-free is nearly effortless. You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so completely outside of their personal experience that they seldom even guess at your condition.

The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless vs. the Rest of Us Link

The term Sociopath strikes terror into the hearts of many, but many simply have no idea how to spot a Sociopath, or even what it really means.

A Sociopath is recognised as a Socialised Psychopath – they have a most disturbed brain and patterns of thinking and in many ways they are simply not human. They have no conscience, no sense of remorse and they are very good at play acting emotions that they actually don’t feel. One way to understand them is that Sociopaths are Brilliant Conmen as they always appear to say and do what others think is right and believable.

The big problem is that Sociopaths appear normal and they even appear to behave normally and rarely give their secret away – their most abnormal psychology and total lack of humanity.

Often the conduct of the Sociopath is exquisitely played out so that it seems normal, rational and not apparent. Sociopaths love to play puppet masters in groups and hide their activity behind the conduct of others. Mobbing and group bullying often hides a Sociopath at it’s centre with them dripping ideas and poison to others to get them to react emotionally and abusively whilst the puppet master sits back and revels in the power they have.

The Lucifer effect is a big issue here. In 1971 Stanford University was the home to what has become one of the seminal Psychological Studies in Human Psychology – the Stanford Prison Experiment. The experiment had to be stopped after only six days as it became evident that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary abuse when placed in conditions that allow it.

The Lucifer Effect seems to come out when social control is removed and ordinary and supposedly angelic people can turn into the devils and monsters. The old adage that Power Corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely was shown to be true. The results of the Stanford Prison Experiment were shocking and a revelation in the world of Psychology, Psychiatry and Social Sciences and have been shaping protection on social environments ever since.

The emergence of similar aberrant Lucifer Effect driven behaviour at Abu Ghraib prison Iraq was seen as shocking by the worlds press, but to those with experience in the field of Psychology it was no surprise, just yet further proof of the need to have correct controls and protections in place against the Lucifer Effect.

Abu Ghraib even has it’s own poster child – Pfc. Lynndie England, the one in the photos with a cigarette in her mouth and a dog leash around the neck of an Iraqi Prisoner. As they say a Picture can paint a thousand words, but these pictures mask a far more frightening story where Lynndie England was as much a victim as any Iraqi.

The name Cpl. [now Pvt.] Charles Graner is little known, but in Military Courts which tried the accused of Abu Ghraib his name became only too well known. A Sociopath who abused many, manipulated them, used his potion as an officer to issue orders to people he had already abused and turned turned into willing victims – and he used the Lucifer Effect to get them to play The Devil on camera whilst he took the Photographs.

In the Court hearings the Judges had to stop proceedings and even stop cases as this man Turned his victims into Villains as both he and they gave evidence. His ex partners befriended his victims to provide support and make sure they understood his true nature. One prison, a Stanford Prison Experiment environment, and one Sociopath in charge.

Many pictures from Abu Ghraib show the actions of Charles Graner, but it’s Lynndie England who is remembered.

Sociopaths love power, they love control and they love using other people to Play the devil to their own Supposed angelic appearance. As it is not possible to see a person via the internet it is a breeding ground for Sociopaths and the damage they revel in.

One of the aims of the Sociopath is to create the willing victim, the person they can control. They do not have empathy or sympathy but ice blood in their veins so emotion is not a factor in what the Sociopath does. However, it most certainly is in the life of the Sociopaths victim.

When you consider the nature of a Sociopath and the internet many will come up with the word Troll. That is a big mistake. Trolls are often seen as disruptive and trouble making and that does not allow high levels of manipulation, cunning, emotional manipulation and other traits that a Sociopath – or Netopath relies upon.

Lions stay where they is prey – and that is how a Netopath works. Trolls are more like Hyenas and scavenge from place to place for morsels to entertain themselves.

So how do you spot a Netopath?

First they seek to ingratiate themselves with others, and always publicly stay just the right side of Netiquette and conduct. However, over time they will keep pushing boundaries so that their misconduct becomes common place and acceptable.

Where a Netopath sees others with ideas, views and behaviours that will allow this Boundary Pushing to go further they start to bolster these people, are seen to agree with them and encourage the Lucifer Complex to come into play. What may seem friendly banter is in fact the Netopath expanding control and co-operation from the emerging willing victims.

The Netopath always looks for anyone who they can paint or label as behaving incorrectly and immediately acts to criticise, ridicule or control this person – and encourages others to support this. This polarisation of conduct is common and part of defining who is a supporter and who is to be used for attack and further creation of the supposed willing victims and accomplices.

Through out these developments that Netopath will seek out private contact with those who can be manipulated so that the willing victims can be cultured and further information about them obtained for later sue. It is all too common that the Willing Victims are given half truths, false information and deliberately directed to have negative ideas about people the Netopath wants to be attacked, pushed away and controlled. This back room manipulation is all too often wrapped up in the guside of friendship, concern and empathy – but these are emotions that the Netopath simply does not have and which are deliberately used in the willing victim to turn them into a weapon to be used by the Netopath.

The Netopath in line with other sociopaths has a morbid fear of being unmasked. They fear anyone who starts to recognise their conduct. Anyone who can articulate or explain such conduct is feared most of all and will be subjected to varying levels of attack so that they can be driven away.

