Role Of Psychopathy Research Articles

Unveiling Global Trends in Reactive and Proactive Aggression: A Cutting-Edge Bibliometric Analysis

This bibliometric mapping discusses the research landscape of proactive and reactive aggression, key authors, collaborative networks, and trends in scholarly publishing for the past two decades. The study, using tools like VOSviewer, shows important patterns in co-authorship, citation networks, and keyword co-occurrence. The leading personalities include Adrian Raine, Paula J. Fite, Richard E. Tremblay, and Paul J. Frick. Heavy contributors to the knowledge about aggression from biological, psychological, and developmental perspectives are identified. Co-authorship is intense, especially on topics dealing with neuro-criminology, childhood and adolescent behavior, and the role of psychopathy in violent behavior. The analysis shows that from the year 2009, the publication of works has grown rapidly to their peak in the year 2022, reflecting an upward spiral of interest and interdisciplinary research on aggression. Dominant keywords like "aggression," "reactive," "proactive," "psychopathy," and "conduct disorder" point to the core themes of research on emotional regulation, developmental trajectories, and clinical interventions. This review has come to a close that studies in the field of aggression have now developed into a multi-disciplinary science, embracing neuroscience, psychology, criminology, and social science knowledge to further advance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of aggressive behavior and develop various treatments. Future research will have to go on filling in areas of investigation that are underrepresented, including but not limited to aggression at the interface with particular demographic variables and newer approaches to intervention.

Criminal Lifestyle Among Women Who Committed Crimes: The Role of Psychopathy

ABSTRACT Research on women who committed crimes has not followed the same developments of males who committed crimes. The study of psychopathy and criminal lifestyle in female populations is one of the main gaps. This study aimed to better understand the construct of psychopathy among women who committed crimes, analyzing its relationship with criminal lifestyle. Sixty-three incarcerated women convicted of different crimes participated in this study. Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form-Revised (LSCF-R) were filled in. Females showed low scores on the total psychopathy score. The interpersonal and lifestyle facets were the highest scored, while the antisocial was the lowest scored. Positive correlations between criminal lifestyle and total psychopathy and lifestyle and antisocial facets were found. After controlling for age and criminal variables, total psychopathy and the lifestyle facet emerge as variables associated with a criminal lifestyle. These results are particularly relevant for the design of prevention and intervention policies in female offenses and for risk assessments.

Revisiting the Relationships between Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) Facets and Sexual Recidivists versus Nonsexual Recidivists

ABSTRACT The role of psychopathy in Asian samples has not been well reported. This study tests the ability of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) to predict sexual recidivists compared to nonsexual recidivists. A total of 451 Korean male high-risk offenders were assessed by the PCL-R in 2005, and 445 offenders recidivated by 2016. Factor 1 (interpersonal-affective) and facet 2 (affective) showed the highest effect size of 0.53 in a comparison between sexual recidivists (n = 201) and nonsexual recidivists (n = 244). We further tested four facets for different forms of recidivism using one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Sexual recidivists scored significantly higher in facet 2 than misdemeanors (n = 59, d = 0.79), robbers (n = 31, d = 0.58), burglars (n = 33, d = 0.57), and murderers (n = 65, d = 0.54). The highest effect sizes were found in facet 2 (d = 0.79) to separate sex offenders from misdemeanors, followed by Factor 1 (d = 0.75) and facet 1 (d = 0.73) to separate sex offenders from burglars. Finally, hierarchical binary logistic regression revealed that only facet 2 (27.3%) predicted sexual recidivism, indicating the importance of personality traits over behavioral traits in predicting sexual violence.

Fraud and Theft in Female Offenders: The Role of Psychopathy and Empathy

Not all psychopathic individuals commit fraud and theft, and the converse is also true. Similarly, sex differences play a key role in the link between psychopathy and theft/fraudulent offending. Despite the increasing proportion of females in correctional facilities, the link between female-specific crime and psychopathy has received limited attention, and a dearth of research exists on female criminal offender profiles. The present study aimed to examine the relations between psychopathy, empathy, and theft/fraudulent crime in female offenders to better understand these gender-specific pathways to incarceration.

The role of psychopathy and childhood maltreatment in homicidal ideation

PurposeTo investigate the relationship psychopathy and childhood maltreatment have on homicidal ideation. MethodsData was collected from 326 criminal justice involved individuals and analyzed using negative binomial regression. Psychopathy was measured using the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment Super-Short Form. Childhood maltreatment included physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. ResultsFindings showed that psychopathy is a significantly and positively related to homicidal ideation. However, only two of the three subscales of psychopathy remained significant when the construct was disaggregated. Childhood maltreatment was a significant predictor of homicidal ideation in all of the models. ConclusionOverall, the findings suggest that researchers should continue to examine not just psychopathy but also the subscales of psychopathy. Moreover, childhood maltreatment was evidenced to be an important factor for criminologists and criminal justice practitioners to be aware of.

