Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthMode
Second, Phil's right in that research is constantly updating with these terms and descriptions. AFAIK "psychopathy" is an outdated term but the description you posted is the accurate definition of antisocial personality disorder (which makes your above statement correct). It is true that these person's lack affective empathy but that does not change their cognitive ability to know right from wrong or know when they are causing suffering.
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You're doing PsyD, right? (I think?) I'm over here in the PhD camp, so you'll have more knowledge than I.
Nevertheless... there's debate about whether or not ASPD and psychopathy are the same. I'm in the camp that they're not. ASPD diagnoses are based off of Checkley's work from 1941 and only focus on behaviors; psychopathy is based largely off of Hare's PCL-R (1991/2003). The article I had to read over and over about while grading my students' papers
used Levenson's Self-Report Psychopathy scale, which is similar to Hare's work. The more recent edition of the PCL-R uses a three-factor model, but the dark triad article sticks to the two-factor approach of primary and secondary psychopathy. Primary psychopathy is what I was talking about in my little quote snippets. It's more genetics-based and is associated with narcissistic personality disorder, social potency, low anxiety, and low empathy. The PCL-R describes primary psychopathy as "selfish, callous and remorseless use of others". Secondary psychopathy is more environmental in origin and is associated with ASPD and borderline personality disorder. The PCL-R labels secondary psychopathy with "chronically unstable, antisocial and socially deviant lifestyle".
Essentially, ASPD is behaviors. Psychopathy is personality. The DSM-V
kind of acknowledges this by including an alternative model of ASPD with psychopathic features, but they don't include psychopathy as its own personality disorder.
So, yeah. Another tangent (sorry), but it produced a fun discussion among my cohorts with whom I'm maxing and relaxing.
