ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
Sociologyindex	Books - Antisocial Personality Disorder	Sociology Books 2008
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. A misunderstood disorder that affects up to seven million Americans. The 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 usually precededby serious and persistent conduct problems starting in earlychildhood, and so there is little difficulty in identifyingan at-risk group. Prototypical Analysis of Antisocial Personality Disorder A Study of Inmate Samples RICHARD ROGERS, University of North Texas RANDALL T. SALEKIN, Florida International University KENNETH W. SEWELL, University of North Texas KEITH R. CRUISE, University of North Texas The diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) remains controversial with its inclusion criteria substantially modified with each new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Given the continued nonconsensus about this disorder, prototypical analysis has been proposed as a method of establishing the core and most representative APD characteristics. Building on earlier prototypical research, the current study examined APD 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/dishonest relationships and impulsivity, aggressive behavior, and non-violent delinquency. A comparison of factor scores based on earlier research revealed that the salience of "manipulation and lack of guilt" for forensic experts was not shared by inmates. The implications of prototypical analysis for the conceptualization of APD are discussed. - cjb.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/234 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 established risk factors for substance use disorders in both the general population and among persons with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. Among clients with substance use disorders in the general population, CD and ASPD are associated with more severe problems and criminal justice involvement, but little research has examined their correlates in clients with dual disorders. To address this question, 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/ASPD, CD Only, Adult ASPD Only, and Full ASPD. Clients in the Adult ASPD Only group tended to have the most severe 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. However, clients with Full ASPD had the most criminal justice involvement, especially with respect to violent charges and convictions. The 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. - schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/32/4/626 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, Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178. For women, the temporal relationship between Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and alcoholism is unclear. Driving while intoxicated is both a symptom of ASPD and the alcohol-related problem most typically reported by women. Accordingly, a period prevalence sample of 33 women incarcerated for drunken driving offenses was assessed with the SCID to identify other symptoms of ASPD. 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 ASPD by having both a history of childhood conduct disorder and characteristic ASPD behaviors as adults. However, 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 ASPD 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 ASPD associated with substance abuse as a legitimate diagnosis manifested differently by women and men. - annalsnyas.org/cgi/content/abstract/708/1/49

Bad Boys, Bad Men: Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder (May, 2000)
by Donald W. Black, C. Lindon Larson (Contributor)
From Library Journal
Black (psychiatry, Univ. of Iowa Coll. of Medicine) claims that ample new evidence from genetics and neuroscience supports a biological cause for antisocial personality disorder (ASP), lending truth to the adage "some people are simply born bad." 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. But 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 ASP. Black emphasizes the fundamental need for a healthy moral conscience by analyzing a wide variety of case studies. An excellent companion title is Adrian Raine's The Psychology of Crime: Criminal Behavior as a Clinical Disorder (Academic, 1993). An eye opener suitable for all libraries.AChogollah Maroufi, California State Univ., Los Angeles
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Whether called black sheep, sociopaths, felons, con men, or misfits, some men break all the rules. They shirk everyday responsibilities, abuse drugs and alcohol, take up criminal careers, and lash out at family members. In the worst cases, they commit rape, murder, and other acts of extreme violence as though they lack a conscience. What makes these men--men we all know, whether as faces in the news or as people close to us--behave the way they do?
Bad Boys, Bad Men examines antisocial personality disorder or ASP, the mysterious mental condition that underlies this lifelong penchant for bad behavior. Psychiatrist and researcher Donald W. Black, MD, draws on case studies, scientific data, and current events to explore antisocial behavior and to chart the history, nature, and treatment of a misunderstood disorder that affects up to seven million Americans. Citing new evidence from genetics and neuroscience, Black argues that this condition is tied to biological causes and that some people are simply born bad. Bad Boys, Bad Men introduces us to people like Ernie, the quintessential juvenile delinquent who had an incestuous relationship with his mother and descended into crime and alcoholism; and John Wayne Gacy, the notorious serial killer whose lifelong pattern of misbehavior escalated to the rape and murder of more than 30 young men and boys. These compelling cases read like medical detective stories as Black tries to separate the lies these men tell from the facts of their lives.
Bad Boys, Bad Men not only describes the warning signs that predict which troubled children are more likely to become dangerous adults, but also details progress toward treatment for ASP. This volume will be an essential resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, criminologists, victims of crime, families of individuals afflicted with ASP, and anyone else interested in understanding antisocial behavior.

The Antisocial Personalities
by David T. Lykken

Personality and Dangerousness: Genealogies of Antisocial Personality Disorder
by David McCallum
Review
"...a valuable sociological history..." American Journal of Sociology
Tracing the history of the category of antisocial personality disorder, this study reveals its emergence is linked to particular kinds of governing, rather than simply to advances in the human sciences or a means of social control. David McCallum examines key legal and institutional developments in Australia, the U.K, and the U.S. as well as parallel developments within psychiatry and psychological medicine. Applying a social theoretical analysis to this material, he challenges our assumptions about the formation and control concepts of dangerousness and personality.
David McCallum is Associate Professor in Sociology at Victoria University in Melbourne. He is the author of The Social Productions of Merit (1990) and numerous chapters and articles on the history of human sciences and government.

Antisocial Behavior: Personality Disorders from Hostility to Homicide
by Benjamin B. Wolman
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
The rise in sociopathic behavior among adults and children is troublesome, and this title by a leading psychologist discusses the trends, incidence and treatment of sociopathic antisocial attitudes. This not only explains the problem, it draws important correlations between causes and solutions which include social as well as personal approaches.