Antisocial Personality Disorder

How is it diagnosed?
1. They cannot be diagnosed until they are 18, but they will have been showing this pattern of behaviour since they were 15.
2. According to the DSM-IV TR, an individual can be diagnosed with APD if they show three of seven characteristics.
  1. Not following the norms and laws of society.
  2. Being deceitful by lying or conning others.
  3. Being impulsive and not planning ahead.
  4. Being irritable and aggressive, often involved in physical fights or assaults.
  5. Being careless about their own safety or the safety of others.
  6. Being irresponsible, failing to hold down a job or pay back money owed to others.
  7. Lacking remorse by being indifferent to, or finding reasons for, hurting, mistreating or stealing from others.
What is it?
1. APD is a condition where individuals ignore the rights of others and do not use socially acceptable behaviour. They do not abide by the law. They lie, steal and can beaggressive. They find it difficult to hold down a job and meet their responsibilities as a spouse or parent. They can have difficulty making or keeping friends, but they can also be witty and charming.
What causes it?
1. Biological causes
  1. Damage to the amygdala
    1. The amygdala learns from negative consequences to actions, and responds to sad and fearful facial expressions from others. We therefore learn to avoid actions that would cause distress to others. The amygdala is damaged in people with APD, so they do not learn to avoid behaviour that harms others. They are not affected by distress shown by their victims.
  2. Reduction in grey matter in the prefrontal cortex
    1. This has been associated with APD. The prefrontal cortex enables people to learn social and moral behaviour and to feel guilt. As people with APd have reduced grey matter in this area, they are less likely to behave morally or feel remorse for wrongdoing.
  3. Raine et al. (2000)
    1. Aim
      1. To support the theory that brain abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex cause APD.
    2. Method
      1. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to study 21 men with APD and 34 healthy men. They were all volunteers.
    3. Results
      1. Compared to the control group, the men with APd had an 11% reduction in prefrontal grey matter.
    4. Conclusion
      1. APd is caused by a reduction in the brain's grey matter.
    5. Evaluation
      1. This study supports the biological explanation that APd is caused by brain abnormalities.
      2. Only males were studies, so the results may not relate to women.
      3. All the participants were volunteers, so their findings may not be representative of everyone with APD.
      4. Behaviours linked to one brain area often result from a deficit elsewhere in the brain. The cause of APd may therefore be more complex that this study suggests.
2. Situational causes
  1. Socioeconomic factors, e.g. low family income and poor housing.
  2. Quality of life at home, e.g. poor parenting and abuse.
  3. Educational factors e.g. low school achievement and leaving school at an early age.
  4. Farrington (1995)
    1. Aim
      1. To investigate the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in males studied from childhood to the age of 50.
    2. Method
      1. A longitudinal study was carried out on the development of antisocial and offending behaviour of 411 males. They all lived in a deprived, inner-city area of London. They were first studied at the age of eight and were followed up until the age of fifty. Their parents and teachers were also interviewed. Searches were carried out at the Criminal Record Office to discover if they, or members of their family, had been convicted of a crime.
    3. Results
      1. 41% of the males were convicted of at least one offence between the ages of 10 and 50. The most important risk factors for offending were criminal behaviour in the family, low school achievement, poverty and poor parenting.
    4. Conclusion
      1. Situational factors lead to the development of antisocial behaviour.
    5. Evalutation
      1. This study was not a controlled experiment. Therefore, factors that were not considered could have affected the offending behaviour of the males studied. For example, biological factors were not investigated.
      2. The researchers in this study interviewed the males, their parents and teachers. When people are taking part in surveys they can give socially desirable answers.
  5. Elander et al. (2000)
    1. Aim
      1. To investigate the childhood risk factors that can be used t predict antisocial behaviour in adulthood.
    2. Method
      1. Researchers investigated 225 twins who were diagnosed with childhood disorders and interviewed them 10-25 years later.
    3. Results
      1. They found that childhood hyperactivity, conduct disorders,low !Q and reading problems were strong predictors of APD and criminality in adult life.
    4. Conclusion
      1. Disruptive behaviour in childhood can be used to predict APD in adulthood.
    5. Evaluation
      1. This study supports the view that childhood risk factors make some people more likely to develop APd than others.
      2. This study looked at twins. Therefore, genetics, rather that situational factors, may have affected their behaviour.
      3. The participants were asked to describe experiences from their childhood, which they may have remembered wrongly.

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Antisocial Personality Disorder

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	Created by Anna Pearse over 10 years ago