Criminal Behavior Chapter 7

3 factor position

1. an arrogant and deceptive interpersonal style with a grandiose sense of self worth, glibness, superficial charm, lying, manipulation and deceitfulness 2. deficient affective or emotional experience characterized by low remorse, low guilt, a weak conscience, absence of anxiety, callousness, no empathy and failure to accept responsibility 3. an impulsive and irresponsible behavioral style, including failure to think before acting, a lack of long-term goals, stimulation seeking, unsatisfactory work habits, and a parasitic lifestyle

four conclusions about autonomic funcitoning

1. both autonomically and cortically underaroused, both under rest conditions and under some specific stress conditions. 2. they lac k necessary emotional equipment, psychopaths appear to e deficient in avoidance learning, which might account partially for there recidivism rates 3. some data suggest the if emotional arousal can be induced such as by adrenaline, psychopaths can learn from past experiences and avoid normally painful or aversive situations such as prison embarrassment, or social censure 4. with incentives, psychopaths can learn from past experiences and avoid aversive consequences as well as anyone

psychopaths are hard to treat because

1. they are an extreme, qualitatively distinct category 2. psychopathy is extremely persistent throughout life 3. psychopathy has biological causes which annoy be changed by psychosocial interventions 4. lying conning and manipulativeness of psychopaths make them treatment resistant

prevalence of psychopathic traits in juvenile delinquents

4.3% from 4-8th grade could be classified psychopathic. 59% of their sample of violent juvenile offenders qualified as psychopathic.

lynam

CPS at age 13 predicted psychopathy scoreson PCL:SV at age 24, they concluded that it did a decent job predicting PCL:SV scores. this suggests that psychopathy not only appears stable across stages of development but also implies that juvenile psychopathy appears similar to adult psychopathy in many ways.

measures of juvenile psychopathy

Psychopathy screening device, childhood psychopathy scale, etc. they are now widely available to forensic clinical examiners for use in private practice and consulting. juvenile psychopaths are unlikely to give accurate/honest self reports. the PCLYV relies on interview with specific questions. ASPD/CPS are designed to get info from teachers/parents or the kid itself. the PCLYV is 20 item and adopts the four factor model aproah. has limited ability to identify meaningful relationship to psychopathy and antisocial behavior in adolescent girls. measures don't have much in common and more research needs to be done

primary psychopath

a "true" psychopath has certain identifiable psychological, emotional, cognitive, and biological differences that distinguish him or her from the general or criminal population.

orienting response

a nonspecific, highly complicated cortical and sensory response to strange, unexpected changes in the environment. can be turning your head or dilation of pupils or decreased heart rate. it is an effort to determine the change. it increases an analytical power of the senses and and the cortex. psychopaths had little autonomic activity but also less orienting responses.

psychopath

a person who demonstrates a discernible cluster of psychologic, interpersonal, and neurophysiological features that distinguish him/her from the general population

antisocial personality disorder

a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. described as those persons who fail to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors. this is a more narrow definition than psychopaths because it restricts its definition to behavioral indicators.

autonomic segment

activates emotional behavior and responsivity to stress and tension - sympathetic and parasympathetic

hemisphere asymmetry

an abnormal or unusual balance between the two hemispheres both in language processing and in emotional or arousal states. psychopaths are inconsistent with their verbalized thoughts, feigns, and intentions. their left hemisphere seems deficient in linguistic processing because they don't rely on verbal sequential operations to the extent that a majority of individuals do. as the language task increased in complexity, a normal person relies more on left hemisphere for processing but psychopaths rely on right side. they are less accurate at reading emotional expressions portrayed by faces.

biological factors and psychopathy

an interaction between neuropsychological and learning or socialization factors

autonomic nervous system research

anxiey reduction is an essential ingredient in learning to avoid painful or stressful situations. the psychopath is anxiety free. they have an inability to learn from unpleasant experiences.

semantic aphasia

articulate their regrets for having done something, but the words are devoid of emotional meaning. they know the words but not the music

the PCL-R

assesses the affective, interpersonal, behavioral, and social deviance facets of criminal psychopathy from various sources, including self reports, behavioral observations, and collateral sources such as parents, family members, friends, and arrest and court records which can help to establish credibility for self reports. require some integration of info from multiple domains like school, work, family and friends. 0-2 scale. 30+ is a psychopath. 25-33 is often used. is used around the globe.

lykken

avoidance learning - how quickly the students would learn to avoid the shock. psychopaths didn't learn so it supported the hypothesis. psychopaths are less responsive to this stress. psychopaths have an under responsive autonomic nervous system and do not learn to avoid aversive situations. injections of adrenaline helped the psychopath in avoidance learning. psychopaths also can easily pass lie detector tests.

