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19 J. Offender Rehab. 1 (1993)

handle is hein.journals/wjor19 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, Vol 19 (1/2), 1993. Pp. 1-26. © 1993 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. C INMATE BEHAVIOR DYNAMICS: ASSESSING VS. LABELING Applying the Diagnosis Antisocial Personality to Imprisoned Offenders Looking for Hay in a Haystack Gail Flint Stevens Dirqresue Uuniversity ABSTRACT The use of the diagnosis antisocial personality disorder with inmates is controversial because most inmates can qualify for the diagnosis. This study assesses differences between inmates diagnosed antisocial personality and inmates with other diagnoses in terms of background characteristics, criminal histories, and prison behavior The findings from the study indicate that inmates diagnosed antisocial personality do not differ from other diagnosed inmnates in terms of background characteristics, except race, but do differ in terms of criminal histories. Because of the difference between the diagnosed groups regarding race, the groups are also compared controlling for race. Tie results indicate that the standards for diagnosing inmates as antisocial personality may vary by race. Finally, future research questions are considered. The diagnosis Antisocial Personality Disorder has been termed the most controversial psychiatric disorder (Millon, 1981). There are two main parts to this controversy, summed up quite neatly by Widger and Frances (1985): [The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III criteria] are relatively clear and specific and thus obtain higher levels of reliability than criteria for any other personality disorder.