ch 15 (final)

Question 1

what is violence?

Answer 1

actual, attempted, or threatened physical harm of another person that is deliberate and nonconsenting

Question 2

what is risk?

Answer 2

-a state of potential (a posed threat or hazard) that need not materialize to be true
-inherent uncertainty
-highly contextual

Question 3

what does it mean to say risk is context-specific? how should risk judgements be made?

Answer 3

-risk of violence can’t be KNOWN; can only be ESTIMATED under different conditions (eg assuming institutionalization, assuming release w supervision etc)

-absolute or probabilistic risk judgments are discouraged (eg 80% chance of violence)
-relative or conditional risk judgments are preferred (eg low risk of violence if they abstain from alcohol)

Question 4

how many people report being a victim of crime? how accurate is this number?

Answer 4

-20% of Cadns (15+) report they were victim of a serious criminal incident
-9% of Cadns (15+) report they were a victim of a violent crime (assault, SA, robbery)

-2019 General Social Survey: only 24% of violent crimes are reported to police
-only 6% of sexual crimes are reported to police

Question 5

which age group is crime perpetration most common in? why?

Answer 5

-most common among late teens/early 20s, peaks at 18
-older = brain development, get a job/a partner, lose bad friends, etc

Question 6

describe:
a) when Canada’s crime rate peaked
b) current murder rates
c) severity of current crime rates

Answer 6

a) peaked in the 90s
b) murder rates increasing, but still below 1970s peak
c) severity of nonviolent crimes decreasing, however severity of violent crimes remains elevated

Question 7

what are the types of violent crime reported to police?

Answer 7

-assault
-other (robbery, stalking, driving offenses)
-sexual assault
-sexual assault against children
-attempted murder
-homicide

Question 8

what are the most common murder methods in Canada?

Answer 8

-firearm (more than 1/3); 49% of these were a handgun
-followed by stabbing, beating, other

Question 9

what are static vs dyamic risk factors? give 3 examples of each

Answer 9

-static = stable, unchangeable
-eg: young age, past violent behavior, early home maladjustment, personality disorder, psychopathy

-dynamic = changeable
-eg: negative attitudes, access to victims/weapons/drugs, stress, lack of support, noncompliance, unresponsiveness to treatment

Question 10

compare causal and variable risk factors

Answer 10

-causal risk factor: a dynamic risk factor that, when changed, has been shown to alter the risk of antisocial behavior

-variable risk factor: a dynamic risk factor that has not (yet) been found to alter the risk of antisocial behavior when changed

Question 11

what is the goal of violence risk assessment?

Answer 11

prevention of future violence

Question 12

what are the 4 settings of violence risk assessment?

Answer 12

-the forensic system: discharge vs detention
-the correctional system: parole/other release vs detention
-the judicial system: sentencing; bail
-the civil psychiatric system: involuntary hospitalization

Question 13

describe the 3 types of risk assessment

Answer 13

-unstructured clinical judgment: clinician makes an informal, subjective assessment using experience, knowledge, expertise

-actuarial assessment: assess static factors w demonstrated link to future violence + use statistical models to produce a numeric probability of reoffending

-structured professional judgment (SPJ): clinical judgment is applied + structured to consider all relevant factors (including historical, clinical, risk management factors)

Question 14

describe the Violence Risk Assessment Guide (VRAG). what are 3 examples of things that increase and decrease score?

Answer 14

-12 item actuarial measure of risk for violent recidivism

-↑ score: psychopathy checklist score, elem school maladjustment, diagnosis of personality disorder, failure on prior conditional release, marital status (single, previously married), history of alc problems
-↓ score: older age at most serious offence, lived w both parents to 16, diagnosis of schizophrenia

Question 15

what are 3 limitations of VRAG / other actuarial methods?

Answer 15

1. precision estimates may not generalize to new samples
2. important risk factors are omitted
3. limited applicability to treatment

Question 16

what is risk management? what does the process look like?

Answer 16

-Strategy for ↓ the probability that an indiv will be violent

-achieved by outlining the conds expected to ↑ or ↓ violence (eg what is the indiv’s situation in the community?; what type of supervision is needed?; what types of interventions are needed?)

Question 17

what is structured professional judgment? what is HCR-20?

Answer 17

Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ): clinical judgment is applied + structured to consider all relevant risk factors, incl historical, clinical, and risk management factors

-HCR-20: a SPJ instrument, most commonly used violence risk assessment measure
-10 Historical factors, 5 Clinical, 5 risk management factors

Question 18

how accurate is violence risk assessment?

