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Antisocial Personality Behavior Essay

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Antisocial Personality Behavior
When we define abnormal behavior we must keep in mind that “normal” differs from culture to culture. What it is normal for a person from India is completely strange for a person from Europe, Colombia or Japan. To determine whether a person’s behavior is abnormal psychologist use three basic criteria as follows: Deviation from statistical norms and social norms, maladaptive behavior, and personal distress. If the individual’s behavior is considered “abnormal”, mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as a methodical tool to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient. This paper will focus on the exploration of personality disorder and more …show more content…

Axis ? refers to the description of symptoms that causes significant impairment. Axis II defines long-term problems that are unnoticed in the presence of Axis I disorders. Personality disorders can have a deep effect on how a patient relates to the world, for example antisocial personality disorder. Axis III offers information about any medical conditions that could be present. Axis IV describes the psychosocial and environmental factors influencing the person. Axis V allows the clinician to rate the client's overall level of functioning. It uses a rating scale called the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). This rating scale goes from 0 to 100 and provides a way to summarize how well the person is functioning overall.
The movie Girl interrupted gives an insight of a group of girls in a mental institution. In this paper I will describe Lisa Rowe, who is one of the patients of this institution, her behavior, and diagnoses. Lisa Rowe, played by Angelina Jolie, was diagnosed as a sociopath with falls under the category of antisocial personality disorder. According to the DSM-IV-TR (2000) antisocial personality disorder is a pattern of disregard for and violation of rights of others. People with antisocial personality disorder, fail to conform to social standards with respect to lawful behavior, they tend to lie frequently, perform actions that are grounds for arrest such as destruction of property, harassing others, stealing

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