Psychopathy and offence severity in sexually aggressive and violent youth.
BACKGROUND
A large proportion of violent crimes are committed by youths. Youths with psychopathic traits may have a higher risk for recidivism and violence.


OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to compare sexually aggressive with violent young men on offence severity and psychopathy. Three hypotheses were proposed: first, young men with previous offences would display a progressive increase in seriousness of offence during their criminal career; secondly, the sexually aggressive and violent young men would not differ in scores on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV); but, thirdly, PCL:YV scores would be positively correlated with the severity of the index crime, as measured by the Cormier-Lang System for Quantifying Criminal History.


METHODS
Information was collected from the files of 40 young men in conflict with the law, and the PCL:Youth Version (YV) rated from this by trained raters.


RESULTS
The offences of these young men became more serious over time, but we found no association between PCL:YV scores and offence type or seriousness.


CONCLUSIONS
This exploratory research suggests the importance of understanding the progression in offending careers, but a limited role for the PCL:YV in doing so. Given the small sample size, however, and the limit on access to information about details of age, the findings need replication.
Fougere
Amber
A
Department of Psychology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. amber.fougere@med.monash.edu.au
Potter
Susan
S
Boutilier
Joan
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D003417:Criminal Psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011599:Psychopathology; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult