Antisocial Personality Disorder: An Epidemiological Perspective • Offenders With Personality Disorder • Antisocial Behavior: Personality Disorders From Hostility to Homicide

Little progress has been made in the understanding of personality disorders since the publication of the groundbreaking book Character Analysis, by Wilhelm Reich. Reviewed here are three books that delve into current trends in the controversial subject of antisocial personality disorder.

Paul Moran, a researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, is the author of Antisocial Personality Disorder: An Epidemiological Perspective. Moran's aim is to "synthesize and evaluate the large amount of published epidemiological research" on antisocial personality disorder into one book so as to inform the reader about "the current state of knowledge about the frequency, distribution, natural history, and associated burden of antisocial personality disorder."

Moran's book flows in a logical, orderly progression, beginning with a definition of terms and an outline of the reviewed studies. He divides these studies into five categories: descriptive studies, natural history studies, studies of associated conditions, risk factor studies, and studies of the cost and burden associated with psychopathy. This book is highly recommended to researchers and clinicians alike as a comprehensive resource that describes the current epidemiological trends and public health implications of antisocial personality disorder.

Offenders With Personality Disorder is an official council report of the Royal College of Psychiatrists on antisocial personality disorder in forensic populations. The report opens with a discussion of definitions and classifications of personality disorders along with current major challenges that remain in the broadly accepted ICD-10 and DSM-IV classification systems.

The report reviews practical approaches and guidelines for structural clinical assessment interviews and the various rating scale instruments that are useful in the diagnosis and assessment of offenders with a personality disorder. It also reviews epidemiological surveys in the United Kingdom that demonstrate the prevalence of different personality disorders in the general population, the prison population, and the hospital population. The report guides the reader through a logical sequence of chapters, each of which begins with an executive summary of the current state of affairs and ends with conclusions and recommendations for improvement.

Although many of the studies cited use data from the United Kingdom, the report nonetheless has broader value as a perspective on Western culture. All mental health professionals who are treating or contemplating treating forensic patients who have personality disorders will find this report informative, insightful, and of value.

The author of the third book, Antisocial Behavior, is Benjamin B. Wolman, Ph.D., founder of the International Organization for the Study of Group Tensions. Wolman postulates that a crisis is under way in America that concerns the "future of civilization" and "the future of moral values created by religion, science, and art." His thesis is that antisocial behavior is on the rise, threatening everyone, and that the human species is heading toward catastrophe.

Wolman suggests that there is "too much liberalism and permissiveness in American society," which is leading to an epidemic of sociopathic behavior. He concludes that there are three ways to prevent violent behavior: make it futile, control public opinion, and revise the educational system to teach moral behavior.

This book, while at times alive with anecdotal case studies and some psychodynamic review of factors that play a role in id, ego, and superego formation, offers a perspective that is primarily philosophical and political without much scientific data to support it. Wolman's vision offers relief to a "society in crisis" but not to those suffering from mental illness.