Yesterday, Dr. Liane Leedom wrote that “false beliefs about sociopaths are very dangerous.” She quoted a judge who said:
“Well I tell you, the world is full of productive sociopaths. Some of them hold high public office. Some of them are lawyers. It could be that a couple of them are judges, and sociopathy by itself is not necessarily a dangerous condition. It can be productive. I think it was Clarence Darrow who commented on that”¦”
Today I’d like to present a case to prove her point.
Over the last 10 days, the Philadelphia Inquirer has been reporting about Carl Greene, the executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA).
The agency Green heads is the city’s biggest landlord, providing housing to 81,000 low-income residents. The PHA has a budget of $345 million per year, funded by the federal government, and 1,150 employees.
Greene, who was hired in 1998, currently earns $306,000 per year. But 10 days ago, it was revealed that his $615,000 townhouse was in foreclosure, and he owed the IRS $52,000 in back taxes.
And, one of his former employees has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. The woman says Greene promised her a promotion, if she submitted to his sexual advances.
Greene’s tenure
Here’s where the “productive sociopath” comes in.
Before Greene was hired, the PHA had a history of waste, fraud and abuse. Greene turned the agency around, and it’s now considered to be a major success. Public housing high rises—magnets for drugs and crime—have been demolished and replaced by townhouses. Complaints about Section 8 housing have disappeared.
But here’s what else has been going on during Greene’s tenure:
• Since 2004, six women have filed complaints against Greene with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging sexual harassment, verbal abuse, retaliation, and sex discrimination. (Greene denies them.)
• Greene spent $1 million over the last two years for outside public relations experts, even though the agency has an in-house spokesperson.
• Four times a year, for the last several years, the PHA staff, outside lawyers and consultants were expected to pay up to $150 each for dinners at expensive restaurants in honor of Greene. According to the Inquirer,
There was an annual party to celebrate Greene’s birthday, one to mark his anniversary with the agency, another to laud his accomplishments, and, at Christmas, a breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Those gatherings were small compared with the bash PHA put together for Greene’s 10th anniversary on April 11, 2008. Hundreds of vendors, attorneys and “friend[s] of PHA” received letters asking them to donate $1,000 to $5,000 to Tenant Support Services Inc., a PHA nonprofit on which Greene has been a board member.
• In 2002, an audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development described Greene as a “demanding supervisor” who drove “a number of executive personnel” to quit.
• Employees say he’s created a culture of “fear and intimidation” at the PHA.
Transformation
What’s really strange about this case is how, back in 1998, Ed Rendell, then mayor of Philadelphia and now governor of Pennsylvania, worked so hard to hire Carl Greene. At the time, Greene was head of the Detroit Housing Commission, and one of his employees had accused him of sexual harassment. At first Greene turned down the Philadelphia job, but then accepted it. According to the Inquirer, he signed a three-year contract with an amazing stipulation:
If he were found liable of sexual harassment in Detroit, PHA could fire him – but would still have to pay the balance of his contract, then worth $160,000 a year.
“One simple reason,” Rendell said last week, when asked about that clause. “When I took over as chair of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, it was perhaps the worst public-housing authority in the nation. . . . I don’t think it’s an understatement to say now that PHA is the best in the nation.”
The transformation is due to Greene, whose work “has been stunning,” Rendell said. “He has done more to improve the lives of poor Philadelphians than anyone I know.”
Bloody daggers
Money problems, sexual harassment, self-promotion, and a management style based on bullying—Carl Greene sounds like a classic sociopath. Here’s what an Inquirer columnist wrote about him:
The rap on Greene was, and is, that he’s an effective egomaniac. A vicious visionary, a determined developer, a brutal boss ”¦ Politicians and advocates learned to accommodate the two Carls because he controlled zillions in federal money and the fate of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
In other words, according to his supporters, Carl Greene was getting the job done. If a few folks got steamrolled in the process, well, that was just collateral damage that they really didn’t want to know about.
When all these troubles came to light, what did Greene do? First, he disappeared—for several days, no one knew where he was. When he did talk to the media, he apologized for his personal failings.
He also said, “People with bloody daggers are doing whatever they can to finish me off.”
UPDATE:
Cost to settle sex-harassment cases against Philadelphia Housing chief near $900,000 on Philly.com.
In 2003, PHA planned to solicit big contractors on Philly.com.
Former Housing and Urban Development director ‘not surprised’ by Carl Greene’s troubles on Philly.com.
sistersister – thank you 🙂
I am way beyond MDs also. Just wanted to explain what my health situation is like to Hens,but having a diagnosis from the environmental health clinic will be useful in the future.
