Module 12 - Psychopathy

Robert Hare (1990)

"A diagnosis whose time has come"

- Based on the fact of antisocial personality disorder diagnosis in the DSM is useless, too ambiguous, and doesn't indicate much

Psychopathy

More rare and specific; describes dangerous offenders with predatory behavior.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

DSM diagnosis focused mainly on behavior; often over-applied and not indicative of personality traits.

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)- 1991,2003

Developed by Robert Hare

- Psychological tool used to diagnose psychopathy

- Structured like this: drug and alc use, sexual and relationship history, family history, content based --> animosity, remorse, etc. towards case or victims, explain about crime, etc..

- is scored by what they're telling you but also by the way they're telling it

How is each trait scored?

- Each trait is scored 0, 1, or 2

0= no evidence of trait

1= something they have a history of, present, but not majorly

2= significant evidence of the trait

How is the PCLR scored?

- scored 0-40

- Higher the score, the higher the psychopathy level

What are the other versions of PCLR?

- PCL-SV (screening version)-2014

--> Basically a shorter version

- PCL-YV (Youth version)

--> Childhood Psychopathy

How many PCLR traits are there?

20 traits with 3 categories

A. Emotional/Affective Traits-Glibness & Superficial Charm

- The short term ability to be superficially charming --> appear charming but it is very surface level and hard for them to maintain

- Know how to read social situations

- Shallow if you look deeply

- Like to sound intelligent

A. Emotional/Affective Traits- Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth

- Believing they are better than others, that others do/should look up to them

- Believing they are owed certain things

- When things go poorly they blame others

- Deep psychological need to be worshipped

A. Emotional/Affective Traits- Pathological Lying

- lie more often, more easily, tend to not feel anxiety when they lie

- tend to lie about things they do not need to lie about

- use it to escape an immediate situation --> default= make stuff up in the moment

A. Emotional/Affective Traits- Conning & Manipulation

- People lie with intention of deceiving others for personal profit

- find comfort in manipulation

A. Emotional/Affective Traits- Lack of remorse/guilt

- Not feeling badly about the things they've done

- Lack of subconsciousness voice telling them its wrong

- sometimes confused when being questioned whether they feel badly about their actions because the thought of it geniunely hasn't crossed their mind

A. Emotional/Affective Traits- Callousness, lack of empathy

- being cold, distant, aloof, simply not caring about others

- general lack of empathy for all people

- look for opportunities to hurt people

A. Emotional/Affective Traits-Shallow affect (mood, emotion)

- Feeling emotions at a very superficial level

- know what emotions are and how to trick others into thinking they feel them depending on how sophisticated they are

- Feel emotions like anger especially

B. Behavioral Traits - Need for Stimulation

- Risk taking = common

- Abnormal fear responses

- jobs bore them easily

- easily frustrated by sitting around

- need for excitment that is more pronounced than that of a normal person (ex: addiction to gambling, fast driving, drug stimulant use, etc)

B. Behavioral Traits - Parasitic Lifestyle

- Good at leeching off others

- Looking to take advantage of others

B. Behavioral Traits - Poor Behavioral Controls

- Not being able to resist temptation

- Having an impulse and acting on it

- Hard time delaying gratification

B. Behavioral Traits - Early Behavioral Problems

- Serious issues with behavior during childhood

B. Early Behavioral Problems - Impulsivity

-acts without thinking or considering consequences

B. Early Behavioral Problems - Irresponsibility

Fails to meet daily obligations or commitments

B. Early Behavioral Problems - Juvenile Delinquency

Criminal or antisocial behavior in youth

C. Additional Factors- Criminal Versatility

Engages in many different types of crime

Primary Psychopathy

a subtype of psychopathy in which the individual is free from anxiety and best represents a true psychopath

Secondary Psychopathy

High anxiety; emotional instability

Triarchic Model - Boldness

- High social assertiveness

- Emotionally resilient (handles stress well)

- Comfortable taking risks

- Confident, dominant style

- Can include adaptive traits (ex: leadership)

Triarchic Model - Disinhibition

- Impulse control problems = acting on immediate urges

- Behaviors driven by present feelings, not future consequences

- Traits: impulsivity, irresponsibility, impatience

- Lack of planning and poor delayed gratification

- Emotional issues: hostility, mistrust, anger

- Difficulty regulating emotions

Examples: careless actions, cheating, binge eating

- Also includes substance abuse or sudden anger outbursts

Triarchic Model - Meanness

- little to no understanding of others' feelings

- Callousness = emotional hardness, no concern for others

- contempt, arrogance, disrespect in relationships

Exploitative behavior: using others for personal gain

- Cruelty: willingness to harm others (physically or emotionally) for thrill or benefit

Psychopaths show unique psychological and cognitive differences, including:

- Poor response perseveration (difficulty shifting attention; keep repeating behavior even when it fails)

- Poor allocation of attentional resources

- Inability to delay gratification

- Abnormal processing of affective/emotional information

- Abnormal memory of emotional events

- Poor understanding of emotions

More Disruptive in Prison

Psychopaths cause more problems in correctional settings, often breaking rules or provoking conflict

Increased Recidivism

Psychopaths are more likely to reoffend after release compared to other offenders

Increased Violent Crimes

They commit a higher number of violent offenses, often with greater severity

Violent While in Prison

They are more likely to engage in assaults, fights, or aggressive incidents behind bars

Increased Escape Risk

Psychopaths show higher tendencies to attempt escape or exploit security weaknesses

No Benefits From Psychotherapy

Traditional therapy is largely ineffective for them; they do not show improvement

Psychotherapy Can Make Them Worse

Therapy may teach them to better manipulate others, increasing dangerous behavior