Psychopathy, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Reconviction in an Australian Sample of Forensic Patients.
This study identified the presence of psychopathy (as measured by the PCL-R/PCL:SV instruments) and antisocial personality disorder (APD) and their relationship with future reconviction in an Australian forensic sample ( N = 136) of patients with a mental disorder. Patients were tracked for over 4 years postrelease to determine associations between a diagnosis of APD/psychopathy and reoffense. Patients with higher psychopathy scores were found to have an increased likelihood of reincarceration, a higher rate of reconviction, and were reconvicted earlier compared with patients with lower psychopathy scores. Patients with APD were more likely to be reconvicted and reincarcerated during the follow-up period than patients without an APD diagnosis. Despite demonstrating associations with general reconviction, the PCL instruments did not exhibit statistically significant relationships with violence. Implications for the clinical identification of personality disordered patients in forensic settings are discussed.
1 Swinburne University of Technology, Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia.
Stephane M
SM
Shepherd
2 Forensicare, Fairfield, Victoria, Australia.
Rachel E
RE
Campbell
1 Swinburne University of Technology, Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia.|2 Forensicare, Fairfield, Victoria, Australia.
James R P
JRP
Ogloff
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D000075665:Recidivism / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055815:Young Adult
antisocial personality disorder; forensic mental health; psychopathy; recidivism; violence risk assessment