Antisocial personality disorder or ASP is a personality disorder that involves disregard for the rights of others, as well as impulsive, irresponsible and aggressive behaviour. ASP is intimately connected to many of society's ills, including crime, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and even rape and murder. For men with severe ASP, life becomes an opportunity to break all social and moral rules without remorse.

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER - ASP

Antisocial personality disorder (ASP) is a personality disorder that involves disregard for the rights of others, as well as impulsive, irresponsible and aggressive behaviour.

Antisocial personality disorder is connected to many of society's ills, including crime, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and even rape and murder. For men with severe antisocial personality disorder, life becomes an opportunity to break all social and moral rules without remorse.

Antisocial personality disorder is a disorder that affects seven million Americans.

Predictive power of the childhood precursorsof antisocial personality disorder provides ample justificationfor early intervention.

Conduct problems are predictive of antisocial personality disorder independently of the associated adverse family andsocial factors.

Antisocial personality disorder is precededby serious and persistent conduct problems starting in earlychildhood, and so there is little difficulty in identifyingan at-risk group.

The diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) is controversial with its inclusion criteria substantially modified with every new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Prototypical analysis has been proposed as a method of establishing the core and most representative Antisocial personality disorder characteristics. The current study examined Antisocial personality disorder prototype with 448 inmates from three correctional institutions. Inmates differed from forensic experts on prototypical ratings in their emphasis on behavioral manifestations, especially aggressive and antisocial behavior. On a principal components analysis with a varimax rotation, three dimensions were observed: impaired or dishonest relationships and impulsivity, aggressive behavior, and non-violent delinquency. Comparison of factor scores based on past research revealed that the salience of "manipulation and lack of guilt" for forensic experts was not shared by inmates. Implications of prototypical analysis for the conceptualization of Antisocial personality disorder are discussed. - Prototypical Analysis of Antisocial Personality Disorder - A Study of Inmate Samples - RICHARD ROGERS, KENNETH W. SEWELL, KEITH R. CRUISE, University of North Texas, RANDALL T. SALEKIN, Florida International University.

Conduct Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder in Persons With Severe Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders - Kim T. Mueser, Anne G. Crocker, Linda B. Frisman, Robert E. Drake, Nancy H. Covell and Susan M. Essock
Conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are risk factors for substance use disorders in the general population and also among persons with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. Among clients with substance use disorders in the general population, CD and Antisocial personality disorder are associated with more severe problems and criminal justice involvement, but little research has examined their correlates in clients with dual disorders. We compared the demographic, substance abuse, clinical, homelessness, sexual risk, and criminal justice characteristics of 178 dual disorder clients living in 2 urban areas between 4 groups: No CD or ASPD, CD Only, Adult Antisocial personality disorder Only, and Full Antisocial personality disorder. Clients in the Adult Antisocial personality disorder Only group tended to have the most drug abuse severity, the most extensive homelessness, and the most lifetime sexual partners, followed by the Full ASPD group, compared with the other 2 groups. Clients with Full Antisocial personality disorder had the most criminal justice involvement, especially with respect to violent charges and convictions. Results suggest that a late-onset ASPD subtype may develop in clients with severe mental illness secondary to substance abuse, but that much criminal behavior in clients with dual disorders may be due to the early onset of the full ASPD syndrome in this population and not the effects of substance use disorders.

Components of antisocial personality disorder among women convicted for drunken driving
B. W. Lex, M. E. Goldberg, J. H. Mendelson, N. S. Lawler and T. Bower
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Harvard Medical School
For women, the temporal relationship between Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and alcoholism is unclear. Driving while intoxicated is both a symptom of Antisocial personality disorder and the alcohol-related problem most typically reported by women. A period prevalence sample of 33 women incarcerated for drunken driving offenses was assessed with the SCID to identify other symptoms of Antisocial personality disorder. Excluding behaviors that only occurred while drinking, only 1 of the 33 women met DSM-III-R criteria for ASPD. When behaviors while drinking were included, 18.2% (n = 7) met criteria for Antisocial personality disorder by having both a history of childhood conduct disorder and characteristic Antisocial personality disorder behaviors as adults. 57.6% of the sample displayed the pattern of adult behavioral symptoms without a history of childhood conduct disorder (n = 19). Women with a history of conduct disorder and Antisocial personality disorder had a younger mean age of onset of alcohol dependence (16.8 vs 25.6 years) and a higher rate of concurrent borderline personality disorder (85.7 vs 42.1%) than did women who had only adult symptoms of ASPD, but a similar rate of reported parental alcoholism (71.4 vs 72.2%). With one exception, women who were diagnosed with full ASPD with childhood conduct disorder (n = 6) had been truant and had run away from home, but none reported cruelty to animals, vandalism, or arson in childhood. Thus, behaviors diagnostic of ASPD were largely consequent to substance abuse, and childhood behaviors were limited predictors of ASPD. Relationships among gender, prodromal behaviors, and substance abuse appear more complex than anticipated, and they indicate the need to recognize adult onset Antisocial personality disorder associated with substance abuse as a legitimate diagnosis manifested differently by women and men.

Books On Antisocial Personality Disorder:

Bad Boys, Bad Men: Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder
by Donald W. Black, C. Lindon Larson (Contributor) - From Library Journal
Evidence from genetics and neuroscience supports a biological cause for antisocial personality disorder (ASP). Antisocial personality disorder is intimately connected to many of society's ills, including crime, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, rape and murder. For men with severe Antisocial personality disorder, life becomes an opportunity to break all social and moral rules without remorse. There are ways of detecting warning signs in troubled children, and there are procedures, various combinations of medication, psychotherapy, and social institutional interventions to prevent and treat Antisocial personality disorder.
Bad Boys, Bad Men describes the warning signs that predict which troubled children are more likely to become dangerous adults and also details progress toward treatment for Antisocial personality disorder.

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