antisocial personality disorder

n. An enduring pattern of behavior and action which shows disregard for social norms and for the rights of others. It begins in childhood in persons classified as having oppositional and defiant disorder and is more common in males than in females. Childhood symptoms include lying, stealing, bullying, torturing or killing small animals, fire setting, truancy, vandalism, substance abuse, and sexual misconduct. In adults symptoms include fighting, beating others, failure to hold a job, failure to establish long-term relationships, repeated violations of the law, failure to function adequately as a parent, financial irresponsibility, frequent moves, habitual lying and manipulation of others, and extreme recklessness in driving. The original term for this sort of person was moral imbecile, later psychopath, then sociopath. In the original formulation of this disorder an absence of normal conscience and guilt was a central theme, but this has been eliminated in the most recent official formulations of the disorder. ICD 9 uses the term dissocial personality disorder.