Antisocial Personality Traits as a Risk Factor of Violence between Individuals with Mental Disorders

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mental disorder can increase the likelihood of taking violent acts of some individuals, but only a small percentage of violence in societies could be attributed to patients with mental health problems. For the past several years numerous studies related to forensic psychiatry has confirmed a close causal relationship between violent offenders and psychiatric comorbidity. Several studies have provided strong evidence that antisocial personality disorders (APD) represent a significant clinical risk for violence. AIM: This study aims to show the relationship between antisocial personality disorder and antisocial personality traits with the other mental disorders and the manifestation of violence between the forensic populations of patients. METHODS: The survey was conducted at the Psychiatric Hospitals and the Mental Health Centre. The research was carried out between two groups: one group of perpetrators of violence (PV) and a control group divided into two subgroups, a control group without violence (CG WV) and a group of respondents forcibly hospitalised CG FH. After obtaining consent for participation in the study, patients were interviewed, and questionnaires were applied. The research methodology included using measuring instrument-Psychopathy Checklist-revised (Hare's PCL-R). RESULTS: The results show that in the group PV antisocial personality disorder is present in 45 patients, or 50% of the total sample. According to statistical research in between groups PV, CG WV and CG WV, there were determent significant differences in specifically listed items from Hare's PCL-R. CONCLUSIONS: Psychopathological traits of mental disorders which are pathognomonic of committing violence are paranoid schizophrenia, as the most present and antisocial personality disorder in comorbidity, as the highest risk factor among the population with mental disorders that manifest violence.