Dr. Karen Mitchell describes the second set of persistent predatory personality attributes like this: “They are motivated and operate differently and darkly.” In other words, there is something fundamentally different about the PPP, and this difference has a particular quality: a predatory, malevolent core. Lobaczewski would call it ponerogenic in nature.
Attribute 6: Predatory (Including Exploitative)
Despite Mitchell’s survey participants frequently referring to this quality, it isn’t included in any of the existing models or assessment tools. She defines it as being “motivated to gain something out of someone else’s weakness or suffering.” PPPs aren’t just indifferent to your suffering; they actively want it (which ties into attribute 7 below, sadism).
Predation is discussed in the data as gaining satisfaction from a ‘cat and mouse’ process with the target/victim, playing with the target/victim in ways that destroy the target’s/victim’s confidence and sense of self.
This predation has the purpose of “isolating, weakening, and ultimately destroying” the target—similarly to how animal predators operate in the wild. However, the human predator utilizes a variety of human-specific means to do so, including psychological and social strategies, mediated largely by use of language.
“A person is selected because they have the requisite vulnerability. Not everyone can be prey. They need to attend to their predator, not ignore them. A person living a fulfilled life on their own terms is more difficult to prey upon than a person seeking something the predator can pretend to fill.” (Category 2)
“Child prostitution, a lot of the pimps, they would score high on the PCL-R. They would take a child who is high risk of running away on their own, would identify the child, give them an adult female (‘bottom bitch’) and under the direction of the pimp, the female brings kid to the pimp, and he shows them the affection they were not getting at home. He is playing on their needs for acceptance and affection, the things that they seek, and he uses that for leverage.” (Category 3)
Included with this item are a set of associated “behavioral patterns”: target/victim selection, engagement, weakening, isolation, and trapping and destroying.
Target/Victim Selection
All participants expressed the belief that PPPs purposefully select their victims at least most of the time, with all of the nonforensic practitioners believing they did so all the time, as opposed to selecting them at random in at least some circumstances.
“They seem to seek out victims with high emotional responses which they consider as major weaknesses and therefore more vulnerable to their manipulations.” (Category 4iii)
“These people [i.e. victims] tend to be bleeding hearts and it is rather easy to gain sympathy which turns in to easily excusing negative behaviour. These seem to be the people most often involved personally with those who have dark personality.” (Category 4i)
Target/Victim Engagement
After targeting the victim, the predator engages in behaviors to make them believe he is on the victim’s side, e.g. “love bombing.”
The findings show this engagement appears to extend beyond ‘normal’ behaviours of parental, romantic, collegiate, friendship, and other relationships and may involve, for example, maintaining longer periods of eye contact or staring than is usual, providing high levels of attention, excessive gifting, and/or identifying areas of deep importance to the target/victim then contributing to the victim in this area in a way that greatly touches the target/victim.
The gifting and favors are designed to create a sense of obligation to be cashed in on later. (Recall in the previous part that the PPP feels no sense of obligation himself. That’s for suckers.) During this phase, the PPP also tests the boundaries, establishing their degree of control over the target and calibrating accordingly.
Target/Victim Weakening
Once “engaged,” targets “are then subjected to behaviours that weaken them and might include criticism, humiliation, public provocation, insults, playing on vulnerabilities, disengaging, and so on.” I assume that this is where the PPP might engage in gaslighting (or swamp-gassing).
“They make the victim lose confidence and question their competency.” (Category 1)
“They bait the victim either privately or in front of others which confirms the DP’s claims that the victim is crazy because of the way they react.” (Category 4ii)
This requires detailed information about the target, and PPPs are like spies in the pursuit and collection of this information:
Information about the target/victim is considered very important by people of DP according to the research findings and is sought and used powerfully to undermine, demean, humiliate, and provoke the target. Data about others are also collected as a means of controlling others in the current time or should the need arise.
“They have an incredible tenacity to get information about their victims and understand their victim’s vulnerabilities.” (Category 4ii)
This weakening process can be slow and insidious, and “quite subtle,” such that even the target “cannot quite identify how or even that they have been treated poorly” (Category 3). Again, the “common worldview” is inadequate when it comes up against psychopathology like this, and the target is left in a state of confusion. Mitchell notes that “this is the strategic and well-thought-through destruction of another’s sense of self-worth, often done while appearing supportive in front of others.”
