About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

5 Legal & Criminological Psych. 1 (2000)

handle is hein.journals/legadclpy5 and id is 1 raw text is: Legal and Criminological Psychology (2000), 5, 1-21 Printed in Great Britain 1 © 2000 The British Psychological Society Treatment or incapacitation? Implications of research on personality disorders for the management of dangerous offenders Ronald Blackburn* University of Liverpool, UK Research on personality disorders and their treatment is examined in the light of recent proposals for dealing with offenders who have 'severe personality dis- orders'. Problems in the classification and diagnosis of personality disorders are highlighted by the extensive comorbidity found between personality disorders and between these and other mental disorders. This reveals that those identified as antisocial or psychopathic are heterogeneous and are likely to have multiple psychological dysfunctions. This is not captured by the term 'severe personality disorder', and this term has too many differing meanings to be useful. Although applied to only a limited range of personality disorders, treatment of these disorders in mental health settings has successfully reduced impairment and demonstrated personality change. It is concluded that personality disorders among serious offenders are a health care problem and that attempts to develop the more promising treatment methods in existing settings are justified. Personality is coming back into fashion in applied psychology. For a few practitioners it never disappeared, but recent inclusions of articles on personality disorder in behaviour therapy journals (e.g. Arntz, 1999) suggest the beginnings of a seismic shift! Developments in psychology certainly justify attention to personality. For example, longitudinal research demonstrates that personality is a persistent risk factor for psychopathology (Krueger, Caspi, Moffitt, Silva, & McGee, 1996), and Mischel, still cited by behaviourists as having sounded the death knell of personality psychology, now accommodates both traits and situational variation in social cognitive theory (Mischel & Shoda, 1995). However, renewed interest in personality among clinicians has been particularly apparent since the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) classified personality disorders separately on Axis II to distinguish them from the traditional mental disorders or clinical syndromes of Axis I. Interest in personality disorders (PDs) has also increased among practitioners and policy-makers in the criminal justice system, but this interest continues to *Requests for reprints should be addressed to Professor Ronald Blackburn, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool, The Whelan Building, Quadrangle, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK (e-mail: ronb@liverpool.ac.uk).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most