Entrepreneurial Intention and Gender: The Role of Psychopathy in Overcoming Gender Role Expectations

This study examines the moderating effect of psychopathy on the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intentions. Psychopathy is an antisocial personality trait that enables individuals to overcome social norms associated with gender and work roles. We employ role-congruity theory and a two-study approach with distinct samples in two countries, the United States and Russia, to test whether non-institutionalized levels of psychopathy increase intentions across both genders. Findings from both studies support our hypotheses that gender differentially influences entrepreneurial intentions, with men reporting higher entrepreneurial intentions than women. However, we find that psychopathy moderates this relationship, but more so in women. We offer future research directions and practical implications regarding the role of dark traits on promoting entrepreneurial intentions and activities.

Psychopathy in Italian female murderers.

Over the years, the number of homicides in Italy has progressively decreased, ultimately becoming one of the lowest rates in Europe (357 = 0.7 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, according to ISTAT). The number of homicides committed by women was about 9% of the total number of homicides during our study period. The percentage has increased in recent years because the total number of homicides has decreased without a proportionate decrease in the number of female homicides. Indeed, murder is an unusual type of crime for a woman and is often associated with a mental disorder, so when a woman committed a homicide, a psychiatric assessment was often performed. A forensic psychiatry expert was assigned to investigate the offender's psychopathology and mental state at the time of the offense. The root causes of the crime remained unexplained, however, due to the lack of a psychiatric precedent to justify this kind of assessment. The role of psychopathy in homicide has seldom been studied in female offenders, even though psychopathy has an important role in violent crimes. The investigators examined, clinically and historically, a sample of women who committed murder with different levels of criminal responsibility (female homicide offenders found not guilty by reason of insanity, having partial criminal responsibility, and convicted as criminally responsible and sentenced to prison) to identify the prevalence of the psychopathic dimension and its possible role in this sample. Prevalence and degree of psychopathic traits were examined in these female offenders using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. This study showed that females who had committed homicide were likely to suffer from mental illness; most of the homicidal acts were committed impulsively; and most female homicides occurred within the family, especially among women who were psychotic, but less so if they were psychopathic. Psychopathy tended to co-occur more with personality disorders than with psychotic psychopathology. Psychopathy was more evident among female homicide offenders who had been abused or traumatized. Psychopathic women who killed had high factor F1 scores and low antisocial component of factor F2.

Psychopathy, Neuroticism, and Abusive Behavior in Low Risk Child Sex Offenders

ABSTRACTPersonality traits are considered as an important aspect in the assessment of child sex offenders (CSOs). The current study sought to elucidate the association between neuroticism, psychopathy, and abusive behavior in low risk CSOs. 43 pedophilic CSOs and 21 controls (CTLs) completed the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), and Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI). Our results revealed small differences in PCL scores between CSOs and CTLs, with comparatively low levels of psychopathy in both groups. Higher levels of neuroticism were associated with higher PCL scores, in both CSOs and CTLs. However, higher PCL scores in CSOs did not correlate with higher MSI total scores on the subscale child molest. These findings suggest an ambiguous role of psychopathy in CSOs: higher levels of psychopathy co-occur with higher levels of neuroticism, but psychopathy does apparently not modulate abusive behavior, at least not in low risk offenders, as currently investigated.

Identifying vulnerability to violence: the role of psychopathy and gender

PurposeRecent research has suggested that a heightened sensitivity to nonverbal cues may give individuals with psychopathic traits an advantage when selecting potential victims. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of gender on the association between psychopathy and perceptions of vulnerability to violent victimization.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 291 undergraduate students viewed a series of eight videos depicting individual female targets walking down a hallway from behind. Participants rated each target’s vulnerability to violent victimization and provided a justification for each rating. In addition to these ratings, participants completed the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.FindingsA series of hierarchical linear regressions revealed gender differences in the association between psychopathy and accuracy. Among male observers, total psychopathy scores, Factor 2 psychopathy scores, and scores on the antisocial behavior facet were positively associated with accuracy in perceiving vulnerability to violent victimization. Conversely, no associations were identified between psychopathy (total, Factors, and facets) and accuracy among female observers. This suggests that the adept ability to accurately perceive nonverbal cues signalling vulnerability is specific to males exhibiting psychopathic traits.Originality/valueThe results of the current study highlight the importance of distinguishing male and female psychopathy in research and practice. Moreover, with an understanding of individual differences in the ability to accurately perceive nonverbal cues associated with vulnerability, we may begin to develop intervention strategies aimed at reducing future incidences of victimization.

