Antisocial Personality Disorder Can Trigger Repeated Violence Without Remorse

Psychologist Samanta Clara Elsener has stated that certain personality disorders can cause individuals to act cruelly towards others, including committing repeated violence without feeling guilty. “In psychology, we recognise the term Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), which the general public often refers to as psychopath or sociopath,” said the official from the Indonesian Psychological Association (Himpunan Psikologi Indonesia), as reported by Antara on Wednesday (24/6). Samanta stressed that this condition cannot be equated with being fierce or easily angered. According to her, antisocial personality disorder is a serious mental disorder that affects how a person processes emotions and relates to others. “This is not merely a fierce or irritable character, but a serious mental disorder. People with this condition have a different brain structure in processing emotions, so they lack empathy,” she said. According to Samanta, people with antisocial personality disorder typically display manipulative behaviour, struggle to empathise, and tend to view others as tools to fulfil their own needs or personal interests. She explained that someone with this condition can hurt others without feeling regret. The absence of guilt means violent behaviour can occur repeatedly. “They have no sense of guilt or lack of remorse, no empathy, are skilled at manipulation, and see others not as fellow human beings, but as objects to satisfy their own desires or needs,” Samanta said. “So, when they torture someone, they truly do not feel a moral compass telling them that the act is wrong,” she added. The explanation emerged amid attention on the case of a 29-year-old woman who was found to be a victim of severe confinement and abuse for three years. The woman from Bandung Regency was reported missing by her family since 2023. She was later found in critical condition in hospital after being held captive and tortured by her boyfriend for three years. She told her father that she had experienced extraordinarily cruel abuse over the past three years. During that period, the perpetrator frequently moved the victim from one rented room to another in the Cileunyi area of Bandung Regency to avoid suspicion from local residents.