ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the relevance of the diagnosis of personality disorder to the assessment of parenting capacity. The definition of personality disorder includes enduring patterns of inner experience and behaviour and embraces abnormalities of cognition, affectivity (emotional life), interpersonal functioning and impulse control. Failures or lapses in these areas clearly do not bode well in regard to parenting capacity. However, this chapter cautions against the assumption of inadequate parenting capacity in those suffering from the different types of personality disorder. It also cautions against the opposite assumption of adequate parenting ability in those who present as ‘normal’ but who are actually, in one way or another, ‘pseudo-normal’, or ‘as-if, personalities and have underlying personality characteristics which may present a danger to children in their care.
