ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER VS. PSYCHOPATHY

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER VS. PSYCHOPATHY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE

Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this thesis is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This thesis does not

include proprietary or classified information.

________________________________ David C. Everett, III

Certificate of Approval:

___________________________ Frank L. Weathers Associate Professor Psychology

___________________________ Roger K. Blashfield, Chair Professor Psychology

___________________________ Chris Correia Assistant Professor Psychology

___________________________ Stephen L. McFarland Dean Graduate School, Auburn University

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER VS. PSYCHOPATHY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE David C. Everett, III

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Master of Science

Auburn, Alabama May 11, 2006

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER VS. PSYCHOPATHY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE

David C. Everett, III Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this thesis at its discretion, upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all

publication rights. ______________________________ Signature of Author ______________________________ Date of Graduation

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THESIS ABSTRACT ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER VS. PSYCHOPATHY:

AN ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE

David C. Everett, III Master of Science, May, 11, 2006 (B.S., Tennessee Technological University, 2001)

74 Typed Pages Directed by Roger K. Blashfield

Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy are disorders related by their associations with criminal behavior. Antisocial Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for the rights of others beginning in childhood and continuing into adulthood. Psychopathy is characterized by a variety of affective and behavioral traits, such as impulsivity, lack of remorse or empathy, and irresponsibility. Although their histories are intertwined, some researchers, such as Hare, have considered the disorders separate since 1980 and the inclusion of Antisocial Personality Disorder in the DSM-III. Yet there are some researchers who still consider these disorders linked, such as being two measurement criteria of the same construct, or two sides of the same coin, so to speak. Assuming ASPD and Psychopathy were separate disorders, it could be expected for the research literature of each to be also distinctly separate from one another.

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This study was an attempt to analyze and define the possible differences between the research literatures for Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy. Seventy-seven articles were selected from eight top psychological journals for four specific years covering the last three decades of research to be used for this study. The articles were separated into categories by diagnostic focus and split by their country of origin (American or other country) as well as the association of the publication in which they appeared (American vs. International). Results indicated that there was some overlap between the two research literatures due to the presence of articles using both diagnoses as well as articles using other, alternative diagnoses, such as Sociopathy. Also, it was expected that the ASPD literature would mostly be associated with American entities, such as authors and journals, and that Psychopathy would be concentrated in International journals by International authors. Results showed that, again, there was overlap in this area, as well.

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