Download Antisocial Personality Disorder

ANTISOCIAL
PERSONALITY
DISORDER
Valerie Llerenas
Psychology
Period #5
DEFINITION
• A personality disorder that involves disregard for the
rights of others as well as impulsive, irresponsible &
aggressive behavior.
• A person with a lack of regard for society’s moral or
legal standards.
ASSOCIATED FEATURES
 Thoughts, feelings & actions:
• Typically have no regard for right & wrong.
• They often violate the law & the rights of others, landing in frequent
trouble & conflict.
• They often lie, behave violently, & have drug & alcohol problems.
• Lack of guilt over hurting others.
• Aren’t able to fulfill responsibilities that have to do with work, family
& school.
DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA
 A. There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of
others occurring since age 15, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
• failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as
indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
• deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others
for personal profit or pleasure
• impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
• irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or
assaults
CONT.
• reckless disregard for safety of self or others
• consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to
sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
• lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or
rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.
 B. The individual is at least age 18 years old.
 C. There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15.
 D. The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the
course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.
ETIOLOGY
 The exact cause for the disorder is not known but is most of the time
one of the following:
• Nature:
• They probably inherited tendencies & it is in their genes.
• Biological factors such as abnormal chemistry in the nervous
system & parts of the brain.
• Nurture:
• Or they got it from their environment & life situations such
as troubled children who have problems at home.
PREVALENCE
 This disorder is most common in males whose lack of conscience
is low before age 15.
 In a general population 3% of males & 1% of females have an
Antisocial Personality Disorder.
 About 80-85% of incarcerated criminals have it.
TREATMENT
 Studies have shown that it is very difficult to treat because people with
it may not even want or think that they need any type of treatment.
 Long term one on one therapy might work but getting the patient to
stick to it is difficult.
 Treatment for depression & anxiety may be needed to be given to
these patients. To treat the symptoms.
 People with the disorder don’t seek treatment because they see the
world as having a problem not themselves.
PROGNOSIS
 The future of most of the people with the disorder is very sad and scary
because most of the time no treatment is given which result in incarceration and
no improvement.
 People with the disorder do not show a lot of progress being made & if there
is progress it takes a longtime because of two factors:
• The disorder is characterized by a failure to confirm to society’s norms & if not
they are incarcerated.
• It is very common for there to be a lack of insight into the disorder.
REFERENCES
 Antisocial Personality Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2011, from Internet Mental
Health website: http:// www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe04.html
 Halgin, R.P., &Whitbourne,S.K. Copyright(2005).Abnormal Psychology:Clinical
perspectives on psychological disorders. New York, NY: McGrawttill
 Personality Disorder. (n.d.). Antisocial Personality Disorder. AllPsych ONLINE
website :http:// allpsych .com/ disorders/ personality antisocial.html
 Rais, T. B. (2008, November 8). Antisocial Personality Disorder. Retrieved May 2, 2011,
from NYU Langone Medical Center website: http://psych.
med.nyu.edu/conditions-we-treat/conditions/ antisocial-
personality-disorder
DISCUSSION QUESTION
 Do you think all incarcerated criminals should be diagnosed before
they enter jail? If they are diagnosed with an Antisocial Personality
Disorder should they still be sent to jail? What would be a good
alternative if there is any?