Answer 18

(meta-analysis of violence risk assessment: incl actual + structured professional judgment)
-results: 92% of inmates who violently offended were classified as med/high risk
-64% of inmates who did not violently offend were also classified as med/high risk
→ ∴ got it wrong ~36% of time

Question 19

compare psychopathy and APD as recognized diagnoses in psychiatry

Answer 19

-psychopathy isn’t a recognized diagnosis, but is a well-defined, scientific term (APD is vague + not well defined)
-most psychopathic people fit the diagnostic criteria for APD, but many people w APD aren’t psychopathic
-APD is characterized by persistent criminal behaviors, vs psychopathy as a construct is characterized by personality traits

Question 20

how common is psychopathy in the adult population? what is the rate of psychopathy in the prison population?

Answer 20

-1% of the adult population

-15-25% of inmates

Question 21

is psychopathy heritable?

Answer 21

-genetics account for 50% of psychopathic traits
-however, not necessarily innate; dev occurs by intxn btwn genetics + environmental factors

Question 22

how does a psychopathic person’s brain compare to the average adult’s?

Answer 22

-smaller amygdala + lower activity in the amygdala
-deficits in processing others’ emotions, especially disgust

Question 23

what was the goal of the Mauritius Child Health Project? what did it find?

Answer 23

-goal: use psychophysiological methods to ID children at risk of psychopathy/violence

-sample: initially ~1800 children recruited from central-west area of Mauritius (East-African ocean island nation)
-first studied at 3 years old (in 1972)
-followed up at ages 8, 11, 17, 23, 28, 35, 40 years
-age 3: fearlessness, low resting heart rate, stimulation-seeking, large body size → age 11: ↑ risk of childhood aggression
-age 3: deficits in spatial cognitive ability → age 17: ↑ risk of antisocial behavior
-age 3: malnutrition → age 8, 11, 17: externalizing behavior problems

Question 24

compare the two types of psychopathy

Answer 24

-primary psychopathy: deficit in the capacity to experience anxiety or fear
-affective + emotional deficit (superficial processing of affect / emotion)
-strongest evidence of biological influence

-secondary psychopathy: expressed as antisocial, unstable lifestyle (rule breaking, trouble making)
-disinhibition/impulsivity + inattention (acting out, thrill seeking)
-strongest evidence of environmental influence

Question 25

what is the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R)?

Answer 25

-most common measure for assessing psychopathy
-20 item scale, with scores ranging from 0-40
-generally 30+ score is considered a psychopath
-(avg person scores ~4/5, avg inmate gets ~22)

Question 26

what is Hare’s Structure of Psychopathy?

Answer 26

-2 factor structure (20 items of the PCL-R), interpersonal/affective and social deviance

Factor 1: interpersonal / affective
1. Interpersonal: glib/superficial charm, grandiose, pathological lying, conning/manipulating
2. Affective: lacks remorse/guilt, shallow affect, callous/lacking empathy, no responsibility

Factor 2: social deviance
3. Lifestyle: stimulation/boredom, parasitic lifestyle, lacks goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility
4. Antisocial: poor behavioral controls, early behavior problems, juvenile delinquency, fail conditional release, criminal versatility

Question 27

is treatment of psychopathy difficult? what does it look like?

Answer 27

-psychopathic adult offenders are difficult to treat; they don’t see themselves as the problem

-schema therapy has had some success: addresses unmet emotional needs (eg attachment issues), help moderate extreme emotional states

Question 28

are children diagnosed as psychopaths? what does treatment look like (what should + shouldn’t be done)?

Answer 28

-children aren’t diagnosed w psychopathy
-behavioral parent training is promising for children w conduct disorder, which can be precursor to psychopathy

-wrong approach is punishment, which doesn’t work (they’re fearless, don’t care about punish)
-best hope is convincing them that behaving well is in their best interest

Question 29

1. What is psychopathy?
   a. Name its three traits (3 points).

Answer 29

-callous (disregard for suffering of others)
-bold, dominant, fearless
-disinhibited (low impulse control)

Question 30

b. Describe a prototypical example of a psychopathic person (4 points).

Answer 30

-charismatic, willing to take risks + engage in deviant behavior
-manipulative + highly focused on their own needs
-unconcerned w the consequences to others
-relationships are shallow and transient

Question 31

Distinguish between primary and secondary psychopathy (2 points).

Answer 31

-primary psychopathy:
-deficit in the capacity to experience anxiety or fear, affective emotional
-strongest evidence of biological influence

-secondary psychopathy:
-expressed as antisocial, unstable lifestyle (rule breaking, trouble making)
-disinhibition/impulsivity + inattention (acting out, thrill seeking)
-strongest evidence of environmental influence

Question 32

c. Contrast psychopathy with sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder (2 points).

Answer 32

-psychopathy is a well-defined, scientific term

-“sociopath” is used by nonscientists to describe people who engage in antisocial behavior
→ sometimes it’s used to describe people who have Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)

Question 33

d. List three questions that could be used to help determine if someone is psychopathic (3 points).

Answer 33

-do you think you’re smarter than most other people?
-is there anything you wouldn’t do if the price were right?
-do you regret having committed your crime?