Target/Victim Isolation
Isolation is also a specific tactic, and will be discussed again when we get to that part of the PPP model. Several participants observed that this behavior seems instinctual. It’s an aspect of that “special psychological knowledge,” as Lobaczewski puts it. It’s widely discussed in the literature, for example, the tendency for pedophiles to gain unsupervised access to children or for abusive partners to isolate their partners from their friends and family:
…people of DP put considerable time and energy into isolating targets/victims from their meaningful relationships and support structures, including family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours, and community members such as those in church, sport, and/or hobbies
“Even family members do not see through the guise of the DP, and they often berate, reject, and isolate the innocent victim family member who is targeted for trying to expose the DP parent or sibling.” (Category 4ii)
For those who have read Political Ponerology, recall the example of the family with the borderline sister who scapegoated her son, and how all her brothers went along with it until Lobaczewski explained the situation to them and they realized they’d been under the spell of their deranged sister.
The findings show that isolation of the target/victim through reversely attributing their own behaviours to the target/victim, spreading lies about the target/victim, and other means is one of the most prominent tactics used by people of DP.
Examples from the data include spreading false rumours or lies about the target/victim, which might include that the victim is really the aggressor, that they are an alcoholic, or that they have mental health issues. Other data examples include falsely claiming concerns regarding their parenting or that they are having affairs and provoking the target/victim publicly so they are seen to be unbalanced or ‘odd.’ Ultimately, the person of DP successfully ensures others feel uncomfortable about the target/victim and withdraw.
Causing the group to shun the victim is an example of a “para-appropriate response.” It’s a misdirected instinct of a sort, which would more properly be directed toward the PPP.
Target/Victim Trapping and Destruction
In the wild, destruction usually simply entails being torn apart and eaten. DPs’ appetite for destruction, by contrast, has a more expansive palate. They typically “trap” their victims “physically, emotionally, financially, or psychologically, with limited ability to remove themselves from the situation they find themselves in.” Once the trap is set, there is not much the target can do:
“What we see is they will literally tell their victims, they are constantly saying who is going to believe them, because normally society do not believe them.” (Category 3)
“The victims are often the ones seen as crazy because they are frequently under attack regarding something very important to them like their children, their job, their freedom, their friends etc and in a way that takes a lot of energy to address and that others cannot see. In some cases, this has been going on relentlessly for years.” (Category 2)
“They make you question if it is worthwhile continuing as the relentless torture is so intense.” (Category 4i)
This torture can take the form of “ongoing threats, control of finances, physical harm, and/or continued tracking and interference in the life of the target/victim if they try and distance themselves from the person of DP.” It can lead to death (murder, suicide), substance abuse, and stress-induced diseases like cancer.
Hunting in Packs
One of the most curious statements Lobaczewki made about psychopaths was this: “They learn to recognize each other in a crowd as early as childhood, and they develop an awareness of the existence of other individuals similar to them.” Mitchell found something similar:
The research indicates that while they prefer to operate alone to reduce risk of exposure and mistakes, people of DP may find themselves in situations where it is beneficial to engage with others of the same personality type to achieve outcomes.
“They were clearly colluding with each other and worked in clusters as well. Some got together, they somehow recognised the predator in each other, or were influenced by each other in some way, and operated in paedophile rings, meanwhile carrying on all this holier than thou behaviour, conducting Masses, weddings, funeral, baptisms. It’s unbelievable.” (Category 4iii)
Attribute 7: Sadistic (Including Cruel)
Already mentioned in the previous article, sadism in this context relates not just to enjoyment caused by the infliction of physical pain, but also from “suffering, discomfort, and/or humiliation.” All nonforensic practitioners said DPs are sadistic, as well as 88% of forensic practitioners.
“They enjoy others’ pain and humiliation. An example is the public humiliation of a junior employee, and destruction of their reputation, constant criticism of work and implying the junior is not coping or has mental health issues, when it was the executive who provoked the reaction.” (Category 4ii)
Their satisfaction is “palpable” (Category 4i).
