Forensic Psych Exam 2

Who was the first prominent author on the subject of psychopathy?

Hervey Cleckley

Who developed the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL/PCL-R)?

Robert Hare developed it to assess psychopathy.

What are the four PCL-R facets?

Interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial.

Which PCL-R facet is the most controversial for assessing psychopathy?

The antisocial facet, as it is based on behavior rather than personal traits

What are the prevalence rates of psychopathy in prison settings?

Approximately 15-25% of inmates meet criteria for psychopathy.

What proportion of inmates with Antisocial Personality Disorder have psychopathy?

90% of psychopaths meet the criteria for ASPD

What do experimental findings suggest about psychopaths’ emotions?

Psychopaths do not process the emotional content of words in the same way that others do

-they lack deep understanding of emotions

-sometimes exhibit sham emotions

What are sham emotions?

Sham emotions are fake emotional displays that psychopaths use to manipulate others.

What is passive avoidance learning?

the inability to learn from behaviors that punish

-hypersensitivity to rewards

-tendency to seek high risk high reward scenarios

What deficits do psychopaths show with regard to passive avoidance learning?

Psychopaths struggle to learn from negative feedback, leading to riskier behaviors.

What is the difference between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder?

Psychopathy is a more specific subset of antisocial personality disorder characterized by emotional deficits.

What is the single biggest risk factor for violence?

psychopathy

What is the difference between instrumental and reactive violence?

Instrumental violence is planned and goal-oriented, whereas reactive violence is impulsive and in response to a threat.

Which type of violence is more distinctive of psychopathy?

Instrumental violence is more characteristic of psychopathy due to its calculated nature.

Which personality disorder may actually be an expression of psychopathy in women?

Borderline Personality Disorder.

True or False: There are meaningful differences in psychopathy scores across Caucasians and African-Americans.

False.

What was Ted Bundy appearing to do during the in-class video?

Ted Bundy was lying, deceitful, displaying sham emotion to manipulate audience

How do psychopaths reason about moral dilemmas?

They tend to lack empathy and often justify harmful actions, they are more likely to take the utilitarian route in moral dilemmas

What do we exclude from our definition of violence and why?

We exclude accidents, sports

-focus on physical harm, easier to measure than mental or emotional

What is the proximate cause of violence?

Immediate situational triggers or stressors.

What is the goal of risk assessment?

To predict the likelihood of future violent behavior.

What is at stake in risk assessment?

Decisions regarding public safety and appropriate interventions.

-probation, security, sentence mitigation, parole, etc

What were the 5 landmark cases for violence risk assessment?

Oconner v Donaldson, Tarasoff v Regents of the University of California, Bartfoot vs Estelle, Kansas v Hendricks

What was the primary approach of the first generation of risk assessment tools?

Clinical judgment with limited empirical support.

How well did these early risk assessments work?

They had limited predictive validity and were often inaccurate.

What are the primary differences between clinical, actuarial, and structured risk assessments?

Clinical assessments are subjective, actuarial assessments use statistical formulas, and structured assessments follow standardized procedures.

What is the most popular actuarial violence risk assessment instrument?

The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG).

How well does the VRAG work?

It shows moderate predictive accuracy for violence risk.

What is the most popular SPJ violence risk assessment instrument?

The Historical, Clinical, Risk Management-20 (HCR-20).

Describe the implications of Kroner, Mills, and Reddon’s coffee can experiment.

Actuarial and Structured Professional
Judgement risk assessments work about the
same

What do researchers believe we should focus on in terms of violence risk assessment research?

Prevention strategies

Describe the difference between static and dynamic risk factors.

Static factors are unchangeable, while dynamic factors can change over time.

What are protective factors?

Factors that decrease the likelihood of violent behavior.

In which three situations are we particularly good at making violence risk predictions?

short term predictions, when we have a lot of information on the individual, when there is a high base rate of violence

How would the average psychologist prefer to communicate risk to the Court?

using categories (low, medium, high risk) because they are less precise and easier to communicate

What is the definition of sexual assault?

Non-consensual use of force to engage in sexual contact or behavior.

What is a paraphilia?

A condition characterized by atypical sexual interests.

What are the differences between a child molester and pedophile?

A child molester engages in sexual acts with anyone under the age of consent, while a pedophile has an enduring sexual attraction to prepubescent children.

What are the two purposes of sex offender evaluations?

1. risk of future sexual offending

2. whether they will respond to treatment

How are sex offender evaluations similar to violence risk assessments?

Both evaluate risk and necessitate judgment about future behaviors, has the same debates of clinical vs actuarial vs spj

What is a penile plethysmograph?

A device used to measure sexual arousal in response to stimuli.

Why are penile plethysmographs useful in sex offender assessments?

They provide objective measures of sexual preferences.

Is a sex offender more likely to recidivate for sexual or nonsexual offenses?

Sex offenders are more likely to recidivate for NON sexual offenses

What has research concluded regarding structured professional judgment instruments and actuarial instruments for assessing risk in sexual offenders?

Both methods provide valuable information, but actuarial instruments may have greater predictive validity

-different measures suited for different situations

SVR-20 (professional judgement) for risk management

SORAG (actuarial): predicts risk of sexual/nonsexual violence

What are the three components of potentially successful treatment programs for sex offenders?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, target underlying deficits, relapse prevention

How effective is treatment for sex offenders?

Treatment can slightly reduce recidivism rates, but outcomes vary.

What is a significant limitation of research on treatment for sex offenders?

Many studies lack long-term follow-up data, recidivism rates

True or False: Sexual abuse as a child is related to future sexual offending as an adult.

True.

What is the sexual reoffending (recidivism) rate after 10 years for sex offenders?

Around 20-30%.

What is the strongest predictor of sexual reoffending?

Prior sexual offenses.

Why is it difficult to assess risk in juvenile sex offenders?

there is a lack of quality assessment measures for juveniles

What percentage of sex offenders are women?

Approximately 2-5% convicted offenders

What percentage of female sex offenders recidivate?

About 1.5%

According to the John Jay report, what percentage of Catholic priests were estimated to be child molesters?

Approximately 2-4%.

How do contact and non-contact sexual offenders differ from one another?

Contact offenders engage in physical sexual acts, while non-contact offenders do not.

Why are Registration/Notification Laws and Residency Laws not generally effective in reducing sexual violence?

They fail to address the underlying risk factors related to offending

-exacerbate reintegration difficulties