Bringingpsychopathyintodevelopmentalandlife-coursecriminologytheoriesandresearch

JournalofCriminalJustice43(2015)274289ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectJournalofCriminalJusticeBringingpsychopathyintodevelopmentalandlife-coursecriminologytheoriesandresearchBryannaH.Foxa,WesleyG.Jenningsa,DavidP.FarringtonbabUniversityofSouthFlorida,DepartmentofCriminology,4202EastFowlerAvenue,Tampa,FL33620-7200,USACambridgeUniversity,InstituteofCriminology,SidgwickAvenue,Cambridge,UKCB39DAarticleinfoabstractAvailableonline7July2015IntroductionDevelopmentalandlife-coursecriminology(DLC)aimstoidentifythecausesandcorrelatesofoffendingoverthelifespan,focusingonthewithin-individualvariationsthatresultincriminalanddelinquentbehavior.WhileDLCtheorieshavebeenverysuccessfulandincreasinglypopularintheeldofcriminology,akeypredictorofantisocialandcriminalbehavior-psychopathy-hasbeennotablyabsentfromtheDLCeld.Infact,psychopa-thyissometimesreferredtoasthemostimportantconstructinthecriminaljusticesystem.ManyriskfactorsandpersonalitytraitsofpsychopathyarealsosimilartothoseproposedbyDLCtheoriesforantisocialandcriminalbehavior.Therefore,psychopathymaybeusedinDLCresearchtohelpunderstandthedevelopmentofoffendingoverthelife-course,andimprovetheabilityofcurrentmodelstopredictantisocialandcriminalbehavior.ThisarticleaimstobringpsychopathyintoDLCresearchbyreviewingtheempiricalsupportforpsychopathyand10majorDLCtheories,andoutliningthespecicopportunitiesfortheintegrationofpsychopathywithineachtheoreticalframework.Bydoingthis,wehopetolaythefoundationforanewalliancebetweenpsychopathyandDLCresearchers,andfurtherourunderstandingoftheclearrelationshipbetweenpsychopathicpersonality,antisocialbehavior,andcrime.PublishedbyElsevierLtd.tendencies,suchaslowempathy,aconningandmanipulativeperson-ality,egocentricity,impulsiveness,andlowaffect,andbehavioralPsychopathyisawell-knownconstructtomanycriminologists,psy-chologists,criminaljusticepractitioners,andthepublic(seee.g.,DeLisi,2009;Farrington,2005a;Harris,Skilling,&Rice,2001;Jones,Miller,&Lynam,2011;Lynam,Miller,Vachon,Loeber,&Stouthamer-Loeber,2009).InthecenturiessincePinels(1801)originaldescriptionofpsychopathyas“insanitywithoutdelirium”,boththeunderstandingofandempiricalsupportforpsychopathyhasgreatlyincreased(DeLisi,2009).Morecurrently,thepsychopathhasbeenconceptualizedasanindividualwhoshowsanoveralllackofremorseandempathyforothers,doesnotcareorconsiderwhatotherpeoplethinkorhowhisorheractionsmayaffectothers,feelslittleemotion,haslowbehavioralcontrol,ismanipulative,narcissistic,apathologicalliar,andfailstoacceptresponsibilityforhisorheractions(Hare,2003).Severalinstrumentshavebeendevelopedtomeasurelevelsofpsychopathyandidentifypsychopathicindividualsinthepopulation.AmongthemostpervasiveisHaresPsychopathyChecklist(PCL)assess-ments,includingthePCL-R(revised),PCL:SV(screeningversion),andPCL:YV(youthversion)(Hare,2003).ThePCL-Risanitemizedchecklistcomposedof20traitsandbehaviorsbelievedtorepresentpsychopathicCorrespondingauthor.E-mailaddresses:(B.H.Fox),