CRIM 103 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
20 PSYCHOPATHIC TRAITS - Answers - #1 Glibness and superficial
#2 Grandiose sense of self-worth
#3 High need for stimulation/prone to boredom
#4 Pathological lying
#5 Cunning/manipulative
#6 Lack of remorse or guilt
#7 Shallow affect
#8 Callous, lack of empathy
#9 Parasitic lifestyle
#10 Poor behavioral controls
#11 Promiscuous sexual behavior
#12 Early behavior problems
#13 Lack of realistic long-term goals
#14 Impulsivity (spontaneous types of crime)
#15 Irresponsibility
#16 Failure to accept responsibility for actions
#17 Many short-term marital relationships
#18 Juvenile delinquency
#19 Revocation of conditional release
#20 Criminal versatility
Cafeteria Crimes - Answers - You do many types of crime (pick and choose)
If caught, may plead guilty just to see the reactions of others
Antisocial Personality Disorder - Answers - "A pervasive pattern of disregard for, and
violation of, the rights of others" (DSM-V)
Failure to conform to norms, aggressive, irresponsible, impulsive, deceitful, reckless
disregard, lack of remorse
Definition of APD narrower than psychopathy - Answers - Restricts definitions to
behavioural indicators
Psychopathy also includes emotional, neurological & cognitive aspects (is not in DSM-
V)
APD always includes criminal behaviour; not all psychopaths are criminal
Psychopathy is not listed in DSM-V as a personality disorder
3 TYPES OF PSYCHOPATHS - Answers - #1 Primary:
,Psychopathy is innate at birth (born a psychopath)
#2 Secondary:
Psychopathy results from severe emotional problems
#3 Dyssocial:
Psychopathic behavior is adopted based on peer culture
USED TO MEASURE PSYCHOPATHY - Answers - PCL-R:
Assess the affective, interpersonal, behavioural and social elements of psychopathy
CATEGORICAL vs CONTINUUM - Answers - Categorical model: yes/no
PCL-R cutoff of 30 = psychopath
30 as the cutoff = arbitrary
→ someone who scores 29 vs someone who scores 30; how different are they?
Dimensional model: measured on a continuum
Everyone has some characteristics to greater or lesser degrees
CORE FACTORS OF PSYCHOPATHY: THE TWO FACTOR POSITION - Answers -
Factor 1: Interpersonal/emotional components:
Eg. shallow affect (displaying little emotion), remorseless, manipulates others
Assoc with planned predatory violence
Predicts psychopathy in general
Factor 2: Socially deviant lifestyle:
Eg. impulsive, stimulation-seeking, lacks goals
Assoc with impulsive violence
Predicts general and violent recidivism
THE FOUR FACTOR POSITION:
(Hare & Neumann, 2006) - Answers - Factor 1: Interpersonal:
Arrogant & deceptive, eg. glibness, lying
Factor 2: Lifestyle:
Eg. impulsive, parasitic, stimulation-seeking, lack of goals
Factor 3: Affective:
Eg. lack remorse, failure to accept responsibility
Factor 4: Antisocial behaviour:
Eg. Poor behavioural controls
PSYCHOPATHY IS STRONGLY LINKED TO CRIME - Answers - Prevalence: Hare
(1998): 1% in general pop'n, 15-25% in adult prison pop'n
,Is an important risk factor for recidivism
Eg. Serin & Amos (1995): psychopaths 5x more likely for violent recidivism
Quinsey et al (1995): 80% of psychopathic sex offenders recidivate within 6 yrs vs 20%
of non-psychopathic sex offenders
CAUSES OF PSYCHOPATHY - Answers - (1) ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
(2) NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS - Answers - Social factors may play a role in someone
biologically predisposed
Eg. inconsistent parenting, early physical/sexual abuse, peer rejection
Marshall & Cooke (1999): psychopaths more likely to have:
- Parental neglect
- Abuse
- School difficulties
Farrington (2005): psychopathy predicted by:
- Neglect
- Poor supervision
- Disrupted family
- Large family
- Convicted parent
- Depressed mother
- Poverty
NEUROPHYSIOLOGY - Answers - Hare (1998): Hemisphere Asymmetry:
Left hemisphere deficiency in language processing skills
Right hemisphere deficiency in emotions
Psychopaths may exhibit an emotional paradox:
Appraisal of emotional cues in abstract v real life
Related to left brain deficiencies
FRONTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES - Answers - Psychopaths may have
defects in frontal lobe processing:
Prefrontal damage = psychopathic-like personality
May depend on the type of psychopath
Frontal Lobe: Cognitive functions ie. thought processing, regulation of impulses
Amygdala (negative emotions) may be partly responsible for frontal lobe deficiencies:
Eg. Kiehl emotional processing task
SENSATION SEEKING & OPTIMAL AROUSAL OF CEREBRAL CORTEX - Answers -
Quay (1965): psychopathic behavior is an extreme form of sensation seeking
, Stimulation-seeking behavior linked to arousal of cerebral cortex
- Too little stimulation = boring
- Too much = overwhelming
Psychopaths may require higher level of cortical arousal due to deficiency in RAS
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM - Answers - - Autonomically & cortically
underaroused
- Deficient in avoidance learning
- If emotional arousal can be induced they can learn to avoid aversive situation
- With adequate incentives they can learn to avoid aversive consequences
TREATMENT FOR PSYCHOPATHS - Answers - Arguments against:
Nothing works
Treatments only work if the patient wants to be treated
Psychopaths should be untreatable
No research has shown it can be treated
More harm than good
General harm - increased recid?
Harm to other patients
Use to show good behaviour
Harm to staff
DIRECTIONS FOR TREATMENT - Answers - Reasonable Expectations: Target
behaviours for change
Motivation: Encourage meaningful treatment participation
Maintenance: Monitor to ensure that changes remain stable
MENTAL DISORDERS - Answers - - Disorder of the mind
- Interferes substantially with the ability cope on a daily basis
- May be temporary or long term
- Historically, MDs have caused fear and contempt
MENTALLY DISORDERED OFFENDERS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM -
Answers - Overrepresentation of serious MDs in prisons
Anxiety and depressive disorders
Fazel & Dansch - Answers - Meta-analysis of offenders in 12 countries:
- Depression: 10%M and 12%F
- APD rate: 47%M and 21%F
Motiuk & Porporino - Answers - Canadian incarcerated males:
20 PSYCHOPATHIC TRAITS - Answers - #1 Glibness and superficial
#2 Grandiose sense of self-worth
#3 High need for stimulation/prone to boredom
#4 Pathological lying
#5 Cunning/manipulative
#6 Lack of remorse or guilt
#7 Shallow affect
#8 Callous, lack of empathy
#9 Parasitic lifestyle
#10 Poor behavioral controls
#11 Promiscuous sexual behavior
#12 Early behavior problems
#13 Lack of realistic long-term goals
#14 Impulsivity (spontaneous types of crime)
#15 Irresponsibility
#16 Failure to accept responsibility for actions
#17 Many short-term marital relationships
#18 Juvenile delinquency
#19 Revocation of conditional release
#20 Criminal versatility
Cafeteria Crimes - Answers - You do many types of crime (pick and choose)
If caught, may plead guilty just to see the reactions of others
Antisocial Personality Disorder - Answers - "A pervasive pattern of disregard for, and
violation of, the rights of others" (DSM-V)
Failure to conform to norms, aggressive, irresponsible, impulsive, deceitful, reckless
disregard, lack of remorse
Definition of APD narrower than psychopathy - Answers - Restricts definitions to
behavioural indicators
Psychopathy also includes emotional, neurological & cognitive aspects (is not in DSM-
V)
APD always includes criminal behaviour; not all psychopaths are criminal
Psychopathy is not listed in DSM-V as a personality disorder
3 TYPES OF PSYCHOPATHS - Answers - #1 Primary:
,Psychopathy is innate at birth (born a psychopath)
#2 Secondary:
Psychopathy results from severe emotional problems
#3 Dyssocial:
Psychopathic behavior is adopted based on peer culture
USED TO MEASURE PSYCHOPATHY - Answers - PCL-R:
Assess the affective, interpersonal, behavioural and social elements of psychopathy
CATEGORICAL vs CONTINUUM - Answers - Categorical model: yes/no
PCL-R cutoff of 30 = psychopath
30 as the cutoff = arbitrary
→ someone who scores 29 vs someone who scores 30; how different are they?
