From psyche to soma? Changing accounts of antisocial personality disorders in the American Journal of Psychiatry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The history of psychiatry is often portrayed through the metaphor of a pendulum, the profession swinging back and forth between a concern with psyche and soma. Recent work critiquing the pendulum metaphor, however, suggests that it does not account for the complexity of psychiatry. This article explores the metaphor through an analysis of the changing aetiological accounts of personality disorders associated with antisocial behaviour advanced in the American Journal of Psychiatry from 1950 onwards. It is argued that the social, scientific and economic factors which help shape overarching professional trends in psychiatry only partly structure personality disorder discourse. If the pendulum swings, therefore, not all psychiatrists move with it.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)294-311
Number of pages18
JournalHistory of Psychiatry
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2010

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'From psyche to soma? Changing accounts of antisocial personality disorders in the American Journal of Psychiatry'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this