The Misanthropic Altruist

Written by Sam Vaknin


Continued from page 1

Faced with such (mis)perceived injustice – and oncerepparttar relationship is clinched andrepparttar 132253 victim is "hooked" –repparttar 132254 narcissist tries to minimize his contributions. He regards his input as a contractual maintenance chore andrepparttar 132255 unpleasant and inevitable price he has to pay for his Narcissistic Supply.

After many years of feeling deprived and wronged, some narcissists lapse into "sadistic generosity" or "sadistic altruism". They use their giving as a weapon to taunt and tormentrepparttar 132256 needy and to humiliate them. Inrepparttar 132257 distorted thinking ofrepparttar 132258 narcissist, donating money gives himrepparttar 132259 right and license to hurt, chastise, criticize, and beraterepparttar 132260 recipient. His generosity, feelsrepparttar 132261 narcissist, elevates him to a higher moral ground.

Most narcissists confine their giving to money and material goods. Their munificence is an abusive defense mechanism, intended to avoid real intimacy. Their "big-hearted" charity renders all their relationships – even with their spouses and children – "business-like", structured, limited, minimal, non-emotional, unambiguous, and non-ambivalent. By doling out bounteously,repparttar 132262 narcissist "knows where he stands" and does not feel threatened by demands for commitment, emotional investment, empathy, or intimacy.

Inrepparttar 132263 narcissist's wasteland of a life, even his benevolence is spiteful, sadistic, punitive, and distancing.



Sam Vaknin ( http://samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He is the the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.


The Governable Person

Written by Jack Boulton


Continued from page 1

We can see then than one ofrepparttar clearest ways of measuring efficiency isrepparttar 132251 audit: a systematic and controlled method of verifying externally that all systems within an organisation are operating inrepparttar 132252 most efficient manner. If they are not, then inefficient or financially overburdening elements can be identified and steps taken to correct this. The audit has many peculiarities, with its’ explosion overrepparttar 132253 years, we can see that asrepparttar 132254 extensiveness of these cultural processes increases, patterns of behaviour change with it. However, as Shore and Wright point out,repparttar 132255 audit is not a voluntary scheme. Therefore we are constructing an idea of an efficient, professional person using coercion (2000). Perhaps one ofrepparttar 132256 most damaging aspects of implementing an audit is its’ effect on trust. Although Douglas (1992) implies that bureaucratic systems are employed when, essentially, trust has broken down, Shore and Wright’s argument would suggest that their utilisation actually works to break down trust relationships even further. Therefore it seems that these imposed methods of checking and verification have consequences that are more far-reaching than simply keepingrepparttar 132257 accountant happy. Asrepparttar 132258 audit andrepparttar 132259 concepts behind it become commonplace, so cultures change, and new moral codes are created with it.

References

Douglas M. Risk and Blame: Essays in Cultural Theory. 1992; London, Routledge.

Foucault M. Discipline and Punish: The Birth ofrepparttar 132260 Prison. 1975; London, Penguin Books Limited.

Illich I. The Right to Useful Unemployment and it’s Professional Enemies. 1978; London, Marion Boyars Publishers Limited.

Power M. The Audit Explosion. 1994; London, Demos.

Power M. The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification. 1997; Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Shore C and Wright S. Coercive Accountability: The Rise of Audit Culture in Higher Education. IN Strathern M (Ed) Audit Cultures. 2000; London, Routledge.

Strathern M. New Accountabilities: Anthropological Studies in Audit, Ethics andrepparttar 132261 Academy. IN Strathern M (Ed) Audit Cultures. 2000; London, Routledge.



Jack Boulton is the editor of Stimulus Respond, the E-Zine for Urban Anthropologists (www.stimulusrespond.com). You may reproduce this article with permission (obtained by emailing jack@stimulusrespond.com) and on the condition that the author is credited along with a link to Stimulus Respond.


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