Psychopathy Flashcards
What is psychopathy?
A specific personality disorder characterized by a constellation of interpersonal, affective, and behavioural traits
An “intra-species predator” – (Hare, 2012)
Legal relevance
of psychopathy
Guide decisions about treatment, placement, and management
Pretrial:
-Diversion, bail, juvenile transfer
Sentencing:
-Alternative sanctions, indeterminate sentencing
Corrections:
-Institutional classification, conditional release, community supervision, community notification, duty to warn
Compared to other offenders, psychopaths:
Begin criminal career earlier
Persist longer
More violent and versatile
More likely to victimize strangers
Personality disorder
Chronic disturbance in relating to self, others & environment
Culturally abnormal Evident in multiple domains of functioning Evident across situations Clinically significant distress/impairment Early onset -Stable over time Not due to other mental disorder Not due to medical condition
Antisocial personality disorder (APD)
Definition: There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.
After age of 15 years, 3 or more of: Repeatedly engaging in criminal acts Deceitfulness Impulsivity Irritability Reckless behaviours Irresponsibility Lack of remorse
Some underlying common problems that can define psychopathy
Fearlessness
-Specific deficit in fearlessness (Lykken)
Hypo-emotionality
-A generalized deficit in processing of emotional stimuli (Hare, Blair, Patrick)
Cognitive
-Context-specific attentional deficit (Newman)
Some underlying biological abnormality in psychos
Limbic/VMF dysfunction
-Failure to integrate affect in executive planning (Blair, Newman)
Inter-hemispheric transfer dysfunction
-Difficulty with information that requires hemisphere-specific processing (Hare)
Behavioural genetic abnormality
-Extreme variant of normal traits (Livesley, Widiger)
Environmental Factors that suggest psychopathy
Family background variables that predict psychopathy (Farrington, 2006): Parent with criminal history Uninvolved father (risk factor for men) Low family income Physical neglect
Adversaral allegiance
Tendency for forensic experts to be biased towards the side that hired them
Psychopathy & Violence
Psychopaths engage in instrumental violence
-Target strangers, motivated by revenge or external gain
Motives for homicide(planned or motivated by external gain)
Sexual sadism related to psychopathy
Psychopathy & Sexual Violence
Highly associated with violence
-Only weakly associated with sexual violence (Brown & Forth, 1997)
Hare Psychopathy Checklists (original, revised, screening versions)
Dr. Robert Hare UBC: Revised based on clinical experience & psychometric evaluation
Most popular method for assessing psychopathy:
Require clinical/expert judgment
Based on all available clinical data
-Review of collateral material (required)
-Interview (recommended)
20 item rating scale that uses semi structured interview and a review of file info to assess interpersonal, affective, and behavioural features of psychopathy
Factor 1 - interpersonal & affective: strongly related to predatory violence and poor treatment response
Factor 2- combination of unstable and socially deviant traits: strongly correlated to re-offending substance abuse, lack of education and family background
Symptom Clusters: the argued 3 factor model
Arrogant and Deceitful Interpersonal Style (Factor 1)
-Superficial, egocentric, & manipulative
Deficient Affective Experience (Factor 2)
-Shallow emotions, callous, & lack remorse
Impulsive and Irresponsible Behavioural Style (Factor 3)
-Impulsive, sensation-seeking, & lack goals
PCL-R Limitations
Required detailed interview & case information
Some items based on criminal records
Some items more global & trait-like
-Others more specific & behavioural
Some items were markers rather than symptoms
- “Previous diagnosis of psychopath”
- Antisocial behaviour not direct result of alcohol/drug use
Qualifications for administering PCL-R
Used independently: Licensed/registered professional PhD with psychometric training Forensic experience Specific training
Used with supervision:
Supervisor assumes full professional and ethical responsibility
Ethical issues with PCL-R
Unqualified users
Lack of expertise
Deviation from recommended practice
-E.g., exclusive file review, no interview
Violate test security
-Send materials to unqualified people
PCL:SV (Hart et al., 1995)
Short form or Screening Version
- Some items dropped
- Others combined with similar items
Items scoring based on limited information
-No access to official criminal records required
12 items
Rated on 3-point scale
0 = absent; 1 = possible/partial; 2 = present
Screening, not diagnosis
Juvenile Psychopathy
It is assumed that psychopathic traits manifest themselves at an early age
Evidence that psychopathic traits can be assessed reliably and validly in juveniles
Assessed using the PCL:YV
-other ones too
PCL:YV (Forth et al., 2003)
Concerns about the test:
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version( between ages 12-18)
Concerns:
Very new
Limited evidence supporting validity of psychopathic PD in adolescents
Increasing evidence that PCL:YV scores are stable from adolescence into adulthood
Issue of labeling youth as a psychopath
Some characteristics of psychopathy common features of a normally developing youth
Antisocial Process Screening Device
Observer Rating Scale to asess psychopathic traits in children
Designed for assessing the precursors of psychopathy
3 Factors: Callous-unemotional, impulsivity, and narcissism
Incarcerated adolescents with a high score:
Got involved in delinquency at earlier age
Engaged in a wider variety of antisocial behaviours
Committed more violent and non-violent offences
Psychopathy in juveniles associated with:
Institutional and community aggression
Violence
Treatment non-compliance
Psychopathy & Treatment
Most clinicians and researchers are pessimistic about treating psychopaths
Deemed untreatable
Issues regarding psychopath treatment
- Psychopaths more likely to engage in disruptive behaviour during treatment
- Psychopaths less likely to remain in treatment
-But those who do show benefits (Olver & Wong, 2009)
Youth psychopathy may be more amenable to treatment - Psychopaths more likely than others to be convicted after treatment