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Personality and its Disorders

£62.99

Personality and its Disorders

A Reappraisal

By: Richard Howard

£62.99

To understand a disordered personality, we must first understand normal personality. This book re-frames personality disorders not as an inner pathology, but as aberrant variations of the normal, derailed by injuries and shaped by social and cultural environments.

The status of so-called personality disorders as reflecting inner pathology is currently questioned – they are viewed, even by some psychiatrists, as stigmatizing and not…

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£62.99

£62.99

Author: Richard Howard ISBN: 1-0364-5627-7 Categories: Social Sciences, Psychology, Personality, Social and Criminal Psychology, Psychiatry

The status of so-called personality disorders as reflecting inner pathology is currently questioned – they are viewed, even by some psychiatrists, as stigmatizing and not properly falling within the remit of psychiatry. Yet personality disorders remain obstinately present world-wide and are associated with aberrant behaviors that sometimes lead those afflicted to fall into the net of the criminal justice system. This book interrogates the nature of personality disorders and will appeal to anyone for whom the varieties of human personality hold a fascination. It starts from the premise that to understand what a disordered personality is, we first need to understand what normal personality is and what it does. The author re-frames personality disorders as aberrant variations of normal personality that arise when normal human development is derailed by a series of insults and injuries occurring between birth and adulthood. The author emphasizes the importance of considering the social and cultural environment in which aberrant personality emerges.

Richard Howard was educated at Whitgift School, Croydon and at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, UK, where he read philosophy and psychology. His early research was carried out at an English special hospital and was published in 1982 under the title Event-related brain potentials in personality and psychopathology. His subsequent research has focused on personality disorders in offenders, with a particular emphasis on violent offending. He has authored or co-authored about 150 published papers and book chapters. He co-edited Personality, Personality Disorder and Violence (2009) and co-authored Antisocial Personality: Theory, Research, Treatment (2022). Currently living in Wiesbaden, Germany, he remains affiliated to the Institute of Mental Health in Nottingham, UK, and continues to write scientific articles on personality disorders, latterly with a focus on treatment.

Hardback

ISBN: 1-0364-5627-7
ISBN13: 978-1-0364-5627-6
Date of Publication: 2025-09-03

Ebook

ISBN: 1-0364-5628-5
ISBN13: 978-1-0364-5628-3
Date of Publication: 2025-09-03

Categories: Social Sciences, Psychology, Personality, Social and Criminal Psychology, Psychiatry

Pages: 133

Subject Codes:

BIC: JMS, JMK, MMH
THEMA: JMS, JMK, MKL

Pages: 133

"The sphere of studies that encompass personality, personality difficulties and personality disorder is wide-ranging and extremely complex. Here, Richard Howard clarifies and disentangles these complexities in a readable yet comprehensive account of the topic. Not only that, but he offers an innovative perspective on the development of ‘aberrations’ in personality development. His approach encompasses traits, adaptations, values and context in a holistic manner, that is understandable yet far from simplistic. This book will be of interest to a range of readers, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, probation staff, social workers, those in postgraduate professional training, researchers, and policy makers. In particular, Dr Howard’s perspective may well inform strategies for prevention, an all-important use to which knowledge in this area could be put. His work is erudite and evidence-based, presenting a coherent picture of a multi-faceted area of considerable health, societal and economic importance."
- Mary McMurran, PhD, Visiting Professor, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK

Meet The Author

Richard Howard

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