Cluster A personalities.
Identify and explain features in the primary offender that are consistent with Cluster A personalities.
Explain how these features differ from features that characterize Cluster B personalities.
Explain crimes that Cluster A personalities are more likely to commit.
Explain three challenges of working with individuals with Cluster A personalities and recommend strategies for overcoming those challenges.
Recommend at least three strategies to implement when interviewing offenders with Cluster A personalities.
Case Study #1 Jim, a 48-year-old engineer, works at a medium-size engineering firm. He has been employed with the firm for 16 years. He is described by co-workers as serious and thin-skinned, having no sense of humor, and distrusting of others. He lives alone, does not socialize with his neighbors, and often engages in angry accusations of something the neighbors or their children did that caused him distress or offended him in some way. He holds grudges forever, seemingly holding on to every real or perceived slight he has ever experienced. Jim is constantly writing letters to the utility company, city officials, and his congressional leaders about the injustices constantly inflicted upon him.
A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. People with personality disorders often struggle to interact with the world. Their disorder makes it hard for them to understand social situations and relationships. These disorders can be further divided into three clusters: A, B, and C. Cluster A personality disorders are characterized by odd, eccentric thinking or behavior. They include paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality and schizotypal personality disorder. Cluster B disorders involve unpredictable, dramatic, or intensely emotional responses to things. The four main cluster B disorders are: antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic.