(W.G.Jennings),dpf1cam.ac.uk(D.P.Farrington)./10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2015.06.0030047-2352/PublishedbyElsevierLtd.elementssuchassexualpromiscuity,juveniledelinquency,andcrimi-nalversatility(Hare,1991).WhilethePCL-RhasbeenthesubjectofconsiderableresearchwithmoststudieshavingindicatedsupportforthevalidityofthePCL-RandthePCL-YVtopredictadultandadolescentcriminalbehaviorandrecidivismrespectively(Cooke,Michie,Hart,&Hare,1999;Leistico,Salekin,DeCoster,&Rogers,2008;Neumann&Hare,2008),therealsohavebeenstrongandpersistentcritiquesofHaresPCLassessments.Thesecritiqueshavebeenbasedonthepredic-tivepredominanceofantisocialbehavioritemsofthePCL-R,especiallythecriminalversatilitymeasures,overtheaffectiveandinterpersonalitems(thecoredimensionsofpersonalityconstructs)(seeSkeem&Cooke,2010).ThePCL-Rcommonlyhasbeenusedinbothriskassessmentandthepredictionofoffending,and,again,muchofthepredictivevalidityofthePCL-RandPCL-YVregardingfutureoffendinginvolvedonlyorprimarilyantisocialitems(Corrado,Vincent,Hart,&Cohen,2004;Salekin,2008).However,researchersmoreconcernedwithexplanationthanwithpredictionhavearguedthatanymeasurementofpsychopathicperson-alityshouldbeindependentofthemeasureofantisocialbehavior.Thisdifferentiationisessentialinordertoexploretheoreticallyhypothe-sizedcausallinkagesbetweenthispersonalityconstructandseriousanti-socialbehavior,particularly,seriouscriminality.Morerecently,theComprehensiveAssessmentofPsychopathicPersonality(CAPP)B.H.Foxetal./JournalofCriminalJustice43(2015)274289275instrumenthasbeencreatedtoaddressthesecriticismsofthelimita-tionsofPCLbasedinstruments.TheCAPPconsistsofsixdomainsand32itemsthatemphasizecorepersonalitybasedpsychopathictraitswhileexcludingantisocialorcriminalbehavioritems.Theinclusionofthelatteritemshasbeenthebasisoftautologicalconcernofseveralotherpsychopathyinstruments(seeCooke,Michie,Hart,&Clark,2004;DeLisi,2009).Inthisarticlewetooconceptualizepsychopathyusingonlythepersonalitytraitsandinterpersonalbehaviors,andexcludetheantisocialandcriminalelementsdespitemostresearchonpsychopathyhavingincludedthem.Whileapproximately1%ofthegeneralpopulationisestimatedtobepsychopathicaccordingtoHares(1991)PCLcriteria,researchindicatedthatpsychopathswerelikelyresponsibleforupto50%ofallviolentcrime,andthatoneinfourprisonersintheUnitedStateswerepsycho-paths(Patrick,2007;Salekin,Rogers,Ustad,&Sewell,1998).Thisextraordinaryhighprevalencehasledsomeresearcherstoassertthat“psychopathictraitsareanalogoustocareercriminality”(Vaughn&DeLisi,2008,p.39).Therehasbeenasubstantialempiricallinkestablishedbetweenpsychopathyandavarietyofantisocialandcriminalbehaviors,whichpersistedacrosscommunity,clinical,andcorrectionalsamples,psychi-atric,criminal,andprofessionalsettings,worldculture,gender,age,race,andethnicity(Brinkley,Schmitt,Smith,&Newman,2001;Cale&Lilienfeld,2006;DeLisi,2009;DeLisi,Dooley,&Beaver,2007;Frick,Stickle,Dandreaux,Farrell,&Kimonis,2005;Hare,1991;Harris,Skilling,etal.,2001;Jonesetal.,2011;Neumann,Schmidt,Carter,Embley,&Hare,2012;Salekin,Rogers,&Sewell,1997;Sullivan&Kosson,2006;Vaughn&DeLisi,2008;Vaughn,Newhill,DeLisi,Beaver,&Howard,2008).Moreover,psychopathyhasbeenidentiedasoneofthestrongestindividual-levelpredictorsofgeneraloffending,ageofcriminalonset,criminalcareerlength,offendingfrequency,offensetypescommitted,andtimeuntilrecidivism(DeLisi,2009;Vaughn&DeLisi,2008).Psychopathyisalsooneofthestrongestpredictorsofbothgeneralandviolentoffending,evenwhencontrollingforfactorssuchasdelin-quentpeers,druguse,priordelinquency,familycriminality,familybackground,socio-economicstatus,schoolattendance,intelligence,moraldisengagement,self-control,educationlevel,gender,race,andage(Hare,1998;Salekin,2008;Vincent,Odgers,McCormick,&Corrado,2008).,Psychopathy,consequently,hasbeenassertedtobethesinglebestpredictorofviolenceandrecidivismcurrentlyidentiedinthecriminologicalandpsychologicalelds(Harris,Rice,&Cormier,1991;Salekin,2008;Serin&Amos,1995;Vaughn,Howard,&DeLisi,2008,p.408).However,asdiscussedabove,therehasbeenanextensivecontroversyaboutwhetherthisrelationshipisbasedontheantisocialbehavioritemsinthePCLmeasurementofpsychopathyratherthanthecoreaffectiveandinterpersonalitemsofthisinstrument.Typically,thePCLFactor1scores,whichmeasuretheaffective/interpersonalfeaturesofpsychopathy,havebeenlessstronglyrelatedtooffendingthanthePCLFactor2scores,whichmeasuretheirresponsible/antisocialfeatures(e.g.Farrington,2006).However,CookeandMichies(2001)threefactormodelofpsychopathyhas,tosomeextent,helpedaddressthisissuebyexcludingantisocialbehaviorfromthemeasurementofpsychopathy,andstudiesutilizingthisthreefactormodelstillsuggestthathigherlevelsofpsychopathyincreasetheoddsofchronicoffendingfromadolescencethroughadulthood(seee.g.,McCuish,Corrado,Lussier,&Hart,2014).PsychopathyandcrimeBecauseofthestrongempiricalsupportfortheabilityofpsychopa-thytoaccuratelypredicta“wideuniverseofantisocialbehaviorsoccurringinchildhoodadolescence,andadulthood”(DeLisi,2009,p.267),andthesheernumberofpsychopathsincriminaljusticesettings,psychopathyoftenhasassertedtobethe“mostimportantconstructinthecriminaljusticesystem”(Hare,1998,p.99;Harris,Skilling,etal.,2001,p.247).DeLisi(2009),forexample,arguedfurtherthat,ofalltheconstructsemanatingfromthesocial,behavioral,andcriminologicaltheoriesandresearch,psychopathywasbestabletoex-plainandintegrateahostofveriedfactsaboutcriminalbehavior.He,consequently,proposedthatpsychopathyshouldbethebasisofanyuniedtheoryofcrime.Specically,DeLisinotedthat“psychopathymirrorstheelementalnatureandembodiesthepejorativeessenceofantisocialbehavior,accommodatesdimensionalandcategoricalconceptualizationsandexaminationsofantisocialbehavior,andfacilitiesthatstudyofantisocialphenotypesoverthelifespan”(2009,p.256).Inotherwords,thecoretraitsofpsychopathyareinternallyconsistentandhigh-lysimilartothegeneraldescriptionofthekeypredictorsinseveralofmosttheoriesofantisocialandcriminalbehavior.Inadditiontheconstructhasthetheoreticaladvantageofbeingconceptualizedeitherasataxon(i.e.psychopathvs.non-psychopath)orasadimension(i.e.degreesofpsychopathicpersonality)inpredictingandexplainingcriminalbehavioracrossthelife-course.Ineffect,psychopathyarguablyprovidesaparsimoniousandvalidtheoreticalframeworkforallformsofseriousantisocialandcriminalbehavior.AsDeLisiandVaughn(2008)notedmorespecically,thereis“asynergybetweentheviolentcriminalspersonalitytraits,lifestyle,andobservedbehaviorthatdovetailssoexquisitelythatitisasiftheircriminalityiswrappedupinabox.Thatboxispsychopathy.”