Such attacks are invariably by the Puppets and people controlled by the Netopath. Mobbing is the standard practice with one Lieutenant after another attacking anyone who speaks out against the Netopath. The activity can become frenzied, with the target being attacked upon multiple fronts and in any way possible. This pattern generally reveals how the Netopath is manipulating individuals in the background to instigate multiple attacks from multiple directions.

At this stage the Netopath is aware that each attack will reinforce each other and the thinking of the puppets will become synchronised upon the Netopaths enemy and it will not matter what reality is the Lucifer Effect is in play and anything is acceptable, no matter how ludicrous or irrational it appears to outside observers.

If possible the Netopath will seek out a position of Authority and Control and even attempt to become gate keeper to an internet venue – such as a forum, website or blog sphere. Once this level of control is achieved they have the opportunity to control reality.

The Netopath may even start to intimate that there are unknown and unspecified dangers that they know of and which they alone are able to control and stop attacking the group they have control of. They set themselves up as Guardian of the group and protector and use fear as a control mechanism over the rest of the group.

The Netopath may even reiterate the fear mechanism by threatening repeatedly to withdraw and stop acting as gate keeper and guardian. This is used to deliberately gain and reinforce support with group members immediately asking the Netopath to stay. This has two functions, first to pander to the Netopath’s Narcissistic Vanity and support it and second to identify who is still under the control of the Netopath and who may need to be manipulated back under the Netopath’s control – or even driven out and subject to attack and banishment from the Netopath’s group of puppets.

Once a Netopath has control of what may be said, and the ability to manipulate the reality of members of such a group they have achieved their main goal – a Group of willing victims who see the Netopath as an angelic saviour whilst they are in fact Lucifer – the devil.

Once the Netopath has such a level of control they see themselves as all powerful. Should it become necessary thay will also move this group to a second environment or net venue so as to increase the level of control long term – and if they can convince others to do this so that their intent is not obvious this is a master stroke that the Netopath will exploit so that they remain hidden in the centre of the Aberrant group They have worked to create.

Where there are groups who are seen as Vulnerable you will always find a Netopath or two seeking to gain control and manipulate victims. The Victims may believe that the Netopath is a friendly figure and someone to be trusted, but that is the emotional projection of the victim and nothing to do with the mindset and nature of The Netopath. The Netopath only uses others feelings and emotions to gain control and exploit.

The incidence of Sociopaths in many environments is well known and recognised. The Work place Sociopath has been an ongoing issue for many years with growing skills and knowledge within human resources to identify them and where possible remove them. The Workplace bullying they enjoy can cost Billions every year to businesses in lost productivity and in litigation.

The Corporate Sociopath is also well recognised and pro-actively dealt with due to the danger they represent to businesses and institutions where some have wrought havoc and brought major businesses to their knees and even into bankruptcy before their true nature was uncovered and they were stopped.

In the fields of Domestic Abuse and Violence the nature of the Sociopath has been recognised for years – and there are well developed protocols and inter agency co-operation to deal with the issues that form the patterns of the Domestically Abusive Sociopath. Animal Cruelty or Neglect can be a signal that there is also Child and Spousal Abuse – and when trapped in such an environment the victims are fighting to survive and have little chance to deal with escape or the opportunity to raise the alarm. The child will not say anything for fear of reaction that will affect everyone in the home, and the abused parent fears saying anything due to the reaction that will occur.

The conduct of the Sociopath is well known in so many situations and yet the actions of the Sociopath on the Internet – The Netopath are hardly ever recognised or dealt with.

Just as it took many years for the Public and authorities to catch up and grasp the nature of The Paedophile on the internet and the very real risk and danger that they pose, the same is true of the Sociopath on the internet.

The term Grooming relates to the activity of a Paedophile towards a child, but the conduct and patterns of behaviour apply equally to a Netopath seeking to control anyone via the net.

The Netopath will

• Seek out Trust
• They will provide Positive feedback and Psychological Reinforcement for their own conduct and will do the same where other’s conduct supports the Netopath.
• They will keep pushing boundaries to Normalise their behaviour and attitudes in the view of the victims and the one’s they seek to control.
• They will seek ways to emphasise and even make the victim believe that the Netopath is responsible for The Victims protection and safety on the net.
• They will hint at and emphasise secret knowledge or access to mechanisms and information that others do not have so that trust is built in the power of the Netopath.

A Supposedly kind word or gesture thanking someone, sympathising or offering support is not what it seems as is just emotional manipulation of the victim to have the victim emotionally focused upon the Netopath and open to further manipulation into a position as willing victim and supporter.

Grooming is seen as aimed only at children, but the reality is that the Netopath will use exactly the same techniques and conduct to seek to enslave a victim of any age and sexual activity or gain does not have to be a factor in the grooming process.

The nature of the Internet and it’s anonymity and ability to distort the reality of the Netopath in full public view has been a growing issue since the dawn of the internet. As with all things there is a time lag between recognition opf the issue and action to address it and prevent Netopaths from causing havoc and damage to many.

The recognition of Netopaths is growing, primarily due to the increased control and protective mechanisms in social networking becoming the norm and recognised best practice across all sectors of the Internet. This is forcing the Netopath into less well regulated or controlled environments where they are less likely to be recognised and stopped.

The days of the Netopath are numbered as their opportunities to carry out their own peculiar and psychologically aberrant and destructive behaviour are reduced.

Privacy and hiding will no doubt occur, but as with all issues on the net experts are developing knowledge and the tools to deal with the Netopath and their days are numbered and their opportunities will be reduced.