Psychopathy, criminal social identity, and criminal network among murderers, attempted murderers, recidivists and first-time incarcerated juveniles from Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the current study was to examine the differences in primary and secondary psychopathy scores, criminal social identity dimensions (cognitive centrality, in-group affect, and in-group ties), and criminal network between four groups of juvenile offenders: murderers, attempted murderers, recidivistic nonhomicidal offenders, and firsttime nonhomicidal offenders. Participants and procedure: Self-reported data were collected among 725 male youth offenders (Mage = 16.47 years) incarcerated in four prisons in Pakistan. Results: The results revealed no significant differences in scores between the four groups of youth offenders on any of the measured variables. Conclusions: It appears that psychosocial selfreported measures may not be effective in discriminating among youth prison populations.