PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Barbara G. Haskins
AU  - J. Arturo Silva
TI  - Asperger's Disorder and Criminal Behavior: Forensic-Psychiatric Considerations
DP  - 2006 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 374--384
VI  - 34
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/34/3/374.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/34/3/374.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2006 Sep 01; 34
AB  - Asperger's Disorder remains an under-diagnosed condition because of clinical unfamiliarity with its adult presentation. As forensic clinicians become familiar with the presentation of Asperger's disorder, it appears that affected individuals are over-represented in forensic criminal settings. Unique features of such persons may heighten their risks for engaging in criminal behavior. Both Theory of Mind deficits and a predilection for intense narrow interests, when coupled with deficient social awareness of salient interpersonal and social constraints on behavior, can result in criminal acts. We discuss comorbidities of forensic relevance. We present several cases that highlight these issues and review the relevant forensic literature. Furthermore, there may be valid questions as to degree of criminal responsibility in such persons. From a neuropsychiatric perspective, these disorders appear to have a biological underpinning for deficits in empathy, a finding that may have important repercussions when assessing remorse in criminal proceedings.