Evil Doers or Evil Genes

Evil Doers or Evil Genes?

Antisocial personality disorder is a mental health condition in which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting, or violating the rights of others. This behavior is often criminal. Like all personality disorders, antisocial personality disorder is a deeply ingrained and enduring behavior pattern, manifesting as an inflexible response to a broad range of personal and social situations. This behavior represents an extreme or significant deviation from the way in which the average individual in a given culture relates to others. This behavior pattern tends to be stable. It may not cause subjective distress, but does cause problems in social performance. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder often are divorced, have alcohol/drug abuse, anxiety, depression, unemployment, homelessness, and criminal behavior. However, some individuals with this disorder rise to high positions of power in society by becoming masters of manipulation and deceit.
In childhood, these individuals usually have oppositional defiant disorder, towards parents and teachers which develops into conduct delinquency in adolescence. This delinquency takes the form of reckless thrill-seeking, physical violence towards people or animals, and law-breaking. Most adolescent delinquents grow out of this behavior as they enter adulthood. However, those that increase their delinquent behavior as they enter adulthood have their diagnosis changed from conduct disorder to antisocial personality disorder. In adulthood, these individuals become more antagonistic. They show an exaggerated sense of self-importance, insensitivity towards the feelings and needs of others, and callous exploitation of others. Their increased manipulativeness, callousness, deceitfulness, and hostility repeatedly puts them at odds with other people.
An individual diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder needs to meet the following criteria, Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.
Three percent of the population, or about 8,100,000 individuals in the United States have antisocial personality disorder. The National Comorbidity Survey, which used DSM-III-R criteria, found that 5.8% of males and 1.2% of females showed evidence of a lifetime risk for the disorder. Prevalence estimates within clinical settings have varied from 3% to 30%, depending on the predominant characteristics of the populations being sampled. About 3% of men and 1% of women in the population have this disorder. Although in later adulthood, the more outward and aggressive symptoms of ASPD may diminish and the person may not be involved in criminal activity, many of basic personality characteristics can remain, thereby affecting the individual’s role in society as well as all those who come in contact with him/her. The disorder tends to occur more often in men than in women, and in people whose predominant role model had antisocial features. The incidence of antisocial personality is higher in people who have an antisocial biological parent, parents with histories of drug and/or alcohol abuse and who physically and/or emotionally abused the individual during childhood. Abandonment may have been an issue for the person with ASPD
Antisocial personality disorder is probably caused by a combination of factors. Having any of these characteristics does not necessarily mean that a person has antisocial personality disorder. Influences from the environment can impact the onset of this disorder. A chaotic family life contributes to the development of this personality disorder, especially where there has been little supervision from parents or other adult role models. The disorder also may be more common where the community is not supportive or provides little reward for positive behavior. Genetic or biological factors. Researchers have found certain physiological responses that may occur more frequently in people with antisocial personality disorder. For example, they have a comparatively flat response to stress. They seem to get less anxious than the average person. Some researchers have found changes in the volume of brain structures that mediate violent behavior. People with this kind of brain function may thus have more difficulty restraining their impulses, which may account for the tendency toward more aggressive behavior. Neurobiologists cannot say with certainty that these variations in brain structure are a cause of antisocial personality. The variations could easily be the result of life experiences that are more common in people with this personality disorder rather than a cause.
The cause of this disorder is unknown however, genetics and environmental factors influence its development. I believe that personality makes each individual special and consists of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Personality is forged during childhood via the interplay of genetics and environmental factors. Problems with inherited genetics or the early environment, such as significant exposure to abuse and/or violence, make it more likely that a personality disorder such as ASPD will develop. Therefore, I believe in order to understand the cause of ASPD, both genetics and the environment need to be explored. Dr. Martha Stout, in her book, "The Sociopath Next Door," explains that a genetic predisposition for sociopath may already present at birth for some people. Determinations regarding how this increased risk for ASPD become expressed come from an individual's life experiences. We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people—one in twenty-five—has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt.
Sources:
http://psychology2.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/antisocial-personality-disorder-general-facts/
Antisocial: Health Center
Martha Stout, Ph.D., The Sociopath Next Door