Antisocial Personality Disorders and Criminal Behavior

Antisocial personality disorder is a disregard for others rights and violating theses rights. This disorder starts as a child to people who carry this disorder portray the characteristics of irritability, aggressiveness, lack of remorse, and irresponsibility. A psychopath falls under the umbrella of antisocial personality disorders. A psychopath is a person with a personality disorders which is inherited from their parents at birth. Flashes of these inherited factors show and happen in the child upbringing this includes torture animals at a young age, playing weird dark games as a kid, or ripping heads of toys. A perfect example of a Psychopath is Edmund Kemper. A man who showed his psychopath tendencies at a young age that grew into to him becoming a serial killer.

This article tries to sum up the causes of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Though, researchers have not found an exact cause of Antisocial Personality Disorder (Martens, 2000). Antisocial Personality Disorder is known to be directed toward specific behaviors and criminal act instead of looking at personality traits and psychopathological aspects (Martens, 2000). People that develop Antisocial Personality Disorder are more likely to suffer from substance abuse disorder, anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia (Martens, 2000). Researchers have done different studies especially with brain injuries, which could trigger

This report will describe the symptoms, suspected causes, diagnosis process, treatment, and prevention of antisocial personality disorder.

     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.

Antisocial Personality Disorder is a very rare disorder. The criteria to be diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder has been changed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders throughout many years. The rareness of this disorder can be considered beneficial in the world because of the way people diagnosed with it become and what they do to others. Many people diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder find their self in prison. A variety of causes pertain to this disorder. Very few treatments of this disorder seem to work of this that has been tested. Researchers are still working on a better way to treat this disorder. The defense mechanisms associated with antisocial personality disorder are quite common and the same during the course of diagnosis.

Antisocial personality disorder is typically categorized by a disregard for and a violation of others rights. However, there has been an ongoing debate over the cause of the disorder. Psychologists have studied how both nature and nurture have played roles in how an individual develops antisocial personality disorder. For instance, many researchers have noted that nurture may play a role in the cause of the disorder, citing that neglect, harsher parenting, and greater neighborhood deprivation predicted antisocial behavior (Luntz, B. K., & Widom, C. S., 1994; Shaw, Hyde, and Brennan, 2012). Similarly, parenting and maternal depression have been signs of antisocial behaviors (Shaw et al., 2012). While other studies have focused on the biological nature of the disorder. For instance, antisocial personality disorder has been linked to variation in the frontal lobe functioning (Deckel, Hesselbrock, and Bauer, 1996), a reduction in prefrontal grey matter (Raine, A., Lencz, T., Bihrle, S., LaCasse, L., & Colletti, P., 2000). Although the literature appears to be divided between environmental and biological precursors for antisocial personality disorder, more current research has begun to examine how nature and nurture are contingent factors of antisocial personality disorder. Rather than either nature or nurture affects the development of antisocial personality disorder, it is possible that the two interact.

Answer: Antisocial Personality Disorder (King, 2016); psychological disorder with the individual possibly having psychopathic tendencies

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder frequently commit illegal acts like destroying property, stealing, and harassing others. They often employ manipulation and deceit to obtain profit or pleasure. The criterion of impulsivity is often seen in a lack of planning. In other words, these individuals live in the present, not thinking about the past or future. This is often seen in numerous and sudden job changes, homes, or significant others. They tend to repeatedly fight with others and commit physical assault. A reckless disregard for one’s safety and that of others is often shown by unsafe driving behavior like drunk driving, drug abuse, or high risk sex. Those diagnosed are irresponsible. For example, it is not uncommon to see erratic work history, large gaps in employment (even when employment was readily available), departing a job with no plan to get another, and repeated unexcused absences

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), opposition defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD) are three distinct disorders based upon their respective diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5. If ODD and CD were mild forms of ASPD, then there would need to be causal relationship between the childhood manifestations of ODD and CD and the adult manifestation of ASPD. There is evidence of comorbidity between ODD and CD, and also evidence to suggest that children diagnosed with these disorders may go on to develop ASPD later in life; however, correlation does not equal causation. The three disorders have subtle but important differences in their associated behaviors, underlying causes, treatment outcomes, and neurological signs.

Furthermore, psychopathy was considered during the twentieth century, the most widely used term to describe antisocial behavior (Reed, 1996). In the 1980s, the committee who devised the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for the American Psychiatric Association recommended the term antisocial personality syndrome to be changed to antisocial personality disorder (Ellis & Walsh, 2000). Antisocial Personality Disorder Hare & McPherson (1984), were successful in pushing the idea that there is a significant correspondence between violent and persistent delinquent and criminal histories and antisocial personality disorder diagnosis. Acute persistent child conduct disorder behavior symptoms, also known as conduct disorder, have been directly linked to serious criminality and antisocial personality disorder (Ellis & Walsh, 2000). Although criminality and antisocial personality disorder ought not be equated, they should be seen as closely linked behavioral phenomena (Ellis & Walsh, 2000). Vitella (1996) believes that individuals with childhood conduct disorder have a higher than normal probability of being both criminal and diagnosed antisocial personality disorder in adolescence and adulthood, and persons with serious criminal records have a higher probability of being diagnosed psychopathic than those with little or no criminal history. Nevertheless, Ellis & Walsh (2000) in caution pointed out that these

This paper explores articles and information that describe, assess and offer theories and treatments regarding antisocial personality disorder.

Antisocial personality disorders are immense, and psychopaths and sociopaths are just two of the various personality disorders. An antisocial personality disorders is defined as, “a type of chronic mental condition in which a person's ways of thinking, perceiving situations and relating to others are dysfunctional — and destructive.” (Mayo Clinic Staff). Sociopaths are a direct correlation to antisocial personality

The issue of antisocial personality disorders has joined the study of criminology and psychology together to provide an accurate depiction of this disorder. Psychologists believe that individuals who suffer from antisocial personality disorders are more susceptible to commit criminal activity than the general population. Those who suffer from antisocial personality disorder or APD tend to lack self control, culpability, and generally show no signs of remorse for their actions no matter how heinous. “Individuals with antisocial personality disorder APD have reduced impulse control, lack of empathy and guilt, and show few signs of remorse (Wahlund, 2006 pg.1082). These individuals do suffer from a personality disorder however; they are still able to comprehend the mindset of others and generally are used to influence others to accomplish their own agenda.

Imagine waking up in the morning, believing that one has the right to do what he wants and take what he can, from whomever and wherever. The day will be filled with callous, deceitful, violent, reckless and endangering acts to which one is immune to the pain others may suffer (Antisocial personality part 1, 2000). This is how a person with anti-social personality disorder behaves daily. In this paper, the topic of Anti-social personality disorder, its definitions, causes, symptoms, and treatments will be discussed.

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for higher mental functions such as personality, attention, arousal, behaviour control etc., as well as being closely linked with structures involved in emotion and memory development (e.g. the amygdala). Damage to the PFC may disrupt normal behaviour functioning and cause some individuals to engage in negative, antisocial behaviours, or even have an extremely negative personality change. However, arguments suggest the behaviour may be a result of poor childhood upbringing with negative social surroundings.