Hannibal : functional analysis of a personality disorder antisocial case and cannibalism .

Abstract

This article constitutes the functional analysis of a fictional character Hannibal Lecter, in the movie Hannibal- Rising 2007 hypothesizing that the behavioral pattern of Hannibal is, according to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition DSM-IV-TR in a Antisocial Personality Disorder.This article aimed to analyze and describe a case of antisocial personality disorder and cannibalism light of behavior analysis, making possible functional analysis.This article was defined research in the descriptive mode, documentary, with a qualitative approach, the period for the development of this article was six months, participated in the study the fictional character Hannibal Lecter and instruments were used as the Hannibal –Rising (2007), the data handling process occurred through functional analysis.The result of this analysis shows that the starvation increased the reinforcing value to the food, whether the food be human flesh, where the human flesh was a discriminative stimulus response to eating which as a result eliminate unpleasant sensations caused by deprivation such as: hypoglycemia, stomach ache, etc., then the result of the behavior that increases its frequency occurs by removal of an aversive stimulus "hunger" of the environment, or negative reinforcement, furthermore the maintenance behavior Hannibal eating human flesh was also by negative reinforcement, since eating human flesh is a response which results in the withdrawal of aversive memories of her sister's death. So antisocial behavior of Hannibal in behavioral analytical point of view is a pattern of behavior like any other that has an antecedent context signaling issue and is controlled by its consequences.