I am using the Dr. Lendon Smith protocol for vitamin and supplements, and am going to start a rotation diet soon. Using neurofeedback (and have used “ Quantum Alliance” biofeedback in the past) for PTSD. am looking into infrared and colon cleansing.
Can I ask what you have been dealing with and if you have ever used infrared saunas?
thanks,
one step
Dear Cat,
I agree, I would move….and before I signed a lease with the next place, I would knock on some doors and ask neighbors about what the neighborhood is like and the neighbors etc.
You might be able to get out of a lease if you have one and need to get out of it by talking to your child’s doctor and getting a letter from the doctor saying that this has been emotionally upsetting to your child and that you must move for medical reasons.
Sorry you and your son had to witness this, and sorry that jerk wad will get off with a slap on the wrist. He needs to go to a drug rehab at least. ((((Hugs))))
Dear Siblinghell,
I agree that the percentage is higher than 4%—and ASPD is not the only personality disorder, there is Histrionic PD, Dependent PD and so on. If you added them all up, I think we are looking at 15-20% of the population that is either a “full blown” personality disorder OR “CLOSE ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT WORK.” LOL
The PCL-R score in US is 30, but what about all the people with a score of 29? or 28? Supposedly there are 25% of criminal inmates who are psychopaths, but the AVERAGE score is 22, and if you look at the PCL-R you sure wouldn’t want to take any of these jack wads home to keep for your very own love interest! Of course that means that 22 is the “mean” and 50% of the prisoners are over that and 50% under that number, but the n umber for normal folks I think is less than 4-5, so, Yea, I think the percentages estimated for ASPD is WAY LOW….as far as FUNCTIONING in society.
I may be a LITTLE bit cynical though. LOL Or maybe a LOT!
Cat,
I am glad to know that the 14 year old girl was not beaten to death. There was a student at UVA (the story was in the national news) who was beaten to death by an ex-boyfriend, both of them being lacrosse players. Her boyfriend could get violently angry when drinking and/or drunk, having a history of abusive behavior. He broke into her apartment in the early morning hours, hauled her out of bed, and repeatedly rammed her head against the wall. When the police found her, she was lying on her blood soaked bed, dead from the ex-boyfriend’s deadly assault. You and Oxy are right – I would consider moving to another location, getting away from the criminal neighbor. I feel badly that the system has failed you and your neighbors, the citizens, not guaranteeing a safe place to live.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean someone is not out to get you.
bluejay:
I fear for my nieces. The older one seems to functional, but I know the younger on had real difficulty with my brother as her parent. She oddly took a degree in actuaries with a minor in psychology. I think the unrelated psychology is to figure out what the heck her childhood was about or self therapy. I have not discussed my revelation with my nieces, I am conflicted about that. They should be educated, but I don’t want to be the one to turn my nieces against their father. I have talked to my sister in law. She understand her position. Her father was also a classic spath (alcoholic air traffic controller).
Bluejay, 95% of your words ring so true for me. the chaos, the train wreck spathisodes (love that word). The human mental carnage they leave in their path. I have read many books to clue in on how to approach this in my life. I know NC is the best method, but right now that is too much of an economic risk for me weighed against the mental risk.
I have read other things besides the body of literature on spaths I have gotten my hands on and I am mulling over many ideas about who we are as as species and how emoticons like ourselves and spaths make any sense in the same crucible.
Right now (though I don’t know the stages). I am in the festering stage of finding out that 50 years of my life were spent destructively trying to survive a spath father, spath brother then later exploring bursts of self help thinking I was the problem. This year was the breakthrough year, with avengence. (see…..festering…). But also a commitment to bring enlightenment to the world of non spaths about the dire situation we are in. If we could neutralize the power and danger of the spaths in the world we could start to realize the utopic worlds that have been fictionalized in literature.
I loved that someone came up with the word spath. In order to enlighten the masses, they need an appropriate label. But spath does not seem to evoke the economic danger and mental destruction, of the real mcCoy psychopath. Perhaps we could somehow invoke ‘Vaknin’ (the worlds leading non-violent spath). It has a sound similarity to vacuum, and since spaths suck and are devoid of emotion and make us feel like we can’t breath around them. Vaknin does not exactly roll of the the tongue, and how would we promote vacuum? Vaknite? Vaknian? Who are some other famous none violent spaths?
But I digress.
Oxy,
I am glad someone else feels the percentages are higher than sited in ‘Next Door’. I know I am somewhat PPD from my exposure to the spaths in my life, but it almost seems closer to 50%.
