Personality Disorders in The Adult Offender

Course Summary:
The criminal justice system has more personality disordered individuals than any other mental illness. Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic, Paranoid and others have very specific features. They are more violent than other people with mental illness and have many other features that make them difficult for law enforcement to deal with.Often they come from extremely traumatic backgrounds and we will talk about this in class. In this course, participants will learn about every personality disorder and how each manifests as well as how symptoms of each disorder can cause problems for staff. Participants will learn what to watch out for in working with them and how to manage difficult behaviors. Online resources and take home material will be provided.

Performance Objectives 1)Identify what personality disorders are and why they are more difficult to deal with than other mental illnesses. 2)Explain to another the defining features of each personality disorder and how criminal behavior fits in with these. 3)Describe the connection between early childhood trauma and later personality disorders. 4) Teach to another what to watch out for in working with them and how to manage difficult behaviors.