Psychopathy Predicting Violent Criminal Behaviour among Adult Offenders

Abstract

The aim of the present research was to examine the role of psychopathy in predicting violent offending within a sample of adult criminal inmates from the prisons of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan (KPK). T-test and logistic regression was used to analyse the data. Logistic regression analysis revealed that a higher level of egocentricity and a higher level of antisocial behaviour predict a greater probability of committing violent offence. These findings provide important implications for future research in Pakistan, specifically concerning psychopathy as a risk factor for criminal and violent behaviour. The present findings will help to inform legal decisions as to whether inmates should be incarcerated as violent criminals or non-violent criminals. The conclusions of the present research are limited to incarcerated adult male offenders only; therefore, the present study remains unable to reflect the development of psychopathy in either females or the general population.
 Keywords: Antisocial, Egocentricity, Incarcerated, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Psychopathy