PCL's as a whole

based on Cleckley's conception of psychos. specifically designed to identify psychos in male prisons, forensic or psychiatric populations. it may have obscured difference between measure and theory. is heavily based on psychos who are criminals not who are not criminal offenders. it may not be an adequate measure of psychos because its not comprehensive.

blair et al.

believe that genetic contributions may play a significant role in the emotional dysfunction frequently found in psychopaths. heredity may contribute significantly to the underarousal and low emotional responsiveness of psychopaths

children and treatment

callous unemotional traits respond better to reward driven interventions and poorly to punishment or fear induced forms of intervention substance abuse didn't work.

skin conductance response/galvanic skin response

can measure the autonomic activity like emotional arousal. it measures resistance of skin to conducting electrical current. perspiration plays a big role. they have low arousal because of lack of empathy and low emotionality.

more hare

cardiac activity in psychopaths is often as high as that found in the non psychopathic population. this means that psychopaths learn to react autonomically. psychopaths might be more adaptive to stress when psychophysiologic defense mechanisms are brought into play. they either relearn or inherit autonomic adaptability to noxious stimuli. this response is adaptive and helps the psychopath tune out of modulate the emotional impact of noxious stimuli. this helps them tune out or modulate th emotional impact of noxious stimuli

basic neurophysiological concepts and terminology

central nervous system - brain spinal cord peripheral nervous system - somatic nervous system (muscles), autonomic nervous system - parasympathetic and sympathetic

do they commit suicide?

clerkly says no, but recent studies shows that several take their own lives when it became clear there was no other way out of an intolerable situation

secondary psychopaths

commit antisocial or violent acts because of severe emotional problems or inner conflicts. sometimes referred to as acting-out neurotics, neurotic delinquents, symptomatic psychopaths, simply emotionally disturbed offenders. more rooted in parental abuse and rejection. different from the other two because of behavioral, cognitive and neurophysiological features.

morgan and lilienfield

concluded that psychopaths as a group do show executive function deficits which may result in faulty impulse control, judgment, and planning under certain conditions

juvenile psychopath

conduct problems, hyperactivity, impulsivity and attention difficulties resemble features of adult psychopaths or they may just represent such things like conduct disorder.

offending patterns of criminal psychopaths

considered the most violent and persistent offenders and commit a disproportionate amount of crime. are more sadistic. psychopathic sex offenders are more motivated by thrill seeking and excitement than sexual arousal. a lot are sexual homicide offenders. psychopaths are more likely to derive pleasure from both nonsexual and sexual suffering of others and tend to be more sadistic and brutal in their murders. often engage in violence as a form of revenge or retribution or while drinking. non psychos attack women they know, psychos attack men who are strangers.

internal language

deficiency in this can cause extremely impulsive, episodic behavior. Flor Henry was convinced that psychopathy is closely linked to left hemispheric language dysfunction.

scot lilienfeld

developed pyschopathy scale for chimpanzees, called chimpanzee psychopathy measure. the scale appears to be a reliable measure of psychopathic like behavior in chimps - tantrums, sexual activity, daring behaviors, taxing.

dyssocial psychopaths

display aggressive antisocial behavior they have learned form they subculture, like gangs or families. have little in common with primary psychopaths. secondary and dyssocial are often wrongly called psychopaths because of high recidivism rates

psychopaths and mental disorders

do not exhibit mental disorders usually. lack symptoms of worry, anxiety, psychotic thinking, delusions, etc even under high pressure situations. cleckley views it as a masked psychosis. can be seen as a part of the same spectrum as schizophrenia.

the two factor

factor 1 - reflects interpersonal and emotional components of the disorder like remorselessness, callousness, and selfish use and manipulation of others. planned predatory violence. inability to profit from from psychotherapy and treatment. more connected to biopsychological influences. more indicative of psychopathy than factor 2 factor 2 - socially deviant or antisocial lifestyle as characterized by poor planning, impulsiveness, an excessive need for stimulation, proneness to boredom, and a lack of realistic goals. spontaneous and impulsive violence. related to socioeconomic status and culture and education.