Attribute 8: Has a Low Regard for Laws, Regulations, and Agreements, and Social and Moral Codes
Opinions were slightly divided on whether or not DPs “universally break laws and/or regulations”—73% yes, 25% no. As one of the forensic practitioners pointed out, they “may not have the need to break the law.” But regardless, their concern for laws and regulations, if present, is purely strategic.
The findings show that people of DP have no respect or consideration for barriers that might prevent them getting what they want and see themselves as above the law. This attribute is linked to the ‘entitlement’ attribute.
“My experience showed their own self-interest being the only law. They were aware of laws as they were aware of social expectations and norms, but absolutely did not blink or hesitate when bending or outright breaking them for their own gain.” (Category 4ii)
“They believe that laws/authority does not apply to them, that they are above it all, they are special.” (Category 4i)
Similar to how they test boundaries with a victim they are “engaging,” DPs seem to be expert at “skirting the edges” of the law, “manifesting behaviours that are not considered to be ‘above board’ but are not necessarily illegal either.”
“The harm they cause to others is often quite calculated and could not be proven within a court of law.” (Category 4i)
“Many toe the legal line skilfully as though they know the exact limit and can keep right side of it. At least if they think people can see or know their actions.” (Category 4ii)
The data indicate freedom is very important to people of DP, so they will often do whatever it takes to get what they want while at the same time, in many cases, considering strategies they might employ to avoid accountability, culpability, and transparency.
Attribute 9: Sexual/Relationship Boundarylessness
This is another feature that shows up repeatedly in the descriptions of practitioners, but is mostly ignored or neglected by researchers, such that “none of the existing models or assessment tools for people of DP represent or capture the comprehensiveness of the attribute as emerged in this research.” Mitchell suggests this may be because it is difficult for many well-adjusted normies to accept or believe.
This research indicates that people of DP, including those who are higher functioning such as those working in the fields of religion, law, academia, medicine, business and teaching, have no boundaries or respect for the law, moral codes, or agreements as they pertain to sexuality and/or relationships.
They may engage in a wide range of sexual behaviours and force, coerce, subtly influence, or directly engage others to do the same. … The findings show people of DP may also use sexuality to manipulate, to humiliate, to harm, to provoke, to leverage and/or to exert power and control.
This may manifest as sexual sadism, porn addiction, infidelity, and more:
The data indicate that people of DP have complete boundarylessness regarding sexuality, and anyone, or anything, may potentially elicit their sexual attention that may include, for example, both biological sexes, the full array of gender identities including transexual men and women and those who are nonbinary and gender fluid, their own children, others’ children, others’ partners, and animals.
A hypothetical from one of the participants: one pedophile priest gets an assistant priest at his parish. Unable to behave as he had been for fear of being reported, he maneuvers to make the assistant complicit by engaging him in the abuse, “and then he knows that that guy can never blow the whistle because then it’ll come out against him as well” (Category 4iii).
“I do not know how she gets away with all these things professionally. She absolutely uses sexual favours and then says if you are going to take me down, remember I will expose X Y and Z. She is flirtatious.” (Category 4ii)
The data indicate great attention is often directed towards minimising exposure. Considerable planning and time may be invested in creating opportunities for covert sexual expression, including the creation of ‘false lives’ that serve as covers to hide behaviours, attacking those who attempt to expose them or blaming their targets/victims.
Attribute 10: Unreasonable Expectations of Others
PPPs have a “propensity to make excessive and risky demands [on others] and do this knowingly,” with no regard for the harm this may cause. None of the models or tools contain this attribute either, perhaps because it is more commonly expressed by non-incarcerated PPPs, who are often in a position of authority from which it is easier to make such demands.
Coming up next is attribute group 3: the truth is not easy to distinguish or believe.
Excellent stuff. I'm very much appreciating these posts.
Fantastic series here Harrison! I've got Mitchell's PhD thesis but it's a hell of a lot to sift through - so very much appreciate you doing this work and bringing it to us with your links to Lobaczewski's work. Brilliant.