The prevalence of psychopathic personality disturbances among incarcerated youth: Comparing serious, chronic, violent and sex offenders

PurposeThere is a small but growing body of research on the role of psychopathy in juvenile sex offending. This can be contrasted with a larger and growing body of research examining the presence and prevalence of psychopathy on the development of serious and violent offending behavior among youth more generally. Currently, it remains unclear as to whether JSO may represent specific subgroups of JNSO, particularly in terms of psychopathic personality disturbances. MethodsThe current study examined the dimensions and prevalence of psychopathy using the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) in a sample of serious and violent incarcerated youth. ResultsThe findings indicated that JSO had a significantly higher prevalence of psychopathy compared to violent, non-violent and chronic JNSO in the sample. In addition, there were important similarities and differences across the dimensions of the PCL: YV between JSO compared to specific subgroups of chronic and violent JNSO. ConclusionsTaken together, psychopathic personality disturbances appear to distinguish antisocial JSO from serious and violent JNSO.

A Comparison of Domestic and Non-Domestic Homicides: Further Evidence for Distinct Dynamics and Heterogeneity of Domestic Homicide Perpetrators

To facilitate a deeper understanding of domestic homicide (DH), the correctional files of 37 male DH perpetrators were examined. Victim, perpetrator and offense characteristics were compared against those from 78 non-domestic homicide perpetrator files to elucidate distinct dynamics. Risk factors preceding DHs were identified retrospectively using the revised Danger Assessment (DA; Campbell et al. 2009), and the role of psychopathy was explored via the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare 2003). DHs exhibited distinctive dynamics, especially in terms of perpetrators’ predominant drives to inflict harm out of proprietary revenge. Most DHs did not occur “out of the blue”, as 82.9 % of cases showed elements of planning; and 86.5 % were identified as a homicide risk according to the revised DA. Psychopathic DH perpetrators were less likely to act suicidal prior to homicides and more likely to kill in a dispassionate, premeditated and gratuitously violent manner. The findings underscore the importance of coordinated community responses.

Hypersexuality in college students: The role of psychopathy

Psychopathy is a maladaptive personality style that is marked by hypersexual activity that may put the individual or others at risk for unintended consequences such as pregnancy, STDs, pain, and emotional distress. The current study examined associations between psychopathic personality traits and normative sexual risk taking behaviors. In a sample of undergraduate students (n=393), we examined psychopathy, with an emphasis on the two facets of Fearless-Dominance and Impulsive-Antisociality, and various aspects of hypersexuality (e.g., sexual sensation seeking, compulsivity, excitation, and disinhibition), including risky sexual behavior. Both psychopathy facets, particularly Impulsive-Antisociality, were distinctly associated with all forms of hypersexuality. An interaction effect for the two psychopathy facets was found for predicting risky sexual behavior, indicating that scoring high on both facets was a stronger predictor of hypersexuality than scoring high on either facet in isolation. The psychopathy effects were present even when controlling for general sensation seeking, impulsivity, and antisociality.

Disparities in the moral intuitions of criminal offenders: The role of psychopathy

The present study examined whether and in what ways psychopathy is associated with abnormal moral intuitions among criminal offenders. Using Haidt et al.’s Moral Foundations Questionnaire, 222 adult male offenders assessed for clinical psychopathy reported their degree of support for five moral domains: Harm Prevention, Fairness, Respect for Authority, Ingroup Loyalty, and Purity/Sanctity. As predicted, psychopathy total score explained a substantial proportion of the variance in reduced support for Harm Prevention and Fairness, but not the other domains. These results confirm that psychopathy entails a discrete set of moral abnormalities and suggest that these abnormalities could potentially help to explain the characteristic antisocial behavior of individuals with psychopathy.

On risking risk assessment of delinquent juveniles: Some questions concerning the role of psychopathy

In recent years much research effort has been directed at assessing psychopathic personality disorder in juveniles and at devising structured assessment procedures for recidivism risk. Clinicians, however, are often reluctant to incorporate this recent research into their practice. While accepting the importance of a better understanding of the development of psychopathic personality disorder, we discuss three arguments against the uncritical application of current research findings concerning the disorder and its clinical value as a risk factor. We briefly review empirical evidence for the role of the disorder in risk assessment. A developmental psychopathology argument against current thinking about juvenile psychopathic personality disorder, and a criminological argument against risk assessment but in favor of a desistance approach to delinquency are discussed.

Review of The psychopath: Theory, research and practice.

