Exam 3 Flashcards
an individual who continually commits crimes (does not usually qualify as a psychopath)
sociopath
a person who demonstrates a discernible cluster of psychological, interpersonal, and neurophysical features that distinguish that person from the general population
psychopath
what are the three categories of psychopaths?
primary, secondary (neurotic), and dyssocial
the “true” psychopath - this individual demonstrates those physiological and behavioral features that represent psychopathy
primary psychopath
individual with psychopathic characteristics, but who commits antisocial acts because of severe emotional problems or inner conflicts (distinct from primary psychopath)
secondary psychopath
individual with psychopathic characteristics who is antisocial because of social learning and does not possess the features of the primary psychopath
dyssocial psychopath
a disorder characterized by a history of continuous behavior in which the rights of others are violated
antisocial personality disorder (APD)
a primary psychopath who engages in repetitive antisocial or criminal behavior
criminal psychopath
a characteristic found in psychopaths whereby the words they speak are devoid of emotional sincerity
semantic aphasia
developed by Robert Hare, currently the best known instrument for the measurement of criminal psychopathy
psychopathy checklist (PCL)
this checklist assesses the affective (emotional), interpersonal, behavioral, and social deviance facets of psychopathy from various sources, including self-reports, behavioral observations, and collateral sources, such as parents, family members, friends, and arrest and court records
PCL-R
a statistical procedure by which underlying patterns, factors, or dimensions are identified among a series of scale items
factor analysis
a behavioral dimension, identified through factor analysis, representing the interpersonal and emotional aspects of psychopathy
factor 1
factor 1 relates to ____
interpersonal and emotional components
lying, conning, and manipulating others; superficial charm; grandiose self-worth are characteristic of which factor?
factor 1
a behavioral dimension representing the socially deviant lifestyle characteristics of psychopaths
factor 2
factor 2 relates to ____
socially deviant lifestyle
irresponsibility; sensation seeking; lack of realistic goals; poor planning; impulsivity relate to which factor?
factor 2
a core feature of psychopathy that refers to emotional shallowness, callousness, and lack of empathy
factor 3
factor 3 relates to ____
affective
shallow emotions; callousness; little empathy; failure to accept responsibility for actions relate to which factor?
factor 3
model of psychopathy that incorporates antisocial behavior
four-factor model
factor 4 relates to ____
antisocial tendencies
poor self-regulation; persistent criminal activity; antisocial behavior; early behavior problems relate to which factor?
factor 4
recent model focusing on callous-unemotional traits, disinhibition, and boldness
triarchic psychopathy model (TriPM)
what are the three dimensions of the triarchic psychopathy model?
meanness, disinhibition/externalizing proneness, and boldness/fearless dominance
in psychopathy research, meanness is proposed as an additional feature characterizing the psychopathic personality (refers to generally cruel verbal or physical behavior toward others)
meanness trait
collection of traits in juveniles believed to be precursors of adult psychopathy (also a key characteristic of adult psychopaths)
callous-unemotional (CU) traits
this trait refers to impulsivity, poor self-regulation, low frustration tolerance, irresponsibility, alienation, and unreasonable risk taking
disinhibition trait (externalizing proneness)
this trait consists of personality characteristics of charisma, fearlessness, novelty seeking, calmness in the face of danger, and low stress reactivity
boldness trait (fearless dominance)
a cluster of personality traits that are associated with criminal psychopathy
dark triad
three components of the dark triad:
psychopathy, narcissism, and machiavellianism
what is machiavellianism?
master manipulation of others
there are _____ female than male psychopaths, both in the general population and among persons convicted of crime
fewer
in the general population, the estimated prevalence of psychopathy among men is ____%
1%
prevalence rate of psychopathy for female offenders in the jail setting
15.5%
estimated prevalence rate of psychopathy for male offenders in the jail setting
25-30%
the branch of psychology that combines theory and research from the neurosciences and traditional psychology
neuropsychology
term used for the neurological indicators of a particular phenomenon, such as psychopathy
markers
criminal psychopaths manifest an abnormal or unusual balances between the two hemispheres of the brain, both in language processing and in emotional or arousal states
hemisphere asymmetry
the research observation that psychopaths seem to be able to talk about emotional cues but lack the ability to use them effectively in the real world
emotional paradox
higher-order mental abilities involved in goal-directed behavior (include organizing behavior, memory, inhibition processes, and planning strategies)
executive function
a process whereby someone responds in time to a warning signal in order to avoid a painful or aversive stimulus
avoidance learning
term used for a variety of psychiatric diagnoses that indicate that the individual has problems in living (also referred to as mental disorder)
mental illness
limitations in cognitive capacity, determined by IQ tests and a variety of performance measures (cannot be cured, but can be compensated by care and training) - formerly called mental retardation
intellectual disability
the official guidebook or manual, published by the American Psychiatric Association, used to define and diagnose specific mental disorders
diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM)
which revised edition is the DSM currently in?
fifth (DSM-5)
which four categories of mental disorders are most relevant in the DSM?
