Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Sociopath's Brain Essay example

Psychopathy as a mental disorder or construct, although not included in the presently valid classification systems, is gradually fascinating the experts and investigators involved in the field of mental health. Curiosity in psychopathy has mainly grown after the declaration of the new classification system DSM V in which psychopathy is mentioned as a clear diagnosis in the context of six new personality illnesses.

Psychopathy is an umbrella term that is both wide and varied. Much like the spectrum of light, there are numerous groups and subcategories. In this spectrum is Anti- Social Personality Disorder (referred to as ASPD in this essay); this condition unlike psychopathy is a recognized disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (referred to as the DSM). The term psychopathy and psychopath is used in both the media and everyday use as a disorder but this is untrue. Unlike a disorder, psychopathy is more of a series of traits that all individuals have. ASPD and psychopathy are used interchangeably in society, but the diagnosis for ASPD and psychopathy are quite different. Though similar in numerous ways, there are some key

In Chapter 4, we talked about mental disorders and how it was difficult for psychiatrists to figure out criteria that would help them decide which offenders are mentally ill, which is also known as psychopathy (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer 2013, pg. 103).  Hare & McPherson (1984) states that “crimes and behavior of psychopaths are more violent and aggressive than are those of other criminal”. We learned that it is difficult to get reasons that would help determine which offenders are mentally ill. Adler, Mueller, Laufer (2013) stated that, “Some psychologists consider psychopathy to be an artificial label for an antisocial personality" (pg. 104). As we learned many criminals are labeled and it seems interesting to see that psychopaths are very hard to label. In

     While there have been no outwardly successful treatments for Antisocial Personality Disorder, many of the disorders’ individuals never seek treatment alone, as they see no reason to conform to the rules of society with which they find no satisfaction. Instead, the individual will be prompted by his family or friends, or will be forced by a court system to seek treatment, and then will usually comply, and will consent to treatment. Much of the recent treatment for Antisocial Personality Disorder has been behavioral, and has not been based around biological or medicinal findings.

Psychopathy, in both the mental health and criminal justice systems, has emerged as one of the most important clinical constructs of the 21st century (Hare, Clark, Grann, & Thornton, 2000, p. 623). Where clinically, psychopathy is traditionally described as a combination of inferred socially deviant behaviors and personality traits. Some traits and behaviors a psychopath is seen to possess are commonly known, for example, to being impulsive, selfish, aggressive, lacking remorse, shame, feeling for others, pathologically lying, and having asocial or antisocial behaviors (Hare, & Neumann, 2006, p. 59-60). One of the reasons as to why psychopathy has come to see an increase in the development of its theoretical and applied interest is the

As defined by the American Psychiatric Association (2013), individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) exhibit “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. Individuals, both with and without ASPD, often find themselves facing stiff consequences when they break the law by violating the rights of others. The propensity of individuals with ASPD to break such laws is one possible explanation for the prevalence of ASPD increasing from a range of 0.2% to 3.3% in the general population to 47% in prisons (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Fazel & Danesh, 2002). With such a disparity between the general and prison prevalence of ASPD, it is clear that society is adroit in isolating the undesired behaviors of individuals with ASPD; however, society also has a responsibility to protect the rights of those diagnosed with a bonafide illness. If ASPD is the cause of an individual’s incarceration, then their successful reintegration into society relies on treating the underlying diagnosis, and in order to do that, it is important to understand the neurobiological foundations of ASPD.

Antisocial Personality Disorder is a serious disorder experienced by many men and women every day. Although those inflicted by the disorder can

Introduction The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the constructs of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. The aim is to highlight whether the terms psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder reflect the same construct or whether they differ. Furthermore, recommendations for treatment of criminal behavior will be explored. For the purposes of this evaluation some definitions need to be highlighted: Criminal offence is an act that breaks a law, which relates how to behave in society. The harm caused by the act is seen to be against society as a whole, not just a specific person. Sometimes it refers to the specific law that was broken (Herring, 2009). Crime is the breach of rules or law for which some authority

A person with Antisocial Personality Disorder usually tends to have no remorse for criminal or disorderly actions, may be deceitful, often lie, steal, and often violate rules that may result in arrest. People with Antisocial Personality Disorder may also have problems with irresponsibility with holding a job, having financial difficulties, properly caring for a child, or neglecting to keep up with child support.

Antisocial personality disorder is an important concept to understand when talking about mental illness and offenders, as according to a study in England on 1396 violent male offenders, they found that there was a prevalence rate of 73% for any personality disorder, and out of that percentage, 65% of the male offenders had antisocial personality disorder (Serin, Brown, Bennell, Forth, Nunes, and Pozzulo, 2010, p. 330). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), antisocial personality disorder is defined as having a “pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others”. In Farrington’s 2000 study, he wished to find the psychosocial predictors and risk factors in antisocial personality and adult convictions

Among the vast things studied in the field of psychology lies psychological disorders. These psychological disorders can simply be defined as psychological functions that can be unhealthy and even harmful to a person (Gerrig, 2005). And because this disorders can cause damage to a person it is important to understand them, both to aid a person in this situation or get the correct help if the victim is oneself. There is a vast number of psychological disorders, however this paper will focus in one that in itself can lead to lethal consequences if not treated, that is Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). This disorder can be reason for many of the problems faced in society today, which is why it is important to be aware of its existence, the symptoms and even the possible treatment.

Antisocial Personality Disorder, or APD, is a disorder in the dramatic/erratic cluster and these sorts of people are irresponsible, cold-hearted, and can often be criminals (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). The definition from DSM-5 states that APD is a pervasive pattern of disregard for the rights of others since the age of 15 and has at least three characteristics (Ann M, Johnson, Davidson, & Neale, 2016). Those characteristics are repeated law breaking, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability and aggressiveness, reckless regard for their own

Can antisocial personality disorder affect the life of a person with this diagnostic and their family members? In general, personality’s disorders affect the overall social functioning of a person, by eluding and eliminating any type of socialization; moreover, in the case of a chronic mental condition as an antisocial personality disorder the person with this diagnostic ways of thinking, perceiving situations and relating to others are negative and dysfunctional, affecting their positive and harmless interaction with others. Besides, those with antisocial personality disorder have the tendency to provoke, to manipulate, or to treat others bitterly or with complete indifference. They may have the tendency to broke the law, or get in frequent trouble, without any type of regret. Also, they probably have the tendency to give false testimonies, to be violent, to be impulsive, and to have the tendency for the use of drugs and alcohol. Finally, the combination of all the typically characteristics of a person with a diagnostic of antisocial personality disorder make this person unable to accomplish any type of task associated to family, work or school. The antisocial personality disorder diagnostic affect the overall life’s quality of a person and their family members, for these reasons is very important that everybody, including the affected person and family members, to recognize and understand the signs, symptoms, possible causes, treatments, and predisposition, of this

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior

Antisocial Personality Disorder is a Cluster B personality disorder characterized as a individual who has a pattern of disregard of others or the law, eventually becoming criminals. People who are diagnosed with antisocial personality typically are manipulative, lack remorse as well as fail to believe their actions caused any wrongdoing. Reasons for Diagnosis Criterion A. Disregard for and violation of others since age 15, as indicated by the seven sub features including: failure to obey laws or behaviors resulting in criminal arrest, manipulation, impulsive behavior, aggression towards others, disregards safety of self or others, a pattern of irresponsibility and lack of remorse for actions. In the case analysis, it is reported Tony has