HUGUES HERVE and JOHN C. YUILLE The Psychopath: Theory, Research and Practice New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007, 592 Pages (ISBN: 0-8058-5053-8, C$135.00, Cloth) Reviewed by MARC NESCA The Psychopath: Theory, Research, ana Practice is an edited text that grew out of a 2000 Festschrift celebrating Dr. Hare's retirement from academia. The identified audience for this book includes both lay (e.g., judges) and professional (e.g., forensic practitioners) consumers, as well as students and researchers. The book begins with an historical overview of the construct of psychopathy and then works its way through a variety of important issues, including measurement, etiology, behavioural manifestations of the disorder, typologies, and practice considerations. The first section opens with a balanced and informative overview of the psychopathy literature written by Dr. Hare. This overview highlights progress made since the emergence of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) as the gold standard diagnostic instrument for psychopathy, with links drawn to the diverse areas of inquiry that have been impacted by Dr. Hare's work. The main theme of this chapter is that our understanding of psychopathy has increased significantly as a result of the development of a valid and reliable diagnostic instrument. Indeed, Dr. Hare explicitly warns that loosening of the operational definition of psychopathy may ... result in a partial return to the conceptual and measurement confusion JA that held sway some 20 years ago (p. 7). Among the high points of this book are chapters examining the affective-interpersonal features of psychopathy, the link between psychopathy and crime scene analysis, psychopathy in women, psychopathy in youth, and the role of psychopathy in domestic violence. The latter includes a very interesting, albeit quite brief, discussion of treatment issues for psychopathic batterers. The chapter on psychopathy in women is also very well written and includes a clear synthesis of current knowledge about psychopathic women. Measurement issues in the study of psychopathic youths, as well as the conceptual underpinnings of the PCL-YV, also receive solid reviews. Similarly, Dr. O'Toole's chapter on crime scene analysis is quite interesting and informative. The proposed typology (based on the work of the first editor) is consistent with the four-factor model of psychopathy preferred by Dr. Hare and promises to have more clinical relevance than other existing typologies. To my mind, however, the chapter examining the affective-interpersonal features of psychopathy is the true highlight of this book. Dr. Patrick's writing style is pleasant and engaging while maintaining scientific integrity, and his review of findings from such diverse fields of inquiry as neuroscience and social psychology is outstanding. Finally, the proposed dual-process model of psychopathy is elegant, parsimonious, and both clinically and scientifically compelling. In fact, the only obvious flaw in this chapter is the poor quality of the figures. Parenthetically, with very few exceptions, this problem mars the entire book, with most figures appearing to be little more than simple photocopies of presentation overheads or slides. In fact, the quality of some figures is sufficiently poor to render them useless. The remaining chapters in this book are unfortunately of lesser quality: Some provide little beyond superficial reviews of well-known bodies of work (e.g., psychopathy and violent crime), while others stray off topic to the point that psychopathy becomes secondary to some other issue. Chapter three, for example, often strays into discussions and opinions regarding general risk assessment and, in this reviewer's opinion, includes far too much discussion of the VRAG (a risk assessment instrument developed by the authors of the chapter) for a text on psychopathy. Chapters four and five overlap considerably and focus on statistical issues to a degree that is more appropriate for a textbook on statistics than a reference book on psychopathy. …

The Role of Psychopathy and Sexuality in a Female Serial Killer

The case of Aileen Wuornos, executed in Florida for the serial killing of seven men, is studied to determine her degree of psychopathy and the presence or absence of sexuality or sexual sadism as a motivation or gratification for her crimes. The authors, one of whom evaluated the subject shortly before her death, determined that she evidenced a psychopathic personality (PCL-R score 32). She also met DSM-IV-TR criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. While her killings ostensibly were carried out during routine acts of prostitution, there was ambiguous evidence that her crimes were sexually motivated or gratifying. Her articulated motivation was robbery and elimination of the witness/victim. After carefully considering all available data, the authors concluded there was no convincing evidence of sexual sadism in either her personal history or her method of committing serial murder, and it remains unclear whether sexual gratification was to some degree a motivating factor in her commission of these offenses. The confluence of early childhood attachment disruptions, severe psychopathy, other personality disorder pathology, and a traumagenic abuse history likely contributed to her having serially murdered seven victims.

The role of psychopathy in assessing risk for violence: Conceptual and methodological issues

Purpose. There is growing evidence that psychopathic (dissocial) personality disorder is associated with violence. The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of psychopathy in clinical assessments of risk for violence.Arguments. Risk assessments are conducted for the purpose of preventing, not predicting, violence. Yet, most research on risk for violence is conducted and interpreted within the framework of a simplistic prediction paradigm, thus underestimating the practical importance of risk factors. Despite this bias, violence predictions based on psychopathy are only slightly less accurate than predictions that cognitive behavioral therapy will reduce symptoms of depression or cardiac bypass surgery will reduce angina pain; and more accurate than predictions that smaller class sizes will lead to improved academic achievement or cardiac bypass surgery will reduce mortality.Conclusion. Information about psychopathy can be used to make relatively accurate predictions of violence. Of course, decisions concerning if and how such information should be used are another matter. The paper concludes with recommendations concerning the appropriate role of psychopathy in violence risk assessments and avenues for future research.

The role of psychopathy in the assessment of dangerousness

The role of psychopathy in the assessment of dangerousness