Causes Of Childhood Psychopathy

Conduct Disorder The DSM-5 criteria for conduct disorder is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in the past 12 months that violates basic rights of others and major-age appropriate societal norms. The behavior disturbance must cause significant impairment and must include at least of the four specific types of violations. The specific types of violations are aggression to other people or animals; destruction of property; deceitfulness or theft; and serious violations of rules (Personality Disorders, 2015).

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior

Many children can grow out of, or learn to control, conduct disorder. Conduct disorder and psychopathy have a lot in common, so doctors diagnosing children with psychopathy could get these two easily confused. Anna Maxted wrote an article that goes along the lines of jennifer Kahn’s article. Maxted, in her article, starts off by writing, “But while nearly all youngsters have aggressive moments, for the vast majority - … - those moments pass and five minutes later they’re demonstrating their sweet, kind natures by giving you a spontaneous hug or sneaking the cat a kitty treat,” (Maxted). She is simply demonstrating that all

TED Talk stated that the greatest risk factors for children who are identified as having conduct problems are that they will end up in prison. 1 in 5 children that are diagnosed with conduct disorder from ages 5 to 6 years of age will cost over $1 million dollars. The book stated that they are often aggressive and psychological cruel to people. They will destroy people’s property, steal, skip school, and many more bad things if you treat it later it will be more difficult. Schools does use some of the strategies and resources that are recommended by The Virtues Project, because it helps to understand the how they should talk to children. I think that families and teachers do not integrate some strategies because sometimes it does not work,

Psychopathy, in both the mental health and criminal justice systems, has emerged as one of the most important clinical constructs of the 21st century (Hare, Clark, Grann, & Thornton, 2000, p. 623). Where clinically, psychopathy is traditionally described as a combination of inferred socially deviant behaviors and personality traits. Some traits and behaviors a psychopath is seen to possess are commonly known, for example, to being impulsive, selfish, aggressive, lacking remorse, shame, feeling for others, pathologically lying, and having asocial or antisocial behaviors (Hare, & Neumann, 2006, p. 59-60). One of the reasons as to why psychopathy has come to see an increase in the development of its theoretical and applied interest is the

One of the most complex and ambiguous concepts in psychology is that of psychopathy and how it relates to personality disorders. The term “psychopathy” was first introduced in the nineteenth-century, and its definition has been evolving ever since (Swart, 2016). Consistently accepted is Cleckley’s assertion that “the main characteristic of a psychopathic person is that he is able to outwardly mimics a normally functioning person…to achieve his self-centered goals in a repeated and purposeful way that is often destructive to himself and others” (Swart, 2016). Despite the term’s popularity, psychopathy is not an accepted diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. ; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association

Review of literature indicates that there have been, and still are sociopathic children who kill, and commit sadistic crimes in this world. Is it possible that such young people can develop sociopathic traits? This paper intends to prove so. Sociopathic children display certain archetypes that can either be taken as a warning, or something to go off of when getting the child help. Children who develop sociopathic traits at a young age can most likely be treated with the help of psychologists, and constant encouragement from parents. However, some children do not take to the treatment and do not feel empathy, or remorse to those around them. If these children are not treated for their behavior, problems are more than likely to

Diagnosis. Many times conduct disorder is first diagnosed when somebody, often a child in school, comes to the attention of the authorities (law enforcement, family Doctor, and others) most often due to their behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The child may then be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist for assessment and diagnosis. Usually there is no specific test administered, instead, the person would need to meet the criteria listed in the DSM-5. Often there is a history of acting out in school, home, neighborhood, or other social setting. The child may be enrolled in a court-ordered treatment program if they have come to the attention of the police and if a crime has occurred.

The concept of psychopathy originated in the 1800s to describe individuals that consistently failed to conform to societal norms and exhibited antisocial behavior that did not fit the concept of mental illness of the time period. While, psychopathy was a common term used to describe individuals suffering from this disorder other descriptions were coined such as “Pinel’s term “manie sans delvie” meaning mania without delirium in the 1700s, to describe patents whose ‘affective faculties were disordered’” or Pritchard’s term “moral insanity” (Ogloff 520). In the 1930’s Partridge argued that psychopathy was a social rather than a mental disorder and proposed that the concept of sociopathy be introduced as a more accurate description. The American Psychological Association adopted Partridge’s term for their Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel in 1952. However, in 1968 the American Psychological Association changed the diagnostic label from sociopath to “personality disorder, antisocial” for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel – II that continued through to the DSM - III in 1980 and the DSM - III-R in 1987 and the DSM - IV in 1994. Today the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel categorizes antisocial personality disorder as a personality disorder and it is named as such. Unfortunately, not much research has been conducted

In order for someone to be diagnosed with Conduct Disorder, they must meet all the criteria A through C, and Criteria A clearly states that a client must have experience 3 of the 15 statements listed in the DSM-V, within the last 12 months. The behaviors include aggression toward people and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness and stealing, and other serious violations of rules. Eddies actions do not fit into this criteria since he is not aggressive or bullying classmates or friends, and although his parents have stated that he “demolished” the kitchen or living room, it is clear he is not violent or prone to lying and stealing. The only blatant disregard for rules that could be considered dangerous was when Eddie ran out of the house and wandered into the street until someone returned him home. However, that occurred when he was four years old, not in the last 12 months. Eddie does not fit into Criteria A due to a lack of violent nature. Criteria B states that the individuals behaviors cause a significant impairment in social, academic or occupational functioning, however, since Eddies behaviors do not fit into Criteria A, this does not apply. Lastly, Criteria C states that if the client is 18 years or older, they do not meet the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, which also doesn’t apply to Eddie. It is clear after looking through all Criteria A-C, Eddie does not have conduct disorder.

