Psychopathy and Victim Selection: The Use of Gait as a Cue to Vulnerability

• NCJ Number: 245704
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 28 Issue: 11 Dated: July 2013 Pages: 2368-2383
• Author(s): Angela Book Ph.D; Kimberly Costello Ph.D; Joseph A. Camilleri Ph.D
• Date Published: July 2013
• Length: 16 pages
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Abstract

Previous research has shown that victims display characteristic body language, specifically in their walking style Grayson & Stein, 1981. Individuals scoring higher on the interpersonal/affective aspects of psychopathy Factor 1 are more accurate at judging victim vulnerability simply from viewing targets walking Wheeler, Book, & Costello, 2009. The present study examines the relation between psychopathy and accuracy in assessing victim vulnerability in a sample of inmates from a maximum security penitentiary in Ontario, Canada. Forty-seven inmates viewed short video clips of targets walking and judged how vulnerable each target was to victimization. Higher Factor 1 psychopathy scores as measured by the PCL-R; Hare 2003 were positively related to accuracy in judging victim vulnerability. Contrary to research with noninstitutional participants Wheeler et al., 2009, inmates higher on Factor 1 of psychopathy were more likely to rationalize their vulnerability judgments by mentioning the victim's gait. Implications of these findings are discussed.