Personality Disorder Articles

• Violence & Alternate Realities
• Personalities Predisposed to Violence
• Mental Illness & Violence
• Psychopathy & Violence
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Different Types Of Anger
• Criminal Personalities
• Narcissistic Rage
• Sadists And Psychopaths
• The Mad, The Bad, And The Sad
• Different Types of Narcissism
• The Dark Triad

All Forensic Psychology Articles

About Personality Disorders & Violent Offending

Personality Disorders, is a consistent pattern of behaviors and thought processes that differ from the cultural norm e.g., most people have at some point in their lives probably behaved in an uncaring, unsympathetic, and self-centered manner, but this does not make them a psychopath etc. Individuals with Psychopathy, consistently show a lack of remorse, sympathy, guilt etc., and are impulsive and irresponsible etc. These behaviors and attitudes are not shared by the majority of people and don’t represent societal norms and values. This is what defines a personality disorder. Personality Disorders are a type of mental illnesses but are often distinguished from being categorized as mental illness, as there is a degree of sanity which accompanies them. In fact, Phillipe Pinel (credited with being the father of modern psychiatry), identified what we now recognize as Psychopathy, referring to it as “Manie sans Delire” or, “Insanity without Delirium”. From a legal perspective, individuals with personality disorders such as Psychopathy, are not deemed insane (and cannot use insanity as a defense), as they understand the consequences of their actions and behavior and were conscious of the offenses they committed. However, the historical distinction of regarding personality disorders as distinct to mental illnesses (where an individual has little understanding and comprehension about the results of their actions and is unable to take responsibility for them) is starting to be undone, as clinical and genetic evidence and research has started to see them as one and the same.

There are two personality disorders that are largely associated with acts of violence. These are Psychopathy and Borderline Personality Disorder. It is important to note that the majority of individuals who have been diagnosed with both or either disorder, don’t act violently, however a relatively large percentage when compared with other personality disorders do – especially when both disorders are present i.e., comorbid. Because of the association of serious violent acts with individuals who had both disorders the UK government created – against the opinions of the majority of academics and Forensic Psychologists – in 1999, created a “new” disorder called “Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder” (DSPD) that encompassed both existing disorders. This was largely a response to the public outcry concerning the murder of Lin Russell and her daughter Meghan by Michael Stone, who had been previously diagnosed as having both Psychopathy and Borderline Personality Disorder. In turn this lead to the 2007 Mental Health Act which allowed the authorities t o detain individuals with DSPD, if there was evidence that they might commit a violent act e.g., Michael Stone had threatened to kill his family five days before he killed the Russell’s and at the time there was no legislation available that could have been used to detain him, even though he posed a serious risk to public safety.

Whilst it is not possible for non-mental health professionals to diagnose personality disorders and mental illness, and certainly not something that is possible in the moments leading up to a violent encounter being able to understand how various disorders can effect aggression and rage, increase our understanding of violence, and can help us recognize when certain preventative solutions may not be applicable etc.

References

Garofalo, C., Neumann, C., & Velotti, P. (2020). Psychopathy and Aggression: The Role of Emotion Dysregulation. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1(1).

Kendell, R. E. (2002). The Distinction Between Personality Disorder and Mental Illness. British Journal of Psychiatry 180(1): 110-115

Minoudis, P., & Kane, E. (2017). It's a journey, not a destination – From dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD) to the offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health 27(3): 207-213.

Sarkar, J. (2019). Borderline personality disorder and violence. Australasian Psychiatry 27(6): 578-580.