According to Seligman and Reichenberg (2014), “therapists should have a solid understanding of the multiple casual factors that lead to the development of…disorder” (p.78). As discussed previously, therapists need to consider a child’s past traumatic experiences before moving into treatment. With the knowledge of a child’s early attachment trauma, family dynamics, and attachment style the therapist is better able to meet the child where they are at. It is also recommended that therapists working with children with conduct disorder related symptomology may be “called on to develop behavioral strategies for changing negative behaviors and provide training in social skills and problem solving. Therefore knowledge of behavior therapies, family therapy, and psychoeducation is needed” (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014, p.79). In this excerpt, it seems that the therapist needs to be flexible to meet the needs of the child within a personal, family, social, and school-based setting. It also appears that working both within and in-between these domains of functioning are vital for positive therapeutic growth. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is also supported in research conducted by Copping et al. (2001) where this mode of therapy has been found to reduce conduct disorder related symptomology and overall social relations with peers. Within this framework, it is recommended that “therapists should not engage in win-lose battles, should not trust the adolescents’ portrayal of their own

Furthermore, psychopathy was considered during the twentieth century, the most widely used term to describe antisocial behavior (Reed, 1996). In the 1980s, the committee who devised the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for the American Psychiatric Association recommended the term antisocial personality syndrome to be changed to antisocial personality disorder (Ellis & Walsh, 2000). Antisocial Personality Disorder Hare & McPherson (1984), were successful in pushing the idea that there is a significant correspondence between violent and persistent delinquent and criminal histories and antisocial personality disorder diagnosis. Acute persistent child conduct disorder behavior symptoms, also known as conduct disorder, have been directly linked to serious criminality and antisocial personality disorder (Ellis & Walsh, 2000). Although criminality and antisocial personality disorder ought not be equated, they should be seen as closely linked behavioral phenomena (Ellis & Walsh, 2000). Vitella (1996) believes that individuals with childhood conduct disorder have a higher than normal probability of being both criminal and diagnosed antisocial personality disorder in adolescence and adulthood, and persons with serious criminal records have a higher probability of being diagnosed psychopathic than those with little or no criminal history. Nevertheless, Ellis & Walsh (2000) in caution pointed out that these

Disruptive Behavior Disorders. Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) form a cluster of childhood disorders considered to be “disruptive behavior disorders” (American Psychiatric Association, 2004). Although most violent adolescents have more than one mental disorder and they may have internalizing disorders, for example depression or substance abuse, there appear to be increasingly higher rates of physical aggression found in these adolescents who experience disruptive behavior disorders than for those with other mental disorders. The fact that violent juvenile offenders are more likely to have these diagnoses is not surprising, because impulsive and/or aggressive behaviors are part of their diagnostic criteria. Additionally, there is relatively high co-morbidity with substance abuse disorders, which are also associated with juvenile violence (Moeller, 2001). Individuals with conduct disorder have the following features but this list is not inclusive for example they may have little empathy and little concern for the feelings, wishes, and wellbeing of others, respond with aggression, may be callous and lack appropriate feelings of guilt re remorse, self-esteem may be low despite a projected

The sample for this study was a longitudinal study of 177boys. These boys were gathered having disruptive behavior disorders. The participants were 7 to 12 years of age. The sample was composed of white(70%) and african-americans(30%). The procedures for this experiment were to conduct an annual assessment between 1987 and 1994. It was conducted with the boy and his parents. The test given to the participants in the interviews was a parallel version of the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children(DISC.) The test was also modified to include all DSM III-R symptoms. The diagnostic procedure used 2 clinicians who independently reviewed reports of the participants symptoms. Through this study it yielded that 24.4% had ADHD, 36.6%had ODD, 12.2% had OAD, 12.2% had MDE, 10.5% had SAD, 4.1% had DYS, 2.9%, had ENU, and 1.2% had ENC. These disorders were recorded after and during the 7 year period.

Conduct disorder is the primary identifying risk factor in childhood that may be recognized as an early sign preceding the eventual development of antisocial personality disorder in adulthood (Holmes, Slaughter, & Kashani, 2001). Antisocial personality disorder possesses an array of proposed origins which include but are not limited to domestic, genetic, prenatal, and educational factors (Holmes, Slaughter, & Kashani, 2001; Farrington, 2005). Early detection and intercession are preventative measure that can be taken to dissolve the progression of conduct disorder in at risk individuals and dissolve the development of antisocial personality disorder in affected individuals (Holmes, Slaughter, & Kashani, 2001). The prognosis for individuals with antisocial personality disorder, or ASPD/APD, who receive treatment, ideally, is decreased repetitive criminal behavior and reduction of antisocial behavior (Hatchett, 2015).