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Diagnosing Charles Manson

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Diagnosing Charles Manson
Brianna M. Petrosky
Harrisburg Area Community College

Diagnosing Charles Manson Born into a life of poverty, despair, and recklessness, Charles Manson did not have the greatest upbringing. His mother was a sixteen year old prostitute who was unsure of who was Charles’ father. He did not have a father figure in his life whatsoever. His mother was an alcoholic all his life who never sought treatment for herself. Alcoholism has been deemed a “family disease” for a reason…because those dealing with family members who are alcoholics tend to have harsh emotional problems. This can lead to destructive behavior throughout a person’s life, especially if neglected as a child. This was Charlie’s …show more content…

This is when a person has “delusions of inflated power or worth,” such as when Manson thinks he is God to his cult. Because of the information and research I have thus far, I could definitely associate Charles Manson with yet another diagnosis of a mental disorder. Using the DSM again, it shows that the diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder is met by Manson. The symptoms of this disorder are those such as failure to conform to social norms, conning others, impulsivity, aggressiveness, recklessness, irresponsibility, and lack of remorse. All of these can basically be made into adjectives that describe Manson perfectly. He never conformed to the “norms” of society because he was always an outcast. He partook in abnormal behaviors. As mentioned previously, he conned a woman out of $700, so conning people is another criteria met for this disorder. While in prison, Manson would regularly attack prison guards and other prisoners so aggression is met as well. He was obviously reckless and irresponsible considering he was a murderer. When interviewed about his murders he showed no signs of remorse and even laughed inappropriately. These are all symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder. The other criteria for this disorder is that one must have been acting in such manner since age of fifteen, at least be eighteen at time of diagnosis, and these symptoms must be present at all times, not just in schizophrenic episodes (4th ed., text

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