- the schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
- bipolar disorder
- major depression
- antisocial personality disorder
mental disorder characterized by severe breakdowns in thought patterns, emotions, and perceptions
schizophrenia
things or events that a person with mental disorder sees or perceives (characteristic of schizophrenia and some forms of dementia)
hallucinations
mental disorder characterized by a system of false beliefs or delusions
delusional disorder
this disorder is characterized by episodes of behavior that are alternately characterized by such features as euphoria, hyperenergy, and distractibility (manic phase) and diminished interest or pleasure in all activities and depressed mood (depressive phase)
bipolar disorder
in essence, bipolar disorder is a ____ disorder
mood
lifetime risk of suicide among persons with bipolar disorder is estimated to be at least ____ times that of the general population
15 times
general label for symptoms that include an extremely depressed state, general slowing down of mental and physical activity, and feelings of self-worthlessness
major depressive disorder
disorder characterized by a history of continuous behavior in which the rights of others are violated
antisocial personality disorder (APD)
a diagnostic label used to identify children who demonstrate habitual misbehavior
conduct disorder (CD)
it is estimated that between ____% and ____% of the population qualifies for an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis
0.2% and 3.3%
the ability to participate in a variety of court proceedings
adjudicative competence
the legal requirement that a defendant is able to understand the proceedings and to help the attorney in preparing a defence
competency to stand trial
a judicial ruling that a criminal defendant, because of mental illness, defect, or other reasons, is unable to understand the nature and objective of the criminal proceedings or is unable to assist his or her defense lawyer (may apply to a variety of judicial stages, including plea bargaining, trial, and sentencing)
incompetent to stand trial (IST)
a criminal defendant’s argument that his or her mental illness relieves him or her from responsibility for a crime
-legal tests of insanity vary widely, with the most common being the ability to know right from wrong
insanity defense
a legal determination that a defendant was so mentally disordered at the time of the crime that he or she cannot be held criminally responsible
not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)
an insanity standard based on the conclusion that if a defendant has a defect of reason, or a disease of the mind, so as not to know the nature and quality of his or her actions, then he or she cannot be held criminally responsible
m’naughten rule
the m’naughten rule is also called the _____
right and wrong test
a standard for evaluating the insanity defense that recognizes that the defendant suffers from a condition that substantially (1) affects mental or emotional processes or (2) impairs behavior controls
brawner rule
a section of the ALI/brawner rule that excludes abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or antisocial conduct (specifically designed to disallow the insanity defense for psychopaths)
caveat paragraph
a rarely used legal standard of insanity that criminal defendants are not criminally responsible if their unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect
durham rule
the durham rule is also referred to as the ____
product rule
a law designed to make it more difficult for defendants using the insanity defense in the federal courts to be acquitted
insanity defense reform act of 1984
the part of the insanity defense that requires acceptance of the possibility that a defendant could not control his or her behavior to conform to the requirements of the law (the volitional prong is not recognized in federal law or the law of many states)
volitional prong
a verdict alternative in some states that allows defendants with mental disorders to be found guilty even if they might meet standards for insanity (the verdict is said to afford them treatment in prison settings, but such treatment is not guaranteed)
guilty but mentally ill (GBMI)
a cluster of behavioral patterns that result from a psychologically distressing event outside the usual range of human experience
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
studies estimate that between ___% and ___% of all americans suffer from PTSD
1% and 7%
the prevalence of PTSD among _____ is believed to be considerably higher than the prevalence in the general population
military veterans
a psychiatric syndrome characterized by the existence within an individual of two or more distinct personalities, any of which may be dominant at any given moment (formerly called multiple personality disorder (MPD))
dissociative identity disorder
a process whereby mental or physical disorders are unintentionally induced or developed in patients by physicians, clinicians, or psychotherapists
iatrogenic
complete or partial memory loss of an incident, series of incidents, or some aspects of life’s experiences
amnesia
psychosis was found in a recent study to increase the odds of violence by as much as ___% to ___%
50% to 70%
only ___% of the men and ___% of the women who developed schizophrenia committed violent offenses
11.3% of the men and 2.3% of the women
some researchers have reported that ___% to ___% of persons in jails and federal and state prisons have severe mental disorders
10% to 15%
it is estimated that ___% to ___% of inmates carry an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis
40% to 80%
process of determining the likelihood and seriousness of harm carried out by a person who displayed warning signs, such as making veiled oral or written threats
threat assessment
requirement from the tarasoff case that clinicians must actively warn potential victims of threats of serious bodily harm made by their clients
duty to warn
requirement from the tarasoff case that clinicians must take steps to protect possible victims from serious bodily harm as a result of threats made by the clinician’s clients (does not require the clinician to contact the potential victim)
duty to protect
an approach to risk assessment that combines the strength of actuarial predictions with the experiences of the practitioners. SPJ offers guidelines for providing the risk assessment
structured professional judgment (SPJ)