I guess the questions I would like answered are: Is this how it is supposed to be? With numbers that high, how could we ever imagine we could turn the tide? We would need a productive spath to try to accomplish something like that.
But seriously, what does this look like to you? To me it looks like this is a big petrie dish that we are all swimming in with the purpose of breeding the strongest spaths…….and we are the nutrients they need to build strong healthy bodies.
I used to think I was cynical until this year. Now I look back on those days as care free sunny brook farm outlook daze 😉
Sistersister,
You have some interesting points I think I am going to have to mull over (new favorite phrase). Your words also ring true loud and clear. In this blog, the feeling of been there, done that is pervasive.
I will try to address what I think I understand. My brother switches topics fluently as a means of creating the cloud of disorientation. That is where the light started to dawn on me why I was so frustrated about never getting anywhere. As far as give and take, I have concluded that he does not listen to me or records my words in his brain for use later to beat me with. He ignores and devalues. As far as latching on, I saw a topic by a motivational speaker about ‘Why Smart people defend Bad ideas’. I can’t really figure out what my brother gets out of this dysfunction interaction other than it hurts and frustrates me.
My theory about him trying to kill me was from our early child hood. A story he told me that he piled dirty socks on my face when I was sleeping (age 3 or younger) like it was a joke, but now that I know his make up, at his age of 5 he could have thought it might suffocate me. The other incident I actually remember (again, age 3 or younger) he got me to the top of the teeter totter, then got off. I fell on my head. I think it is possible this was an attempt to get rid of me (he was the older sibling, and I invaded his pristine stellar life). At that point, I think my parents, particularly my spath father, frightened him out of further attempts. I believe he fear the consequences of eliminating me more than the benefit, because, as they say, the only thing a psychopath fears is a bigger psychopath. At this stage of life, I do not believe there is any danger of physical threats. He is across the country, but one never knows, possibly interfering in his marriage or family(sister in law is CPA bookkeeper for the business, so I have to work with her and sometimes that means maneuvering around the spaths influence and shadow.)
Your assertion that I might have a valid lawsuit it intriguing. It was set up as a corporation and we are co-officers. Some one said that fact that the business financial records are unavailable to me, but available to him might be actionable. The cost of doing this might exceed the value of the business and may not be worth it. At that point, going NC might be better. I don’t know. I was going to hire a lawyer that I went to school with just to explore what options there might be. He is across the country, but he is someone I would trust.
I may have to change my login name. Staring at that negativity is starting to wear on me.
Sistersister:
It is revealing to hear from someone who has a sibling spath. It is one thing when it is spouse or such, and I don’t mean to minimize that, but when it is family…..
I don’t think my brother and I fought much when we were young. My spath father would not tolerate it, it annoyed him. Other children seemed to fight more, but with spaths the fights can be worse as they are psychological attacks rather than a punch on the arm. My brother did sit on me quite a bit and he was 2.5 year older. He says he was always ‘playing’
My brothers biggest danger is that he so easily and fluently moves between the personable everybody loves me to the steely stare ‘you are challenging me so you must pay’. He does have lots of friends. Lots. But my sister in law says that he hardly ever socializes, so they are all work relationships.
It was interesting one time we were on the phone and he was at work (as was I, we both have jobs full time besides the business). He thought he had hung up, but he hadn’t, but I heard him say something derogatory or condescending about me to who ever he was talking to (I will assume it was his boss). Then he went on to say something pretty catty about someone else at the company. I have heard about how devious spaths can be at work. At the time, I knew nothing about spaths and that he was one, so it made an impression that I can only more fully evaluate now.
What do you mean your sister in not able to switch topics? Does she hammer a point until she can get you to give in? Can you elaborate?
Sistersister,
I don’t remember any incident like the one you mentioned about a family member dying and commenting ‘I had a bad day’ but my brother is obsessed with death and news of death. He is always telling me about a good friend of his he has known forever that just died and compares his health, age, lifestyle to the deceased’s. I think this is a martyr thing in some obfuscated way. As the author said in ‘the psychopath next door’ , they want pity above all. If you give them pity, they control you.
The one spathisode that I have thought about was when my father died and he and I and my stepmother were working out the funeral arrangements. My Stepmother didn’t want my father buried in the same cemetery as my mother (it is in an urban low income area.) My brother decided that we should exhume my mother and bury them both in the fancy cemetery. As white as my face got at this idea, I am surprised the embalmers at the mortuary did not grab me and try to pretty up my corpse. So my Dad and Mom are buried across town from each other.