This study examined the relation between psychopathic features and treatment progress in a group of 86 delinquent boys. On admission to a specialized intensive treatment program, Psychopathic Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) scores were computed and subsequently compared with treatment progress. Treatment progress was measured using a series of daily behavior rating scales and with a measure of institutional misconducts that required security intervention. The results found significant improvement in behavioral and security measures with treatment. PCL:YV scores did not interact with treatment progress. Regression analysis showed that initial, but not final, behavioral and security levels were predicted by PCL:YVscores. The final scores were predicted only by the duration of treatment. Furthermore, violent recidivism during a 4-year follow-up was predicted by final behavioral scores but not initial PCL:YV scores.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author .
2.
Andrews, D.A. , & Bonta, J. (1998). The psychology of criminal conduct (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson .
3.
Berk, R. , & Sherman, L. (1988). Police responses to domestic violence incidents: An analysis of an experimental design with incomplete randomization . Journal of the American Statistical Association,83, 70-76 .
4.
Brandt, J.R. , Kennedy, W.A. , Patrick, C.J. , & Curtin, J. (1997). Assessment of psychopathy in a population of incarcerated adolescent offenders . Psychological Assessment, 9(4), 429-435 .
5.
Caldwell, M. (1994). Applying social constructionism in the treatment of patients who are intractably aggressive . Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 45, 6-7 .
6.
Caldwell, M.F. , Skeem, J. , Salekin, R. , & Van Rybroek, G. (2006). Treatment response of adolescent offenders with psychopathy-like features . Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33(5), 571-596 .
7.
Caldwell, M. , & Van Rybroek, G. (2001). Efficacy of a decompression treatment model in the clinical management of violent juvenile offenders . International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 45, 469-477 .
8.
Caldwell, M.F. , & Van Rybroek, G. (2002, March). Efficacy of the decompression model in the treatment of persistently violent juvenile offenders . Paper presented at the Biannual Meeting of the American Psychology—Law Society, Austin, TX.
9.
Caldwell, M.F. , & Van Rybroek, G. (2005). Reducing violence in serious juvenile offenders using intensive treatment . International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 28, 622-636 .
10.
Cleckley, H. (1988). The mask of sanity (5th ed.). St Louis, MO: Mosby .
11.
D'Silva, K. , Duggan, C. , & McCarthy, L. (2004). Does treatment really make psychopaths worse? A review of the evidence . Journal of Personality Disorders , 18, 163-177 .
12.
Doren, D.M. (1987). Understanding and treating the psychopath. New York: Wiley .
13.
Dunford, F. , Huizinga, D. , & Elliot, D. (1990). The role of arrest in domestic assault: The Omaha experiment . Criminology, 28, 183-206 .
14.
Edens, J.F. , Skeem, J.L. , Cruise, K.R. , & Cauffman, E. (2001). Assessment of “juvenile psychopathy” and its association with violence: A critical review . Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 19, 53-80 .
15.
Falkenbach, D. , Poythress, N. , & Heide, K.M. (2003). Psychopathic features in a juvenile diversion population: Reliability and predictive validity of two self-report measures . Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 21, 787-805 .
16.
Forth, A.E. , & Burke, H.C. (1998). Psychopathy in adolescence: Assessment, violence, and developmental precursors. In D. J. Cooke , A. D. Forth , & R. D. Hare (Eds.), Psychopathy: Theory, research and implications for society (pp. 205-229). Dordrecht , the Netherlands: Kluwer Press .
17.
Forth, A.E. , Hart, S.D. , & Hare, R.D. (1990). Assessment of psychopathy in male young offenders . Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2, 342-344 .
18.
Forth, A.E. , Kosson, D. , & Hare, R.D. (2003). Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems .
19.
Frick, J.P. (1998). Callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems: Applying the two-factor model of psychopathy to children. In D. J. Cooke , A. D. Forth , & R. D. Hare (Eds.), Psychopathy: Theory, research and implications for society (pp. 161-187). Dordrecht , the Netherlands: Kluwer .
20.
Frick, P.J. , & Hare, R.D. (2001). The Antisocial Process Screening Device. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems .
21.
Gottfredson, M. , & Hirschi, T. (1990). General theory of crime. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press .
22.
Gretton, H. , Hare, R. , & Catchpole, R. (2004). Psychopathy and offending from adolescence to adulthood: A 10-year follow-up . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 636-645 .
23.
Gretton, H.M. , McBride, M. , Hare, R.D. , O'Shaughnessy, R. , & Kumka, G. (2001). Psychopathy and recidivism in adolescent sex offenders . Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 427-449 .
24.
Hanna, F. , & Ritchie, M. (1995). Seeking the active ingredients of psychotherapeutic change: Within and outside of the context of therapy . Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26, 176-183 .
25.
Hare, R.D. (1980). Psychopathy. In H. M. Van Praag , M. H. Lader , O. J. Rafaelsen , & E. J. Sacher (Eds.), Handbook of biological psychiatry (pp. 249-262). New York: Marcel Dekker .
26.
Hare, R.D. (1991). Manual for the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems .
27.
Hare, R.D. (1996). Psychopathy: A clinical construct whose time has come . Criminal Justice and Behavior, 23, 25-54 .
28.
Hare, R.D. , Clark, D. , Grann, M. , & Thornton, D. (2000). Psychopathy and the predictive validity of the PCL-R: An international perspective . Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 18, 623-645 .
