Personality and crime II Flashcards
Eysenck’s PEN model
Extraversion vs Introversion
- high extroversion = low levels of cortical arousal
Neuroticism vs Emotional stability
- high levels of neuroticism = excessive activity of the autonomic nervous system.
Psychoticism
- A tendency towards psychotic/sociopathic behaviour
psychoticism
Eysenck later added a third personality dimension – Psychoticism (P) (remains poorly defined).
- Originally conceived as a vulnerability to psychoses but later defined as similar to psychopathy.
- a certain recklessness, sensation-seeking
- a disregard for common sense or conventions
- a degree in inappropriate emotional expression
- lack of empathy and feeling for others
- “tough mindedness” and aggression
- preference for solitude
High P is related to offending particularly with crimes involving hostility towards other people.
Eysenck’s theory and criminal behaviour
see notes
Eysenck’s theory and crime
Eysenck acknowledged various limitations to his theory:
- The theory is not applicable to all crime and all criminals
- The emphasis on classical and operant conditioning does not include other types of learning.
- There may be other personality traits important to criminal behaviour.
Nonetheless the theory is important given its emphasis on the interaction between hereditary, biological and environmental influences on child development.
- Eysenck always acknowledged the importance of the environment on the development of personality and delinquent behaviour
other factors associated with criminal behaviour
Alcohol Drug addiction Childhood neglect and/or abuse Parenting Poverty Unemployment Anti Social Personality Disorder Psychopathy Cognitive and Biological factors Criminal Justice System Policing Legislation – changes over time Societal responses – often related to media ‘crusades’ Sentencing Policies Juries
labelling
Lewis and Appleby (1988)
- Investigated the effect of receiving a personality diagnosis on the way patients are perceived by psychiatrists.
- Mentioning a personality disorder diagnosis had a powerful and negative effect on clinicians views.
- Vital that personality disorder concepts refer to real entities.
personality disorders and crime
Lewis and Appleby (1988) showed that just the mention of a personality disorder diagnosis had a powerful effect on clinicians’ views.
- The stigma and discrimination that can result from being diagnosed with a PD or other psychological disorder shows the importance of evidence based diagnosis.
- This is further highlighted because there is a lot of evidence suggesting relationships between some PDs and some criminal behaviour.
- E.g. Stone, M. H. (2007).
are people with a personality disorder dangerous?
40% in prison diagnosed with PD
The majority of people diagnosed with a personality disorder are not dangerous or violent.
- More likely to be dangerous to themselves
Occasions when violence does occur tend to involve people diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD).
- Psychopathy is a concept related to APD. People with a diagnosis of psychopathy may be more likely to be violent.
- Related but not the same
- Childhood (severe) trauma (in most people diagnosed and in prison) may lead to difficulties with emotional regulation, impulsivity and empathy, which may lead to violence or anti-social behaviour and also underlie personality disorder.
diagnostic criteria - APD and associated PDs
DSM-5 retains the original 10 personality disorders but includes a hybrid dimensional-categorical (looks at traits as well) model in an Appendix – need more research on traits
Psychopathy is not one of the listed 10 PDs but a measure of psychopathy is included in the hybrid model. To be used alongside diagnostic criteria for APD.
Diagnostic criteria for APD includes Psychopath
Definition of APD is related to psychopathy.
Dyssocial personality disorder (DPD) – listed with APD in DSM-5.
Another term used to describe psychopathy:
- Dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD) – more descriptive than psychopathy.
Overlap between the diagnostic categories suggests the terms APD, DPD and Psychopathy might be used interchangeably.
- This has implications for perceptions of justice.
Other research(USA) suggests that diagnostic labels do have a significant impact on perceptions of criminal defendants.
Edens and Cox (2012) examined the prevalence and impact of the labels psychopathy, sociopathy, and APD in capital murder cases. They surveyed defense team members at a law conference.
- When asked to estimate the effects of any of these three labels on trial outcome, respondents most frequently responded “considerable” or “extensive”
diagnostic criteria - APD and associated PDs - Filone, S., Strohmaier, H., Murphy, M., & DeMatteo, D. (2014).
These authors emphasise how the potential stigma associated with diagnostic labels is of particular importance in the courtroom.
Juror perceptions of these labels could have a substantial impact on sentencing recommendations for defendants.
This study examined how diagnostic labels might affect jury members’ sentencing recommendations and perceptions of the defendant (USA).
Participants read vignettes in which diagnostic labels (antisocial PD, dyssocial PD, psychopathy) and crime type (white collar – wealthy crimes – usually get away with it/violent crime) were manipulated
- Blue-collar – usually in prison – less-wealthy – “ordinary people”
diagnostic labels and their influence
Contrary to hypotheses, diagnostic label did not consistently impact sentencing recommendations or perceptions of the defendant.
were generally more influenced by crime type than diagnosis-participants perceived white collar offenders more negatively than violent offenders,
The diagnostic label was most influential on recidivism ratings and participants’ perceptions of violent offenders across all conditions.
Individuals labelled with psychopathy tended to be perceived as higher risk than those labelled with APD or DPD.
psychopathy
The term Psychopathy was originally coined by Cleckley in his book, The Mask of Sanity (1941).
It describes people who are:
- Superficially charming, of average or above average intelligence, unable to feel shame or remorse, egocentric, deceitful, highly manipulative, impulsive and can engage in extreme acts of violence including murder.
Cleckley (1976) – psychopaths offend without apparent purpose, show no remorse, are loyal to nobody and have a propensity to indulge in perverse sexual and harmful behaviour.
Robert Hare (1980s onward) developed and extended Cleckley’s work.
Hare studied incarcerated male psychopaths and developed the list of features of psychopathy identified by Cleckley.
- Hare also described how the psychopaths’ lack of empathy and conscience can make them more able in areas such as business and politics although recklessness reduces their success (Hare, 1993) – because they don’t care
psychopathy - Cleckley (1976)
In the USA over 90% of sexual and serial killers are diagnosed as psychopaths.
Individuals with psychopathy commit half of all serious (violent) crime (Hare, 1993)
But note, there are an estimated 3 million psychopaths in USA –vastly more in number than are incarcerated for murder. They generally do not commit murder but do devastate the lives and finances of those around them (Hare, 1993) – in order to look after themselves
psychopathy - Hare (1986)
developed a screening instrument for the identification of psychopathy – PCL.
Psychopathy is now most commonly assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) developed and revised by Robert Hare (1991; 2003)
- More detailed than psychoticism measure
psychopathy - PCL-R
The PCL-R measures two major clusters of symptoms:
Cluster 1:
- Emotional detachment and interpersonal traits including incapacity for fear and empathy, superficial charm, shallow emotions and callous attitudes towards others.
Cluster 2:
- Unstable, antisocial and impulsive lifestyle includes behaviours such as being impulsive, having poor self-control, early onset of behavioural problems and a strong need for excitement.
- Where APD sits