(p.164).PsychopathyandcriminologicaltheoryGiventhatpsychopathyisarobustandconsistentpredictorofkeyantisocialoutcomesandalignswithseveralfundamentalconceptsalreadycontainedincriminologicaltheories,asweandothershavearguedpreviously(Farrington,2005a;Vaughn&DeLisi,2008),itisim-portanttoincorporatesuchpersonalityconstructsintokeycrimi-nologicaltheoreticalframeworks.WhilepsychopathywasnotutilizedexplicitlyinGottfredsonandHirschis(1990)classicgeneraltheoryofcrime(GTC),thispersonalityconstructincorporatesthecentraland,essentially,soleexplanatoryconstructofthistheoryi.e.lowself-control(seeVaughn,DeLisi,Beaver,Wright,&Howard,2007;Wiebe,2003).Thelatterconstructfocusesonthekeytraitofimpulsivity,whichisoneofthecentralcharacteristicthemesofpsychopathyi.e.psychopathshavebeendescribedasindividualswhoseekimmedi-ategratication,areself-centered,engageinrisky,sensation-seekingbehaviors,lieandcheattogetwhattheywant,areinsensitive,unsym-pathetic,anduncooperativewithothers,anddonotconsidertheconse-quencesoftheirbehavior(Cleckley,1941;Vaughn&DeLisi,2008;Vaughnetal.,2007).However,regardingself-controlconstructandpredictivevalidityoftheGTC,Vaughnetal.(2007)foundthatmuchofthevarianceaccountedforbyselfcontrolwassubsumedbyothermajorpsychopathictraitssuchasnarcissism.Ineffect,wastheself-controlconstructintheGTCsimplyjusta“watereddown,lessspeciedformofpsychopathy”(DeLisi,2009,p.257).IncontrasttotheGTC,thedevelopmentalandlife-coursecrimi-nologicalperspective(DLC)explicitlyutilizedpsychopathy(seee.g.,Moftt,1993;Raine,1993;Wilson&Herrnstein,1985).Forin-stance,longitudinalresearchshowedthatchildhoodandadolescentpsychopathyscoreswerestrongerpredictorsofadultcriminalitythanlevelsofaggression,impulsivity,IQ,attentionandconductproblems,orevenpreviousoffending(Lynam,1997;Lynam,Miller,etal.,2009).Otherstudiesalsosuggestedahighcontinuityandstabilityofpsycho-pathictraitsfromchildhoodthroughadolescenceandadulthood(Lynam,Caspi,Moftt,Loeber,&Stouthamer-Loeber,2007;Lynam,Loeber,&Stouthamer-Loeber,2008;Lynametal.,2009).Inaddition,psychopathicpersonalityfeaturesweresignicantpredictorsofalldimensionsofthecriminalcareer,includingageofonset,desistance,recidivism,offendingseverity,type,andfrequency(Blackburn&Coid,1998;Hemphill,Templeman,Wong,&Hare,1998;Porter,Birt,&Boer,2001;Vaughn&DeLisi,2008;Walters,2003).For276B.H.Foxetal./JournalofCriminalJustice43(2015)274289instance,psychopathshad:anaverageageofcriminalonsetthatwasveyearsyoungerthantheaverageageofonsetofnon-psychopaths(Blackburn&Coid,1998);farmoreconvictionsthannon-psychopaths,particularlyforviolence,robbery,propertydamage,burglary,fraud,andrearmsoffenses