Page "Emil Kraepelin" Paragraph 22

In fact from 1904 Kraepelin changed the section heading to ' The born criminal ', moving it from under ' Congenital feeblemindedness ' to a new chapter on ' Psychopathic personalities '.

They were treated under a theory of degeneration.

Four types were distinguished: born criminals ( inborn delinquents ), pathological liars, querulous persons, and Triebmenschen ( persons driven by a basic compulsion, including vagabonds, spendthrifts, and dipsomaniacs ).

The concept of ' psychopathic inferiorities ' had been recently popularised in Germany by Julius Ludwig August Koch, who proposed congenital and acquired types.

Kraepelin had no evidence or explanation suggesting a congenital cause, and his assumption therefore appears to have been simple ' biologism '.

Others, such as Gustav Aschaffenburg, argued for a varying combination of causes.

Kraepelin's assumption of a moral defect rather than a positive drive towards crime has also been questioned, as it implies that the moral sense is somehow inborn and unvarying, yet it was known to vary by time and place, and Kraepelin never considered that the moral sense might just be different.

Kurt Schneider criticized Kraepelin's nosology for appearing to be a list of behaviors that he considered undesirable, rather than medical conditions, though Schneider's alternative version has also been criticised on the same basis.

Nevertheless, many essentials of these diagnostic systems were introduced into the diagnostic systems, and remarkable similarities remain in the DSM-IV and ICD-10.

The issues would today mainly be considered under the category of personality disorders, or in terms of Kraepelin's focus Antisocial / Dissocial personality disorder or psychopathy.