Social and Psychological Manipulation - Dean Amory

His bestselling book In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing
with Manipulative People© is nearing 20 years in print and has sold
over 250,000 copies.
“In Sheep's Clothing” deals with psychological manipulation. Dr.
Simon discusses the tactics manipulators use to deceive and get the
better of others. The book explains the tactics manipulators use to
deceive and get the better of others and offers tips on how to avoid
being victimized and how to be more empowered in any relationship.
His second book, "Character Disturbance: the Phenomenon of Our
Age," focuses on how current culture allows disturbed people to
reach adulthood without proper socialization. This book was
published in August of 2010 and attempts to provide an in-depth but
readily understandable explanation of the most difficult and
problematic personalities a person is likely to encounter as well as
practical ways to keep from being victimized by them. This book also advances the perspective that the
phenomenon of "neurosis" about which most traditional psychological frameworks are concerned and
which was largely an outgrowth of the highly repressive Victorian culture, has faded in both
prevalence and intensity in modern times, and that the issue of greater social concern in an era of
permissiveness and entitlement is necessarily character dysfunction, which manifests itself not so much
in bizarre psychosomatic symptoms but rather in distorted thinking patterns, problematic attitudes, and
irresponsible behaviors, and which can neither be adequately understood nor effectively dealt with via
traditional approaches.
With his latest book, The Judas Syndrome: Why Good People Do Awful Things, George Simon tries to
explain why people do bad things, and how to deal with the fallout of hurtful human action.
Dr George Simon identifies four general types of people who might do bad things. The first category
he calls simply “bad people,” although he admits the difficulty of using that term. These are people
with significant character failings whose actions cause unapologetic harm to those around them. If they
are broken down to the point of admitting their failures and developing faith in Christ, Simon believes,
bad people may reform into a better character.
People without serious character deficiencies are not immune from doing bad things, of course.
Basically good people have good intentions that cause them to do harm (a second set), as is clear in the
cases of over-parenting that the author cites. On the other hand, such people may also not do enough to
prevent bad things (a third set), whether through neglect, fear, or indifference. A fourth set are
basically good people who fail in the face of serious temptations.
4.1. Reinforcement
1. Forms of operant conditioning:
• Positive reinforcement: the adding of an appetitive stimulus to increase a certain behavior or
response.
Example: Father gives candy to his daughter when she picks up her toys. If the frequency of
picking up the toys increases or stays the same, the candy is a positive reinforcer.
• Positive punishment: the adding of an aversive stimulus to decrease a certain behavior or
response.
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