NCJ Number
241763
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 2013 Pages: 71-78
Date Published
February 2013
Length
8 pages
Annotation
After analyzing various instruments that assess psychopathy in children and adolescents, this paper reviews the available treatment modalities and suggests areas for research and clinical intervention that use an evolutionary approach to anger and antisocial behavior.
Abstract
Psychopathy was conceptualized by Cleckley (1941/1988) as an embedded impairment of emotional processing that leads to instinctive and persistent aggression when thwarted and to antisocial behavior accompanied by a lack of empathy and concern about harms inflicted on others in seeking to fulfill personal needs. Based on his study of inpatients at a psychiatric hospital Cleckley believed that psychopathy is a disorder with symptoms evident in childhood and adolescence. Until the early 1980s, Cleckley's diagnostic criteria were often used in sample selection for the study of psychopathy. In the 1980s, however, there was a turning point in the study of the disorder, when Robert Hare developed a systematic method for assessing psychopathy based on Cleckley's criteria, but with some significant differences. The Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and its revised edition (PCL-R) were developed; however, even after 30 years of research, the debate about PCL factorial structure persists. Forth, Hart, and Hare (1990) became pioneers in adapting the PCL for a study with adolescent offenders. Later, other authors developed instruments for assessing psychopathy in children and adolescents, either by adapting instruments used with adults or by creating new measures adjusted from a developmental perspective. The Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) is the most widely used and tested youth psychopathy screening measure. The lack of agreement on the dimensions of the psychopathy construct is a major issue that should be addressed in order to better compare results from different studies. An overview of promising treatment approaches is offered, with mention of early intervention with family or cognitive-behavioral approaches with motivational work. 2 tables and 133 references