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Antisocial Personality Disorder In The Film Silence Of The Lambs

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In the film, Silence of the Lambs, psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lector is questioned by FBI agent Clarice Starling to help with the serial killer case of “Buffalo Bill.” Dr. Lector is a convicted murderer and cannibal whom is locked in an asylum under the care of Dr. Frederick Chilton.
There are four diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder in the DSM-5 and criterion A has seven sub-features. The first sub-feature of Criteria A states that one manifestation of antisocial personality disorder is failure to abide my social norms by disregarding laws and repeatedly committing lawful acts. Hannibal Lector kills five people over the course of the film and heavily implies that he is going to kill and cannibalize Dr. Frederick Chilton. Dr. Chilton …show more content…

Lector attacked and consumed part of her face. The second sub-feature of criteria A is about deceitfulness, lying, and conning others for their own personal amusement. Dr. Lector makes a game out of giving vague information to Agent Starling. He uses anagrams and clues to lead Starling to the identity of Buffalo Bill. The next sub-feature is impulsiveness; which Dr. Lector is quite the opposite. He is very calculating and cunning to achieve his goals. For example, Dr. Chilton brings in a document for Dr. Lector to sign and he steals Dr. Chilton’s pen. He then takes apart that pen to use as a lock pick to release himself from handcuffs and kill two officers and free himself. The fourth sub-feature is aggressiveness which is manifested with repeated assaults or physical fights. The same evidence cited for the first sub-feature applies to this feature, Dr. Lector kills five people over the course of the film. The two on-screen kills are very brutal with Dr. Lector beating one officer to death with his own nightstick. His brutal killings also apply to the next sub-feature, which is disregard for the safety of others. Dr. Lector

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