Antisocial Personality Disorder Essay

Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Psychological Curiosity A personality disorder is a dysfunction in an individual’s social behavior. Examples include, but are not limited to, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, and Schizoid Personality Disorder. One of the most dangerous known personality disorders is Antisocial Personality Disorder. According to one website, Antisocial Personality Disorder is, “a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse, [shallowness], glibness, manipulation, and callousness.” An individual with Antisocial Personality Disorder does not experience empathy. This means that they do not feel what others feel, and have difficulty relating to other people. Other traits
The loved ones of someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder often feel unsatisfied with the emotional connection that they have with the individual due to the lack of emotional availability (Lykken). When trying to identify the presence of this disorder in someone, a tool known as the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is used. This tool was designed by Dr. Robert Hare, a prominent researcher in the field of criminal psychology. An author known as Joan Esherick states that criminal psychologists, “study the minds and behaviors of criminals and others associated with crime in order to understand how and why they operate the way they do and to identify certain patterns of behavior.” (Esherick 15). The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised measures psychopathic tendencies by assigning a number to each trait being tested; a number of zero is assigned if the individual does not display behaviour associated with the trait, a number of one is assigned if the individual exhibits signs of the trait to an extent, and a number of two is assigned if the trait is prevalent in the individual. Based on the sum of the given numbers, the person receives a
They do not regret their crimes and are often unresponsive to rehabilitation. This makes them more likely to reoffend. Psychopaths and sociopaths usually differ in their style of committing crimes. As a result of psychopaths having a more cool and calm nature, their crimes are normally well thought out, leaving little evidence. Sociopaths, on the other hand, tend to commit crimes spontaneously, with evidence often being left behind. A common misunderstanding is that everyone with Antisocial Personality Disorder becomes a criminal. In truth, many people with this disorder can lead crime-free