What Does Antisocial Personality Disorder Look Like?
Introducing Mr. 6
Antisocial personality disorder is a persistent pattern of disregard for and the violation of the rights of others, coupled with antecedent conduct disorder during adolescence.
Relatively rare in the population, antisocial personality disorder is common among serious offenders. Since the condition is endemic to correctional populations, it can make for interesting forensic interviews.
Non-interviews, too.
I had a scheduled forensic interview with a defendant I refer to as “Mr. 6,” a male white in his late 30s on supervised release for felon in possession of a firearm.
As I approached the interview room, I could hear an animated, confrontational discussion between Mr. 6 and three officers, who were effectively de-escalating his profane outburst.
He was in a foul mood.
Entering this environment, I chatted briefly with the officers and then introduced myself to Mr. 6, explaining my request for a voluntary interview.
He glared.
His upper body covered in tattoos, many with white security threat group imagery, the heavily muscled correctional client had a quick answer for me.
“I don’t fucking think so, bud.”
A pervasive pattern of disregard.
***
Mr. 6’s most recent arrest at that point was chaotic consistent with his other interactions with law enforcement. It involved a high-speed chase, his need for medical assistance due to dehydration from methamphetamine intoxication, a fractured hand from an unrelated physical assault, and homicidal threats toward his codefendant and the arresting officers.
Once detained in jail, Mr. 6 made additional homicidal threats toward his codefendant, witnesses, and sheriff’s deputies. Whether in jail or prison custody, Mr. 6 liked to fight.
His favorite phrase: “I will fuck them up badly.”
A lifelong polysubstance abuser with dalliances with crack cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and alcohol, Mr. 6’s primary addiction is to methamphetamine. He was under the influence of it when I approached him with the interview request.
In the months prior to his arrest, Mr. 6 was completely out of control. Codefendants and witnesses reported a slew of his unadjudicated crimes: the murder of another drug dealer, the attempted murder of two victims by hitting them with his car, targeted armed robberies of drug dealers, multiple incidents of rape and sodomy of his former girlfriend and other females, and multiple incidents of domestic violence.
He denied involvement in any of these crimes.
When investigators asked why he physically or sexually assaulted women, his answer seemed to undermine his prior denial.
“They deserved it,” he suggested.
Violation of the rights of others.
***
Beginning at age 12, Mr. 6’s official criminal record contains 31 arrests. His juvenile record, spanning criminal mischief, assault, aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, burglary, trespassing, possession of dangerous drugs, and sale of dangerous drugs, is versatile. It is also violent. Nine of his juvenile charges involve assault, sometimes with weapons.
Mr. 6 was typically assaultive when placed in secured detention centers and the state training school. Correctional records show that staff characterized him as “uncontrollable, angry, and defiant.”
At the state training school, Mr. 6 was usually placed in the special treatment unit due to multiple assaults or threats against peers. In some cases, he attempted to incite racial riots by targeting minority inmates.
“There is no chance I am going to change my behavior,” he told one staff member.
Adulthood allowed his antisocial personality disorder to bloom. At 18, Mr. 6 was convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon and received a 63 months sentence to the Bureau of Prisons.
His time in federal prison included extensive misconduct most of which involved threats of staff and possession of illegal weapons (e.g., shanks). His time on supervised release fared no better, with multiple violations and a revocation of his community sentence.
Mr. 6 was back in federal prison.
Upon release it was more of the same. Convictions for motor vehicle theft, interference with official acts, possession of a controlled substance, habitual traffic offender, disorderly conduct, felony eluding, burglary, assault, harassment, felon in possession of a firearm, and assault with injury.
Two commitments to state prison.
Dozens of other charges were dismissed, not because he was innocent, but because they were simply dismissed.
A pervasive pattern of disregard.
***
Mr. 6’s backstory is a common one. His parents had a tempestuous relationship where domestic violence was common, particularly when his father’s substance use was in a bad place. As a child, Mr. 6 endured the brunt of his father’s physical and emotional abuse.
He also had first-hand exposure to methamphetamine addiction.
Although his parents divorced when he was 9 and his father was out of the picture, the behavioral problems were already apparent. At school, Mr. 6 was disrespectful to teachers and eager to fight other students. Repeated out-of-home placements effectively ended his school career.
When Mr. 6 was in a secure group home, a clinical psychologist opined that Mr. 6’s open willingness to assault anyone in his presence—girlfriends, teachers, classmates, police, inmates, strangers—was his attempt to overcome his father. The clinician characterized Mr. 6 as “highly antisocial and violence prone.”
He was not going to be victimized again.
Violation of the rights of others.
***
Supervised release was never going to go well for Mr. 6. The longest he has ever worked a legitimate job is 5 months. Mostly, he quits jobs after his first paycheck or is terminated for disruptive behavior, showing up intoxicated, or “no call, no show.”
Instead, he generates income by selling methamphetamine, committing robberies, extortion, and gambling.
Noncompliance is his usual routine. In 14 of his arrests, he accrued charges for interference with police, resisting arrest with force, or eluding. Across his institutional placements, he has substantial misconduct, most of it violent.
Mr. 6 likes violence.
The foul mood I encountered that day in federal custody was his usual fare. About a year after our brief encounter, while still on supervised release, Mr. 6 was arrested for possession of a substantial amount—several pounds—of methamphetamine and firearm possession.
His sullen statement there was no chance he was going to change his behavior held true.
Mr. 6 received a 188 months sentence to federal prison, followed by a term of 5 years on supervised release. At the end of those sentences, he will be 57 years old, 45 years into his criminal career.
If I could ask him the likelihood that he will be a law-abiding citizen at that time, I suspect Mr. 6 would say, “I don’t fucking think so, bud.”