sympathetic

flight or flight for fearful situations. psychopaths have no anxiety during these emergencies.

genetic factors

genetics play a role in development of psychopathy. temperament is linked to low arousal and fear responses associated with psychopathy. temperament ma disrupt the formation of guilt, conscience of concern about punishment. youths with psychopathic features may have brain abnormalities. psychopathy may run in families. influence of genetics is not large but large enough.

executive functions

higher order mental abilities involved in goal directed behavior. executive functions include organizing behavior, memory, inhibition processes, and planning strategies.

ethical considerations

if an adolescent psychopath is accused of a crime they are likely to go to adult court. treatment is more available once the youth has been adjudicated delinquent. 16-17 year olds labeled psychopathic were more likely to be sentenced to death, now just longer periods of time. one study found no negative effects associated with the label in juvenile court. another case found harsher sanctions. the label psychopathy can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. reliability and validity become an issue. research demonstrate that conduct disorder is linked to psychopathy and higher levels of delinquency. only 25% show psychopathic tendencies. those that show psychopathy have heavy antisocial behavior hinting at validity

can juvenile psychopathy be identified

if it exists in an age group, it may be difficult to measure reliably because of transient and constant changing developmental patterns across the life span. some things could just represent adolescent development, sometimes callousness and narcissism is to hide anxiety and fear. a large amount of research supports the juvenile psychopathy construct. remains stable from 7-24

four dimensions position

interpersonal - lying, conning, manipulation, sexual behavior impulsive lifestyle - irresponsible, sensation seeking, no realistic goals, poor planning affective - shallow emotions, no empathy, grandiose self worth antisocial tendencies - poor self regulation, persistent criminal activity, antisocial behavior includes antisocial behavior

central nervous system differences

interpretation thoughts and memories and images occur in cerebral cortex. processes stimulation and sensations via the PNS. the cerebral cortex is the outer surface of the brain. neurons make a complex network. the electrical circuitry and arousal properties of the cortex are relevant

juvenile psychopathy

is limited but growing. evidence that male criminal psychopaths started offending very early. some wonder if psychopathy should even be applied to juveniles at all. the prognosis for treatment is poor. there is little to be done as far as intervention goes. people may give up on juveniles if they're labeled that way. there must be a high level of confidence before they can be employed in the criminal justice system.

alcohol and psychopahts

iti s a CNS depressant, decreasing arousal levels in the nervous system. underaroused psychopaths are already half asleep and alcohol has the effec of bagging them completely, so they get intoxicated more rapidly and pass out sooner. alcohol could cause antisocial behavior, and there are a lot of alcoholic psychopaths.

Raine

many of these psychophysiologic indicators discussed for psychopaths may be characteristic of repetitive, violent offenders in general. the resting heart rate of noninstitutionalized offenders is the most replicated

racial psychopathy

most research on whites. Kossen et al. black psychopaths are less impulsive. the differences between blacks and whites are minimal. racial differences are minimal. Volllum suggests that perhaps the PCL-r should be excluded from capital sentencing until more solid research on its ability to predict future dangerousness in minority and disadvantaged individuals is established.

neurophysiology and psychopathy

neuropsychological indicators, markers, have een repeatedly found in psychopaths as reflected in electrodermal measures and cardiovascular and other things.

salekin

only treatment that has worked in youth that lasts for a year. the key to success may be the scope type intensity and duration of the treatment as wells the training of th staff applying the intervention.

the criminal psychopath

persistent and serious antisocial behavior. tend to be dominant, manipulative, and impulsive antisocial risk takers and get thrills from diverse sexual gratification and target diverse victims over time

nachson

points out that many studies have found a disproportionate percentage of violent repetitive offenders have left hemispheric dysfunction

prevalence of criminal psychopathy

prevalence is about 1% in general population, In prison 15-25% APD is about 3% in males and 1% in females.

criminal psychopath

primary psychopaths that engage in repetitive antisocial or criminal behavior, not necessarily violent

psychological testing differences

psychometric studies indicate that psychopaths usually score higher on intelligence tests than the general population, particularly on individually administered tests successful psychopaths - commit crimes but don't get caught unsuccessful psychopaths - commit crimes and get caught

