Antisocial Personality Disorder Health Article

Definition

Antisocial behavior is that which is verbally or physically harmful to other people, animals, or property, including behavior that severely violates social expectations for a given environment. Antisocial personality disorder in adults is also referred to as sociopathy or psychopathy.

Description

Antisocial behavior can be broken down into two components: the presence of antisocial (i.e., angry, aggressive, or disobedient) behavior and the absence of prosocial (i.e., communicative, affirming, or cooperative) behavior. Most children exhibit some antisocial behavior during their development, and different children demonstrate varying levels of prosocial and antisocial behavior. Some children—for example, the popular but rebellious child—may exhibit high levels of both antisocial and prosocial behaviors. Others—for example, the withdrawn, thoughtful child—may exhibit low levels of both types of behaviors.

High levels of antisocial behavior are considered a clinical disorder. Young children may exhibit hostility towards authority, and be diagnosed with oppositional-defiant disorder. Older children may lie, steal, or engage in violent behaviors, and be diagnosed with conduct disorder. A minority of children with conduct disorder whose behavior does not improve as they mature will go on to develop adult antisocial personality disorder.

A salient characteristic of antisocial children and adolescents is that they appear to have no feelings. They demonstrate no care for others' feelings or remorse for hurting others, and tend not to show their own feelings except for anger and hostility, and even these are communicated through aggressive acts and are not necessarily expressed through affect. One analysis of antisocial behavior is that it is a defense mechanism that helps children avoid painful feelings, or avoid the anxiety caused by lack of control over the environment.

Antisocial behavior may also be a direct attempt to alter the environment. Social learning theory suggests that negative behaviors are reinforced during childhood by parents, caregivers, or peers. In one formulation, a child's negative behavior (e.g., whining, hitting) initially serves to stop the parent from behaving in ways that are aversive to the child (the parent may be fighting with a partner, yelling at a sibling, or even crying). The child will apply the learned behavior at school, and a vicious cycle sets in: he or she is rejected, becomes angry and attempts to force his will or assert his pride, and is then further rejected by the very peers from whom he might learn more positive behaviors. As the child matures, "mutual avoidance" sets in with the parent(s), as each party avoids the negative behaviors of the other. Consequently, the child receives little care or supervision and, especially during adolescence, is free to join peers who have similarly learned antisocial means of expression.