Dimensional model: measured on a continuum
Everyone has some characteristics to greater or lesser degrees
CORE FACTORS OF PSYCHOPATHY: THE TWO FACTOR POSITION - Answers -
Factor 1: Interpersonal/emotional components:
Eg. shallow affect (displaying little emotion), remorseless, manipulates others
Assoc with planned predatory violence
Predicts psychopathy in general
Factor 2: Socially deviant lifestyle:
Eg. impulsive, stimulation-seeking, lacks goals
Assoc with impulsive violence
Predicts general and violent recidivism
THE FOUR FACTOR POSITION:
(Hare & Neumann, 2006) - Answers - Factor 1: Interpersonal:
Arrogant & deceptive, eg. glibness, lying
Factor 2: Lifestyle:
Eg. impulsive, parasitic, stimulation-seeking, lack of goals
Factor 3: Affective:
Eg. lack remorse, failure to accept responsibility
Factor 4: Antisocial behaviour:
Eg. Poor behavioural controls
PSYCHOPATHY IS STRONGLY LINKED TO CRIME - Answers - Prevalence: Hare
(1998): 1% in general pop'n, 15-25% in adult prison pop'n
,Is an important risk factor for recidivism
Eg. Serin & Amos (1995): psychopaths 5x more likely for violent recidivism
Quinsey et al (1995): 80% of psychopathic sex offenders recidivate within 6 yrs vs 20%
of non-psychopathic sex offenders
CAUSES OF PSYCHOPATHY - Answers - (1) ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
(2) NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS - Answers - Social factors may play a role in someone
biologically predisposed
Eg. inconsistent parenting, early physical/sexual abuse, peer rejection
Marshall & Cooke (1999): psychopaths more likely to have:
- Parental neglect
- Abuse
- School difficulties
Farrington (2005): psychopathy predicted by:
- Neglect
- Poor supervision
- Disrupted family
- Large family
- Convicted parent
- Depressed mother
- Poverty
NEUROPHYSIOLOGY - Answers - Hare (1998): Hemisphere Asymmetry:
Left hemisphere deficiency in language processing skills
Right hemisphere deficiency in emotions
Psychopaths may exhibit an emotional paradox:
Appraisal of emotional cues in abstract v real life
Related to left brain deficiencies
FRONTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES - Answers - Psychopaths may have
defects in frontal lobe processing:
Prefrontal damage = psychopathic-like personality
May depend on the type of psychopath
Frontal Lobe: Cognitive functions ie. thought processing, regulation of impulses
Amygdala (negative emotions) may be partly responsible for frontal lobe deficiencies:
Eg. Kiehl emotional processing task
SENSATION SEEKING & OPTIMAL AROUSAL OF CEREBRAL CORTEX - Answers -
Quay (1965): psychopathic behavior is an extreme form of sensation seeking
, Stimulation-seeking behavior linked to arousal of cerebral cortex
- Too little stimulation = boring
- Too much = overwhelming
Psychopaths may require higher level of cortical arousal due to deficiency in RAS
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM - Answers - - Autonomically & cortically
underaroused
- Deficient in avoidance learning
- If emotional arousal can be induced they can learn to avoid aversive situation
- With adequate incentives they can learn to avoid aversive consequences
TREATMENT FOR PSYCHOPATHS - Answers - Arguments against:
Nothing works
Treatments only work if the patient wants to be treated
Psychopaths should be untreatable
No research has shown it can be treated
More harm than good
General harm - increased recid?
Harm to other patients
Use to show good behaviour
Harm to staff
DIRECTIONS FOR TREATMENT - Answers - Reasonable Expectations: Target
behaviours for change
Motivation: Encourage meaningful treatment participation
Maintenance: Monitor to ensure that changes remain stable
MENTAL DISORDERS - Answers - - Disorder of the mind
- Interferes substantially with the ability cope on a daily basis
- May be temporary or long term
- Historically, MDs have caused fear and contempt
MENTALLY DISORDERED OFFENDERS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM -
Answers - Overrepresentation of serious MDs in prisons
Anxiety and depressive disorders
Fazel & Dansch - Answers - Meta-analysis of offenders in 12 countries:
- Depression: 10%M and 12%F
- APD rate: 47%M and 21%F
Motiuk & Porporino - Answers - Canadian incarcerated males:
