Dissocial Personality Disorder - Forty Five Years Later

Abstract

A dissocial personality disorder is as a term included in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), and it is more adequate than the word psychopath, which is still widely used in professional and popular literature, including the mass media. The inadequacy of the word psychopath is obvious, since it represents an insult and degradation of the person concerned and says nothing about his or her dynamic. By using the prefix DIS, the duality in the behaviour of such persons is admonished: negative self-appraisal in antisociality on one hand, open or covert self-punishment on the other. The adequate use of the term dissociality includes the personality dynamics, which is presumed as the basis for their treatment, reeducation and rehabilitation. Because the behaviour of these people is, as a rule, contrary to the Criminal Code and other laws, the importance of understanding the antisocial personality in criminological and general social practice is great.