(Blackburn&Coid,1998);committedalargervarietyofoffensesandathigherlevelsthannon-psychopaths;andhadoftenoffended,andrepeatedlyrecidivated,wellintomid-adulthoodandbeyond(Porteretal.,2001).ThesepatternsofoffendingclearlyindicatedthecentralrelevanceofpsychopathytotheDLCtheoreticalperspective.Farrington(2005a)alsonotedthesimilaritiesindevelopmentalriskfactors,personalitytraits,andcriminalcareerfeaturesbetweenpsycho-pathsandchronicoffenders,andcalledfortheincorporationofpsycho-pathicmeasuresintoDLC.Subsequently,VaughnandDeLisi(2008)examinedwhetherthe“chronic”offendersidentiedinWolfgang,Figlio,andSellins(1972)DelinquencyinaBirthCohortwerepossiblypsychopaths.Outofthenearly10,000boysinthePhiladelphiabirthcohort,just6%committedover50%ofthedelinquencyintheentirecohort,including71%ofthemurders,73%oftherapes,82%oftherob-beries,69%oftheaggravatedassaults,and63%ofallindexoffenses(Wolfgangetal.,1972).Whilepsychopathymeasureswerenotcollect-edintheoriginalPhiladelphiabirthcohortstudy,VaughnandDeLisi(2008)suggestedthatchronicoffenders,aswellas“life-coursepersis-tent”,“serious,violent,andchronic”,and“career”criminals,werediffer-entlabelsforpsychopaths.VaughnandDeLisiexploredthishypothesisbyexaminingtheprevalenceofpsychopathyinasampleofjuveniles(n=723)referredtotheMissouriDivisionofYouthServices.Utilizingoffending,victimization,trauma,personality,mentalhealth,demo-graphic,andpsychopathictraitdataonthesample,theyreportedthatapproximately10%ofthejuvenilescouldbeclassiedaschronicof-fendersandthattheyouthwhoexhibitedpsychopathictraits(e.g.nar-cissism,fearlessness,impulsivity,andunemotionality)wereseveraltimesmorelikelytobeclassiedaschronicoffendersthantheyouthwithoutanypsychopathictraits,evenaftercontrollingforallothercovariates(Vaughn&DeLisi,2008).ThisprolewasconsistentwiththeearlierresearchonadultsbyHartandHare(1997),whonotedthat“manypsychopathsengageinchroniccriminalconductanddosoatahighrate,whereasonlyasmallminorityofthosewhoengageincriminalconductarepsychopaths.Thismeansthatpsychopathsareresponsibleforadisproportionateamountofcrimeinoursociety”(p.22).There,therefore,islittledoubtthattheoriginalpsychopathyclinicalconstructisimportantintheDLCperspective,especiallyforexplanationsofseriousandviolentoffending.Inadditiontoresearchonthecriminalcareersofpsychopathicindividuals,anumberofstudieshaveexamineddevelopmentalandlife-courseriskfactorsforpsychopaths.Forinstance,studieshavesuggestedpsychopathyhasastrongheritability(Blonigen,Carlson,Krueger,&Patrick,2003;Blonigen,Hicks,Krueger,Patrick,&Iacono,2005),andthattheremaybebiologicaland/orgeneticinuencesonpsychopathicbehavior(DeLisi,2009;Viding,Blair,Moftt,&Plomin,2005).Researchershaveinvestigatedpsychopathictraitsacrossthelife-course,evenamongchildrenandadolescents(Lynam,Charnigo,etal.,2009;Lynametal.,2005;Obradovi,Pardini,Long,&Loeber,2007;Vaughn&Howard,2005a,b;Vaughn,Howard,etal.,2008).Ac-cordingtoLynam(1998),childandadolescentpsychopathywasoftencharacterizedbycallousandunemotionaltraits,impulsivity,andcon-ductproblems.Neuropsychologicaldecitsanda