ABSTRACT
In everyday language, Antisocial Personality Pattern (APP): impulsive, adventurous, pleasure-seeking, generalized trouble (multiple persons, multiple settings), restlessly aggressive, callous disregard for others. APP is one of the Central Eight risk/need factors and, therefore, it is an important predictor of criminal behavior and a treatment target. The chapter begins with a discussion of what is meant by “personality” and reviews classical criminology’s dismissal of personality through “knowledge destruction techniques.” Gradually, personality constructs began to be embedded into many theories of criminal behavior and today they are widely accepted. The research on Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy is summarized and the argument is made that APP is a more comprehensive conceptualization of personality that does not require psychopathologizing criminal behavior.
