The Criminal Personality as a DSM-III-R Antisocial, Narcissistic, Borderline, and Histrionic Personality Disorder

The controversial Criminal Personality described by Yochelson and Samenow is diagnosed by DSM-III-R criteria as sufferingfromfourpersonality disorders: Antisocial, narcissistic, borderline and histrionic. Additionally, the Criminal Personality meets most criteria of the Cleckley psychopath, the Kernberg psychopath, and the DSM-II antisocial personality disorder. The congruence of the Criminal Personality with other criminal typologies provides modest validity to the construct. The interrelationship of the DSM-III-R quadruple diagnoses implies a shared pathogenesis of these disorders. The clinical and research implications of differentiating between subtypes of antisocial personality based upon multiple Axis II diagnoses are discussed.