A DIFFERENTIAL STUDY OF PSYCHOPATHIC BEHAVIOR IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN: ROUND TABLE, 1951

Presents a round table discussion from 1951 on the differential study of psychopathic behavior in infants and children. The paper discusses the kind of character neurosis that Karpman refers to as secondary psychopathy. The antisocial behavior pattern of an individual in this category is composed of a constellation of ego defenses. An understanding of the psychogenesis of such psychopathy consists then in an understanding of why the individual trying to defend himself from anxiety elected so antisocial a group of defenses and why they are so constantly perpetuated. To explore this theme, Lester Songtag presents the history of a boy of fifteen who fits very well Karpman’s category of secondary psychopathy. In the round table, Ralph Rabinovitch discusses observations on the differential study of severely disturbed children. Hyman Lippman addresses difficulties in establishing the diagnosis of psychopathic personality in childhood. Reginald Lourie discusses the reversibility of psychopathic-like patterns in early childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)