Antisocial Personality Disorder
Summary
Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), like all personality disorders represents a stable, pervasive pattern
of behavior that is present for an individual’s entire life. In ASPD particularly, the pattern is primarily one
of a disregard for, and a violation of, the rights of others. This manifests itself in the individual
fundamentally not caring about the wants, needs, and desires of others. The result of this core belief
that others do not matter is behavior that typically leads to arrest for petty offenses like theft. Though
these crimes are not personality traits, the record that they create is reliable and traceable, making a
good diagnostic tool. Another similar diagnostic tool is the individual’s work and school record. ASPD
traits make listening to authority figures nearly impossible so most of these individuals have spotty
educational and work histories.
These behavioral markers are the outcame of several personality traits. One of these chief
characteristics is impulsiveness. Individuals with ASPD do not stop to carefully consider the
consequences of their activity, rather they simply do what they want for themselves in the moment. This
impulsivity can lead to reckless and dangerous activity both for their own safety and for the safety of
others. They may drive with excessive speed or push others near a traffic filled intersection. If they desire
the property of others and they can take it, they will. This same attitude that is used toward property is
used toward other people. They will lie or con others in order to fulfill their personal desires.
If the individual with ASPD is not able to meet their desires through theft or con, they will not stop trying
to fulfill their needs. They are prone to get very irritable and often get very aggressive towards others.
Fighting with others will likely be prevalent in their personal history. At the end of their theft,
maltreatment, and aggressiveness they will not feel sorry for their actions. They will either not care that
they have caused harm or rationalize the situation.
In order to qualify for the diagnosis three other criteria must be met:
1) The individual must be at least 18 years old. Individuals who are growing up and going through
puberty do not have the stable personality required to be diagnosed with a personality disorder.
2) There must also be proof in the developmental history that the individual had antisocial traits as
a child. This is demonstrated by fulfilling criteria for Conduct Disorder before age 15.
Diagnosticians want to know that the individual’s personality has been set. They would like to
know that the individual was like this before puberty and will be like this long after puberty
before diagnosing a personality disorder.
3) The antisocial behavior must not be exclusively during schizophrenia or a manic episode. The
behavior should not be because of an Axis I condition.
Psychopathy & Sociopathy
In the literature there is a much greater emphasis on studying psychopathy and sociopathy than there is
antisocial personality disorder. These three are related but are not identical. Antisocial personality
disorder is the only one of these three terms that exists in the DSM–IV-TR. Psychopathy is defined by
characteristics such as a lack of empathy and remorse, criminality, antisocial behavior, egocentricity,
Antisocial Personality Disorder
manipulativeness, irresponsibility and a parasitic lifestyle. It is commonly conceptualized that
psychopathy is a more severe form of ASPD and this thinking is reasonably accurate. Almost all
individuals who fulfill the requirements to receive the label of psychopathy fulfill the requirements for
ASPD but most of the individuals who fulfill the requirements of ASPD do not also get the label of
psychopath. The term sociopath is an attempt to demystify the term psychopath since many generalize
the term psycho in psychopath to apply to other terms like psychotic. Sociopathy is also an attempt by
some clinicians to explain the etiology of the condition as reflcted by early socialization experiences.
Secondary Classifications
One of the diagnostic challenges with any personality disorder is that there is typically significant
overlap between the personality disorders. This is due both to the diagnostic overlap in the definition of
each of the personality disorders and the fact that individuals typically display many different traits
throughout their lifetime. In order to get a better understanding of the common personality trait
overlaps, Theodore Miller created a series of 5 subtypes of ASPD:
▪ Coveteus—this type is purely made up of ASPD traits. This individual feels intentionally denied
and deprived and seeks to get the things s/he covets but gets little satisfaction from ownership.
▪ Nomadic—this type is ASPD with schizoid, schizotypal and avoidant features. This individual feels
cast aside and is typically a drifter and societal dropout. When this individual acts out it is against
that impulse.
▪ Malevolent—this type is a mix of ASPD with paranoid personality features. This individual is
typically more violent than the other personality disorder types. He expects betrayal and
