Callous/unemotional conduct disorder as a learning disability

Abstract

Cruelty has often been understood as the result of incurable bad character by those able to distinguish right from wrong. Recent research suggests a way of thinking about it as a form of disability in which people are unable to learn empathy, cognitive social skills and associated behaviour, which qualifies it as a form of learning disability. It is suggested that accepting this classification opens up the possibility that selected interventions might be successful in enabling people to understand, practise and appreciate affiliative behaviour.

Citation

Mackenzie, R. and Watts, J. (2009), "Callous/unemotional conduct disorder as a learning disability", Tizard Learning Disability Review, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 40-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/13595474200900038