psychopathy

psychopathy

constellation of personality traits categorized into:
1. callous (disregard for others' suffering)
2. bold, dominant, fearless
3. disinhibited (low impulse control)
- not a diagnosis in DSM-5

are psychopaths always violent/criminals

tend to not be violent
- more prevalent in prison population than general
- risk factor for violence

sociopath

used to describe those who engage in antisocial behaviour

prevalence of psychopathy

1% of general adult population
- more men than women
15-25% of inmates

heritability of psychopathy

genetics account for 50% of psychopathic traits
- NOT innate
- not all members of a family exhibit psychopathic traits

how does psychopathy develop

interaction between genetic and environmental factors
- early indicators in children is conduct disorder

psychopathic brains

- smaller amygdala
- lower activity in amygdala
- deficits in processing emotions of others

mauritius child health project

longitudinal study that used psychophysiological methods to identify children at risk for psychopathy/violence
- studied at 3, 8, 11, 17....40
- fearless + stimulation-seeking + low resting HR + large body at age 3 had increased risk of aggression at 17
- deficits in spatial cognitive ability (3) had increased risk of antisocial behaviour (17)
- malnutrition (3) had externalizing behaviour issues (8, 11, 17)

primary psychopathy

affective/emotional deficit
- unable to experience fear or anxiety
- strongest evidence of biological influence

secondary psychopathy

disinhibition/impulsivity and inattention
- antisocial, unstable lifestyle
- strongest evidence of environmental influence

psychopathy checklist revised (PCL-R)

most common measure for assessing psychopathy
- 20-item scale, with scores from 0-40
- score of 30+ + characterized as a psychopath

hare's structure of psychopathy

factor 1: interpersonal & affective traits
factor 2: lifestyle & antisocial traits

treatment of psychopathy

several studies show that treatment tends to increase recidivism rates among psychopaths
- treatment efforts helped them learn novel ways to commit crime

meta-analysis of treatment for psychopathy

- beneficial if long term and intensive
- adults show low to moderate success (60% benefited)
- schema therapy has some success
- treating youth with behavioural parent training is more promising
- still in the process of figuring it out

crime costs of psychopathic personality disorder

most expensive disorder: ~12 to 53B per year in Canada
- as opposed to 6B for schizophrenia and 4B for transportation injury

violence risk assessment

process of evaluating violence risk posed by a perpetrator
- help us understand why and how one decided to engage in violence

violence risk management

process of mitigating the violence risk posed by a perpetrator
- helps us figure out how to prevent future violence

motivators

perceived rewards of violent crime

disinhibitors

perceived costs of violent crime
- impairs judgement (e.g. lack of empathy)

destabilizers

- reduces ability to make careful decisions