This study examined racial disparities in violent offending.
The present study used data on prisoners to advance the understanding of the joint effects of sex, race, and psychopathology, specifically antisocial personality disorder (APD) and Psychopathy, on criminal violence. The sample comprised 3,525 male and 1,579 female inmates between the ages of 18 and 45 years who were incarcerated in state prisons in Wisconsin at the time of data collection. Multivariate analyses were used to examine all sex-race-psychopathology combinations. The findings indicate that Black males and females with comorbid APD and Psychopathy were more likely to commit violent crime than similarly situated White males. While gendered patterns of aggression may characterize males and females in the aggregate, the present study clearly highlights the importance of considering sex/race subgroups when examining the relationship between psychopathology and violent crime. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.