Addiction disorders, psychopathy and crime in the light of empirical studies results

Abstract

The paper is based on the available empirical researches and examines the scientific basis of widely accepted thesis about the connection of substance addiction, psychopathy and crime. The analysis of research results indicated that correlation between the observed phenomena exists not only at a symptomatic level, but also at the level of etiology. It was established that the same risk factors underly alcoholism, drug addiction, psychopathy and criminal behavior. It was also found that the presence of conduct disorders at an early age (before the age of 15) indicates that psychopathic disorder is primary and that in this case, psychopathy is a reliable predictor of addiction and penal treatment failure, and also that it contributes substantially to addictive and criminal recidivism. Highly aggressive and poorly controlled psychopaths under the desinhibited influence of substances become even more violent and dangerous and most of them have a polysubstance disorder. Therefore, for the prevention of all three maladaptive forms, particularly important is the category of minors with early disruptive behavior, characterized by lower verbal ability, increased impulsivity and high aggressiveness as a main feature of psychopathy. Judging by research findings, the absence of conduct disorders in juvenile period could be considered as an indicator that psychopathic and criminal behavior occur as a secondary effect of substance abuse, with better chances for rehabilitation.