the cognitive shortcuts that people use to make quick inferences about their world - it is the information that is most readily available to us mentally and is usually based extensively on the most recent material we gain from the news or entertainment media
availability heuristic
term that encompasses both murder and nonnegligent homicide
criminal homicide
the felonious killing of one human being by another with malice aforethought
murder
the killing of a human being without premeditation but with the intention to kill in the “heat of the moment,” such as under high emotional states of anger or passion
nonnegligent manslaughter
the unlawful killing of another through reckless or negligent behavior, without intention to kill
negligent manslaughter
the intentional inflicting of bodily injury on another person, or the attempt to inflict such injury
assault
inflicting, or attempting to inflict, bodily injury on another person, with the intent to inflict serious injury
aggravated assault
a classification system that identifies commonalities among members of groups to aid in investigation of crime and offering treatment services
typology
examples of typology
serial murderers, terrorists, sex offenders
___% of the total homicide offenders are those who committed a homicide that was precipitated by a general altercation or argument or verbal dispute that escalated into a fight
45%
the majority of these offenders had records of past criminal histories
offenders who committed a homicide during the commission of a felony, such as robbery, burglary, grand theft, rape, kidnapping, or carjacking
___% of total homicide offenders committed a domestic-violence related homicide, accounting for the second-largest group
25%
the fourth classification of homicide
offenders who were charged with a degree of homicide after an accident, usually involving automobiles
death resulting from hostile aggression
general altercation homicide
the tendency to perceive hostile intent in others even when it is lacking
hostile attribution bias
the ability to control one’s behavior in accordance with internal cognitive standards
self-regulation
these homicides are motivated by instrumental-controlled aggression
felony commission homicides
similar to controlled-instrumental aggression, actions undertaken to obtain a specific goal
proactive violence
crimes committed against persons by their current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends
intimate partner violence (IPV)
a primary psychopath receives a score of ____ or above on the PCL-R checklist
30 or above
prevalence of psychopathy in general population
1%
prevalence of psychopathy in prisoners
15-25%
___% to ___% of offenders meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder
50% to 80%
____% to ____% of offenders meet the criteria for psychopathy
15% to 25%
individuals who fit the criteria of a psychopath, having certain fundamental traits, but largely succeed in their exploitation
successful psychopath
raine’s verbal dichotic listening task found that psychopaths are ___ lateralized for verbal processing, indicating that psychopaths have ____ connections between words and emotions
less; poor
fMRI studies indicate that psychopaths show ____ activation of the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex
reduced
psychopaths ____ differentiate pleasant from unpleasant pictures
do not
normal people show ____ waves on an EEG when awake and alert, but psychopaths show ____ waves
beta; delta
maturation retardation hypothesis coincides with ____
aging out of criminal behavior around the same time as maturation of EEG
psychopaths age out much ____ than normal people
slower
psychopaths have a deficit in passively avoiding consequences for actions (impulsive)
passive avoidance deficit
psychopath’s childhood experiences are indicative of ____ and ____ in the home
abuse and neglect
biology provides poor foundation for the formation of conscience
interactive model
psychopaths with ____ backgrounds committed more violent offenses
unstable
lower rate of _____ for female psychopaths
recidivism
female psychopaths are ____ aggressive and violent than male psychopaths
less
higher recidivism rates for ____ psychopaths than nontreated
treated
this woman had postpartum psychosis and drowned her 5 children (was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but is still in a psychiatric facility)
andrea yates
only ___% of crimes judged directly related to depression
3%
this disorder is the most frequently diagnosed in criminal populations (50% to 80%)
antisocial personality disorder
____% to ____% of criminal populations are mentally disordered
80% to 90%
major psychiatric diagnoses are infrequent - ____% to ____%
10% to 15%
___% of the currently mentally disordered are not violent
90%
murder accounts for only ___% to ___% of the violent crime rate
1% to 2%
only ____% of murder cases involve a stranger as the victim
19%
aggravated assaults are basically _____
a failed homicide attempt
first degree murder is
premeditated
second degree murder
not the same level of premeditation (“crime of passion”)
example of nonnegligent manslaughter
beating that “unintentionally” leads to death
some states may place crimes of passion (beatings, chokings) in this category
nonnegligent manslaughter
single homicide
one victim
double homicide
two victims
triple homicide
three victims
mass murder
4 or more victims
family mass murder
4 or more members of a family are murdered
spree murder
some time took place between murders
serial murder
3 or more murders (separate events)
males _____ females as both victims and offenders
predominate
____% of murder victims are male
78%
____% of murder offenders are male
65%
most murder offenders are between the ages of
20 and 29
highest offending rate for murder among race
african american
____% of all arrests for violent crimes are african americans
37%
____% to ____% of all arrests for murder are african americans, indicative of a significant overrepresentation
40% to 54%
____ levels of serious crimes in lower socioeconomic levels
higher
____% of murder victims are killed by a stranger
19%
____% of murder victims are related to their offender
25%
____% of murder victims are killed by someone they knew
56%
males are violently victimized by a stranger ___ times more than females
two times
____ are more likely to be murdered by a spouse
females
____% of all homicides committed with a firearm
70%
____% of all homicides are committed with a handgun
81%
knives account for less than ____% of all homicides
13%
___% of victims of intimate violence are female and ___% of offenders are male
75% ; 75%