29.
Harris, G. , & Rice, M. (2006). Treatment of psychopathy: A review of empirical findings. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy ((pp. 555-572). New York: Guilford Press .
30.
Hart, S.D. , Cox, D.N. , & Hare, R.D. (1995). Manual for the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems .
31.
Hobson, J. , Shine, J. , & Roberts, R. (2000). How do psychopaths behave in a prison therapeutic community? Psychology , Crime and Law, 6, 139-154 .
32.
Kaplan, S. , & Cornell, D. (2004). Psychopathy and ADHD in adolescent male offenders . Youth, Violence, and Juvenile Justice, 2, 148-160 .
33.
Looman, J. , Abracen, J. , Serin, R. , & Marquis, P. (2005). Psychopathy, treatment change, and recidivism in high-risk, high-need sexual offenders . Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 549-568 .
34.
Lynam, D.R. (1997). Pursuing the psychopath: Capturing the fledgling psychopath in a nomological net . Journal of Abnormal Psychology , 106, 425-438 .
35.
Lynam, D.R. (1998). Early identification of the fledgling psychopath: Locating the psychopathic child in the current nomenclature . Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 566-575 .
36.
Lynam, D.R. (2002). Fledgling psychopathy: A view from personality theory . Law and Human Behavior, 26, 225-259 .
Monroe, C.M. , Van Rybroek, G.J. , & Maier, G.J. (1988). Decompressing aggressive inpatients: Breaking the aggression cycle to enhance positive outcome . Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 6, 543-557 .
39.
Murdock-Hicks, M. , Rogers, R. , & Cashel, M. (2000). Predictors of violent and total infractions among institutionalized male juvenile offenders. Journal of theAmerican Academy of Psychiatry and the Law , 28, 183-190.
40.
Ogloff, J.R.P. , Wong, S. , & Greenwood, A. (1990). Treating criminal psychopaths in a therapeutic community program . Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 8, 181-190 .
41.
O'Neill, M.L. , Lidz, V. , & Heilbrun, K. (2003). Adolescents with psychopathic characteristics in a substance abusing cohort: Treatment and process outcomes . Law and Human Behavior, 27, 299-313 .
42.
Rice, M.E. , Harris, G.T. , & Cormier, C.A. (1992). An evaluation of a maximum-security therapeutic community for psychopaths and other mentally disordered offenders . Law and Human Behavior, 16, 399-412 .
43.
Richards, H.J. , Casey, J.O. , & Lucente, S.W. (2003). Psychopathy and treatment response in incarcerated female substance abusers . Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30, 251-276 .
44.
Rogers, R. , Jackson, R. , Sewell, K. , & Johansen, J. (2003). Predictors of treatment outcome in dually-diagnosed antisocial youth: An initial study of forensic inpatients . Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 22, 215-222 .
45.
Rogers, R. , Vitacco, M.J. , Cruise, K.R. , Sewell, K.W. , & Neumann, C.S. (2002). Screening for adolescent psychopathy among at-risk youth: Initial validation of the survey of attitudes and life experiences . Assessment, 9, 343-350 .
46.
Salekin, R.T. (2002). Psychopathy and therapeutic pessimism: Clinical lore or clinical reality?Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 79-112 .
47.
Salter, A. (2005, April). Clinical and forensic applications of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised. Paper presented April 25, 2005, in Madison, WI .
48.
Sampson, R. , & Laub, J. (1990). Crime and deviance over the life course: The salience of adult social bonds . American Sociological Review, 55, 609-627 .
49.
Sampson, R. , & Laub, J. (1997). Crime in the making. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
50.
Sherman, L. (1993). Defiance, deterrence, and irrelevance: A theory of the criminal sanction . Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 445-474 .
51.
Sherman, L. , & Berk, R. (1984). The specific deterrent effects of arrest for domestic assault . American Sociological Review, 49, 261-272 .
52.
Sherman, L.W. , Smith, D.A. , Schmidt, J.D. , & Rogan, D.P. (1992). Crime, punishment and stake in conformity: Legal and informal controls of domestic violence . American Sociological Review, 57, 680-690 .
53.
Skeem, J.L. , Monahan, J. , & Mulvey, E.P. (2002). Psychopathy, treatment involvement, and subsequent violence among psychiatric patients . Law and Human Behavior , 26, 577-603 .
54.
Spain, S. , Douglas, K. , Poythress, N.G. , & Epstein, M. (2004). The relationship between psychopathic features, violence and treatment outcome: The comparison of three youth measures of psychopathic features . Behavioral Science and the Law, 22, 85-102 .
55.
Stafford, E. , & Cornell, D. (2003). Psychopathy scores predict adolescent inpatient aggression . Assessment, 10, 1-11 .
56.
Vincent, G.M. (2006). Psychopathy and violence risk assessment in youth . Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America , 15, 407-428 .
57.
Wong, S. (2000). Psychopathic offenders. In S. Hodgins & R. Muller-Isberner (Eds.), Violence, crime and mentally disordered offenders: Concepts and methods for effective treatment (pp. 87-112). New York: Wiley .
58.
Wong, S. , & Hare, R.D. (2005). Guidelines for a psychopathy treatment program. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Multi-Health Systems .
59.
Wright, B. , Caspi, A. , Moffitt, T. , & Silva, P. (2001). The effects of social ties on crime vary by criminal propensity: A life-course perspective . Criminology, 39, 321-351 .
