title: Psychopathic traits in a representative sample of Finnish male prisoners.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The psychopathic traits measured with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in a representative national prisoner sample have not been studied in Finland before. It has been unclear whether there could occur some national differences or whether the PCL-R can be used for assessing psychopathic traits in the Finnish forensic settings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to study the distribution of psychopathic traits in the Finnish male prisoners as well as the correlations of these traits with DSM-IV disorders and to compare the sample with similar samples of Europe and America.
  
  
  METHODS
  171 male prisoners representing all Finnish sentenced male offenders (about 3300) were studied using the PCL-R, SCID-I and SCID-II.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of the first Finnish study utilizing the PCL-R in a representative national sample of male prisoners were quite similar to the findings of the previous studies of male prisoners carried out in North America, the UK and Sweden. The scores of the interpersonal facet are lower in this sample than in the sample of North America. In total, 16.4% of the Finnish male prisoners can be diagnosed as having a psychopathic disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PCL-R is a reliable and valid measure of the psychopathy construct of the Finnish male prisoners. The PCL-R is applicable to the Finnish offenders and it is a useful tool for assessing psychopathy in the Finnish criminal justice settings.
authors.affiliation: Prison Health Services , Helsinki , Finland .
authors.forename: Alo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jüriloo
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lauerma
authors.forename: Tuomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Holmalahti
authors.forename: Sasu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tyni
authors.forename: Jorma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aarnio
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viitanen
authors.forename: Terhi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wuolijoki
authors.forename: Aino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Tomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lintonen
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joukamaa
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vartiainen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results