Robert D. Hare

A research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations

Abstract This paper describes an early phase in the development of new research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations. The scale is meant to be a sort of operational definition of the procedures that go into making global ratings of psychopathy. While the interrater reliability of these ratings is very high ( > 0.85) they are difficult to make, require a considerable amount of experience, and the procedures involved are not easily communicated to other investigators. Following a series of analyses, 22 items were chosen as representative of the type of information used in making global ratings. Two investigators then used interview and case-history data to complete the 22-item checklist for 143 male prison inmates. The correlation between the two sets of total checklist scores was 0.93 and coefficient alpha was 0.88, indicating a very high degree of scale reliability. The correlation between the total checklist scores and global ratings of psychopathy was 0.83. A series of multivariate analyses explored the factorial structure of the scale and demonstrated its ability to discriminate very accurately between inmates with high and low ratings of psychopathy. Preliminary indications are that the checklist will hold up well to crossvalidation.

Psychopathy A Clinical Construct Whose Time Has Come

Although the evolution of psychopathy as a formal clinical disorder began more than a century ago, it is only recently that scientifically sound psychometric procedures for its assessment have beco...Although the evolution of psychopathy as a formal clinical disorder began more than a century ago, it is only recently that scientifically sound psychometric procedures for its assessment have become available. The result has been a sharp increase in theoretically meaningful and replicable research findings, both in applied settings and in the laboratory. The construct of psychopathy is proving to be particularly useful in the criminal justice system, where it has important implications for sentencing, diversion, placement, and treatment options and for the assessment of risk for recidivism and violence. Although the etiology of the predatory, cold-blooded nature of psychopathy remains obscure, the theories and methods of cognitive neuroscience and behavioral genetics promise to greatly increase our understanding of this disorder.

Psychopathy and the DSM-IV criteria for antisocial personality disorder.

The Axis II Work Group of the Task Force on DSM-IV has expressed concern that antisocial personality disorder (APD) criteria are too long and cumbersome and that they focus on antisocial behaviors rather than personality traits central to traditional conceptions of psychopathy and to international criteria. We describe an alternative to the approach taken in the rev. 3rd ed. of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987), namely, the revised Psychopathy Checklist. We also discuss the multisite APD field trials designed to evaluate and compare four criteria sets: the DSM-III-R criteria, a shortened list of these criteria, the criteria for dyssocial personality disorder from the 10th ed. of the International Classification of Diseases (World Health Organization, 1990), and a 10-item criteria set for psychopathic personality disorder derived from the revised Psychopathy Checklist.

Limbic abnormalities in affective processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND Psychopathy is a complex personality disorder of unknown etiology. Central to the disorder are anomalies or difficulties in affective processing. METHODS Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to elucidate the neurobiological correlates of these anomalies in criminal psychopaths during performance of an affective memory task. RESULTS Compared with criminal nonpsychopaths and noncriminal control participants, criminal psychopaths showed significantly less affect-related activity in the amygdala/hippocampal formation, parahippocampal gyrus, ventral striatum, and in the anterior and posterior cingulate gyri. Psychopathic criminals also showed evidence of overactivation in the bilateral fronto-temporal cortex for processing affective stimuli. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that the affective abnormalities so often observed in psychopathic offenders may be linked to deficient or weakened input from limbic structures.

The revised Psychopathy Checklist: Reliability and factor structure.

The revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) is a 20-item scale scored from interview and file information. Analyses of data from 5 prison samples (N= 92 5) and 3 forensic psychiatric samples (N= 356) indicate that the revised PCL resembles its 22-item predecessor in all important respects. It has excellent psychometric properties, and it measures 2 correlated factors that were cross-validated both within and between samples. Correlations between the original PCL and the revised version approached unity for both the factors and the full scale. We conclude that the revised PCL measures the same construct as the original and that the PCL is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of psychopathy in male forensic populations.

Psychopathy : theory, research, and implications for society

1. The Alvor Advanced Study Institute R.D. Hare. 2. Psychopathy Across Cultures D.J. Cooke. 3. Psychopathy and Normal Personality T.A. Widiger. 4. The Phenotypic and Genotypic Structure of Psychopathic Traits W.J. Livesley. 5. Psychopathic Behavior: An Information Processing Perspective J.P. Newman. 6. Psychopathy, Affect and Behavior R.D. Hare. 7. Biology and Personality: Findings from a Longitudinal Project B.A. Klinteberg. 8. Callous-Unemotional Traits and Conduct Problems: Applying the Two-Factor Model of Psychopathy to Children P.J. Frick. 9. Comorbidities and Biological Correlates of Conduct Disorder K. McBurnett, L. Pfiffner. 10. Psychopathy in Adolescence: Assessment, Violence, and Developmental Precursors A.E. Forth, H.C. Burke. 11. Major Mental Disorder and Crime: An Etiological Hypothesis S. Hodgins, et al. 12. Comorbidity of Psychopathy with Major Mental Disorders N. Nedopil, et al. 13. Psychopathy and Personality Disorder: Implications of Interpersonal Theory R. Blackburn. 14. Treatment and Management of Psychopaths F. Losel. 15. Psychopathy and Risk for Violence S.D. Hart. 16. Psychopathy and Crime: Recidivism and Criminal Careers J.F. Hemphill, et al. 17. Legal Issues Associated with the Concept of Psychopathy J.P. Ogloff, D.R. Lyon. Index. List of Contributors.

The Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R)

The Psychopathy Checklist (PCL; Hare, 1980) and its revision (PCL-R; Hare, 1985a, in press) are clinical rating scales that provide researchers and clinicians with reliable and valid assessments of psychopathy. Their development was spurred largely by dissatisfactions with the ways in which other assessment procedures defined and measured psychopathy (Hare, 1980, 1985b).

Psychopathy and Recidivism in Adolescent Sex Offenders

Psychopathy, as measured by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), has emerged as one of the most important factors in understanding and predicting adult criminal behavior, including sex offending. The authors used extensive file information to score a youth version of the PCL-R (the PCL:YV) for 220 adolescent males in an outpatient sex offender treatment program. The authors coded charges and convictions for an average of 55 months following cessation of treatment. The PCL:YV was positively and significantly related to total, violent, and nonviolent reoffense rates. Offenders with a high PCL:YV score and penile plethysmographic evidence of deviant sexual arousal prior to treatment were at very high risk for general reoffending. The results suggest that psychopathy may have much the same implications for the criminal justice system in adolescent offenders as it does in adult offenders.

Performance of Male Psychopaths Following Conditional Release from Prison.

Dans une population de psychopathes liberes sur parole (n=231), les auteurs ont administre le «Psychopathy Checklist» (PCL): une relation significative fut trouvee entre les scores obtenus et les taux de recidive

Capturing the four-factor structure of psychopathy in college students via self-report.

A number of self-report psychopathy scales have been used successfully in both clinical and nonclinical settings. However, their factor structure does not adequately capture the four factors (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, and Antisocial) recently identified in the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) and related measures. This deficit was addressed by upgrading the Self Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP-II; Hare, Hemphill, & Harpur, 1989). In Study 1 (N = 249), an exploratory factor analysis of this experimental version revealed oblique factors similar to those outlined by Hare (2003). In Study 2 (N = 274), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed this structure, that is, four distinct but intercorrelated factors. The factors exhibited appropriate construct validity in a nomological network of related personality measures. Links with self-reports of offensive activities (including entertainment preferences and behavior) also supported the construct validity of the oblique four-factor model.