About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

24 Behav. Sci. & L. 1 (2006)

handle is hein.journals/bsclw24 and id is 1 raw text is: 




Behavioral Sciences and the Law
Behav. Sci. Law 24: 1 20 (2006)
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/bsl.663



                       Comparing the Constructs of

                       Antisocial Personality Disorder

                       and Psychopathy in a Sample

                       of Incarcerated Women

                       Janet I. Warren, D.S.W.* and
                       Susan C. South, M.A.


                       Our study examines the relationship between Antisocial
                       Personality Disorder (APD) and psychopathy among a
                       sample of 137 female offenders. Drawing from a historical
                       review of the evolution of these two concepts, we explore
                       their differential relationship to patterns of criminal be-
                       havior, psychological adjustment, co-morbidity with other
                       personality disorders, victimization, and institutional ad-
                       justment. Findings suggest that the two disorders share a
                       common foundation of social norm violations and decep-
                       tion; however, APD is associated with impulsive, aggres-
                       sive, and irresponsible behavior, higher rates of childhood
                       abuse, and greater co-morbidity with Cluster A PDs, while
                       psychopathy is better characterized by higher rates of
                       property crimes, previous incarceration, and the manifes-
                       tation of remorselessness. Results contribute to a further
                       understanding of the etiology and phenomenology of these
                       two disorders and suggest different types of treatment and
                       intervention. Copyright 0 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.



                           INTRODUCTION

For the past 200 years, the medical community and the courts, independently and at
times in unison, have sought to understand the behavior of certain individuals who
seem to be incorrigibly involved in behavior that is unlawful and causes harm to
others. Efforts to understand this type of behavior emerged initially in the context of
Morel's (1857) theory of degeneration, which attributed all forms of mental illness
to the biological expression of man's fall from grace and the states of aberration that

*Correspondence to: Janet I. Warren, D.S.W., Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, P.O. Box
800660, UVA Health Systems, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0660, U.S.A. E-mail: jiwTvirginia.edu
This research was funded by grant no. 98-CE-VX-0027 by the National Institute of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, to the University of Virginia. Points of view expressed in
this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the
U.S. Department of Justice.
Contract/grant sponsor: National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of
Justice; contract/grant number: 98-CE-VX-0027.


Copyright 0 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most