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“Just So” stories and sociopathy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2010
Abstract
Sociobiological explanation requires both a reliable and a valid definition of the sociopathy phenotype. Mealey assumes that such reliable and valid definition of sociopathy exists in her “Integrated Evolutionary Model.” A review of psychiatric literature on the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder clearly demonstrates that this assumption is faulty. There is substantial disagreement among diagnostic systems (e.g., RDC, DSM-III) over what constitutes the antisocial phenotype, different systems identify different individuals as sociopathic. Without a valid definition of sociopathy, sociobiological theories like Mealey's should be viewed as entirely speculative.
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- Article Commentary
- Information
- Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 18 , Special Issue 3: An International Journal of Current Research and Theory with Open Peer Commentary , September 1995 , pp. 557 - 558
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995
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