Robert Hare

psychopaths - social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a trail of broken hearts shattered hearts, etc.

recidivism

psychopaths commit crimes again and again regardless of trying to stop them. they reoffend faster, violate parole sooner, and perhaps commit more violence than non psychopaths. failure rate of 37.5%. also characteristic of male juvenile offenders.

left hemisphere activation hypothesis

psychopaths exhibit deficits on a variety of tasks that require activation of the left hemisphere

startle response

psychopaths have low startle responses under aversive conditions than non psychopaths. criminal psychopaths give smaller autonomic responses.psychopaths suffer from hypo emotionality.

frontal neuropsychological studies

psychopaths suffer from frontal lobe problems. they are responsible for higher level cognitive functions of abstraction decision making, cognitive flexibility, foresight, the regulation impulse, and control of appropriate behavior. neurodevelopment abnormalities appear to occur very early in life. even as early as 16 months.

viljoen

psychopathy evidence used to infer that a youth would be very difficult or impossible to treat.

core factors of psychopathy

psychopathy is multidimensional by nature. factor analysis finds different dimensions or factors. has come up with the two factor position

cathy widom

real life psychopaths don't have the same level of frontal lobe deficits as incarcerated psychopaths. successful psychopaths have better functioning of frontal lobe than unsuccessful.

PCL-R - 20 question revision and PCL - 22 item

regarded as the gold standard for measurement of psychopathy. includes normative info on males and females. 12 item PCL:SV is also used.

Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version PCL:YV

researched more extensively. serves as a rough screen for psychopathic features and as a source of working hypotheses to deal with managing suspects, offenders, or clients. needs more research

amygdala disfunction

responsible for emotions such as fear, anger and disgust it is also involved with short term memory an learning. this is tied to callous unemotional traits. they have lower amygdala activity during emotional processing task when compared with non psychopaths (Kiehl).

emotional paradox

right side may be deficient as well that prevent them from experiencing emotional cues and situation in the abstract and can't use emotional cues to guide their judgments and behavior in process of living. psychopaths can talk about emotional cues but lack ability to use them effectively. this deficiency is due to processing problems locatedin the left hemisphere.

other traits

selfishness and inability to love or give affection. egocentricity is ALWAYS present. flat emotional affect and affect. change residence frequently. often called pathological liars. no moral or ethical sense and cannot understand being honest. unreliable, irresponsible, unpredictable, impulsive. choose inappropriate pranks. lack of remorse or guilt. excessive use of instrumental aggression - want to achieve goals no matter who is hurt damaged or destroyed. constant stimulation seeking, neuropsychological need for thrills and excitement

female psychopath

significantly fewer than men. generally score lower than men on the PCL-R. have a greater tendency to be promiscuous sexually. they may not express same emotional processing problems as males. females recidivist less. less aggressive. and start later than males. the recidivism rates are the same as non psychopaths.

PNS research

somatic division - motor nerves autonomic division - controls heart rate, gland secretion, and smooth muscle activity

Charming and Verbally fluent

superficial charm and average to above average intelligence are two main features of psychopaths especially during initial contacts most conversation is jumping form topic to topic and repetitive and empty of real substance, lack the central organizer to plan and keep track of what they think and say. this does not mean they successfully manipulate others and the system

Demara/Cyr

the guy who pretended to be a doctor in the navy and saved a ton of people so he's an example of a nonviolent psychopath

brain hemispheres

the right side is nonverbal functions and the left is verbal functions. the let processes info in an analytical and sequential fashion. languages requires sequential cognition = left side. the right side recognizes faces and is more holistic and global. they both make different contributions to emotions. the right is important in understanding and communicating emotion. the left seems to be closely tide to self inhibiting processes where the right is spontaneous and impulsive. they need both to balance normal judgment and appropriate self control and self regulation of emotion. these are special in the frontal lobes.

Cleckley

the three faces of eve - about multiple personality. wrote the Mask of Sanity - decries useful terms for major behaviors demonstrated by the full-fledged or primary psychopath, as distinct from the other psychopathic types referred to previously

suicidality

there is a risk of suicide, usually inferred from suicidal thoughts or intent.

roper v simmons

under 18 can't be sentenced to death