Do incarcerated male juvenile recidivists differ from first-time offenders on self-reported psychopathic traits? A retrospective study
| Author | Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves,Teresa Braga,Henrik Andershed,Pedro Pechorro,James V. Ray |
| Published date | 01 July 2019 |
| Date | 01 July 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1477370818772774 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
772774EUC0010.1177/1477370818772774European Journal of CriminologyPechorro et al.
research-article2018
Article
European Journal of Criminology
2019, Vol. 16(4) 413 –431
Do incarcerated male juvenile
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recidivists differ from first-
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https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370818772774
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time offenders on self-reported
psychopathic traits? A
retrospective study
Pedro Pechorro
University of Minho, Portugal
Teresa Braga
University of Minho, Portugal
James V. Ray
University of Central Florida, USA
Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves
University of Minho, Portugal
Henrik Andershed
School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
Abstract
The current study analyzed the relation between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits,
more specifically the callous-unemotional, impulsivity, and narcissism dimensions of the psychopathy
construct. The Antisocial Process Screening Device – Self-Report (APSD-SR) and other self-
report instruments independently measuring the three different dimensions of psychopathy
(that is, Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, Narcissistic
Personality-13) were completed by a sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders (N = 244) who
were retrospectively classified as recidivists versus non-recidivists. The only statistically significant
relation found between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits after controlling for age
and socioeconomic status was with the impulsivity dimension of the APSD-SR. Additionally, results
showed that recidivism was associated with alcohol use but not with drug use or crime seriousness.
Corresponding author:
Pedro Pechorro, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, 4710-057, Portugal.
Email: ppechorro@gmail.com
414
European Journal of Criminology 16(4)
Keywords
Juvenile delinquency, psychopathic traits, recidivism
In the criminological literature, recidivism has been generally defined as the relapse of
an individual into criminal behavior after receiving a correctional intervention (Maltz,
1984; Payne, 2007; Zara and Farrington, 2016). For most juveniles, delinquent behavior
is an ephemeral, normal part of adolescence. However, for a small group of adolescents,
offending patterns are marked by high rates of recidivism (see Blumstein, Cohen et al.,
1986, and Piquero et al., 2003, for reviews). Several criminological theories, in particular
developmental and life-course theories, have taken these different patterns of criminal
offending into account (see Farrington, 2003, for a review). Moffitt’s (1993) develop-
mental taxonomy, for instance, proposes that the age–crime curve, characterized by an
increase of offending in early adolescence, a peak in late adolescence, and dropping
afterwards, conceals two qualitatively distinct categories of offenders. The life-course-
persistent offenders are a small group who exhibit antisocial behavior at young ages and
persist in offending at high rates over their life course owing to the interaction between
their neuropsychological difficulties and the environment and cumulative and contempo-
rary consequences. The other group is the adolescence limited, which comprises those
whose offending is temporary and acute up to adolescence as a result of a maturity gap
during adolescence and mimicry of their life-course-persistent peers, who appear to have
achieved a more mature status (that is, material goods, independence of family).
Understanding why or, at best, which factors increase the probability of individuals
reverting to their criminal path is of great interest to researchers, clinicians, and policy
makers. That is, identifying variables related to recidivism can aid in the development of
effective intervention efforts (Loeber and Farrington, 1998) along with informing risk
assessment (Andrews and Bonta, 2010). One important risk factor for recidivism is psy-
chopathy. Psychopathy is a multidimensional construct that consists of affective (for
example, lack of remorse, callousness), interpersonal (for example, narcissism, manipu-
lativeness), and behavioral (for example, impulsivity, irresponsibility) components
(Hare, 2003), and springs from genetic and environmental factors (for example, Fontaine
et al., 2010; Larsson et al., 2006). Interestingly, like the high-rate offending group identi-
fied by Moffitt (1993), individuals with high psychopathic traits have been linked to an
early involvement in criminal activities, persistent offending, and more serious and inju-
rious crimes (for example, Loeber et al., 2001; Murrie et al., 2004; Pechorro et al., 2014;
Vitacco et al., 2007). The similarities between high-rate offenders and the behavioral
characterizations of psychopathy have supported suggestions that they are one and the
same (Lynam, 1996) or that psychopathic traits may define a subgroup of children within
the persistent early starter offender group (Frick and Ellis, 1999). Indeed, empirical find-
ings have also lent support to this conclusion. Piquero et al. (2012) found that a high-rate
chronic trajectory revealed higher psychopathy scores (compared with the non-offender,
low adolescence-peaked, very low-rate chronics, and high adolescence-peaked trajecto-
ries) and the most chronic and frequent offender trajectories had the highest levels of
psychopathy.
Pechorro et al.
415
Several measures of psychopathic traits have been developed within crime-related
research and contexts. The Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) is a clinical
assessment tool of psychopathy that has been used to assess the risk of criminal recidi-
vism among adults. The downward extension of psychopathy to youth led to the devel-
opment of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al., 2003). In
terms of predicting recidivism, research has systematically shown that the PCL:YV is at
least moderately related with recidivism, supporting its predictive validity to appraise the
risk of juvenile reoffending (for example, Edens et al., 2007; Olver et al., 2009; Schwalbe,
2007). However, limitations of the PCL:YV abound in terms of its practical use because
it requires extensive training and administration time as well as collateral information
reviews (for example, institutional records). Self-report measures have been introduced
to help overcome some of these practical concerns, although there is skepticism regard-
ing the use of self-report measures in forensic and criminal justice areas (Kroner and
Loza, 2001; Lilienfeld and Fowler, 2007). Although several self-report measures of psy-
chopathic traits have been developed, research evaluating their predictive utility in
forensic settings is scant. A meta-analysis found that less than one-third of the studies
examined the predictive utility of self-report measures, compared with the 29 that exam-
ined the PCL:YV (Asscher et al., 2011). In the current study we analyzed the relation of
two widely used measures of psychopathy with regard to juvenile recidivism: the
Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick and Hare, 2001), and the Inventory
of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU; Essau et al., 2006; Kimonis et al., 2008).
Additionally, we examined two measures that independently assess different dimensions
of psychopathy: the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11; Patton et al., 1995;
Stanford et al., 2009) and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory-13 (NPI-13; Gentile
et al., 2013). We focused on callous-unemotional (CU) traits, narcissism, and impulsiv-
ity, because these traits tap into the three psychopathic factors – affective, interpersonal,
and impulsive/irresponsible – most often linked and more consensually to children and
adolescents (for example, Feilhauer and Cima, 2013). Next, we briefly review research
on the relationship between these measures and juvenile recidivism and antisocial
behaviors.
Research on the APSD and recidivism
One of the most widely used self-report measures of psychopathic traits among youth is
the APSD. It was modeled after the PCL:YV (Forth et al., 2003) and was originally
designed to capture a similar two-factor structure (that is, impulsive/conduct problems
[I/CP] and callous-unemotional [CU]; Frick and Hare, 2001). Some findings suggest,
however, a three-factor structure that also includes a narcissism factor (for example,
Dadds et al., 2005; Vitacco et al., 2003).
The usefulness of the APSD in predicting various antisocial outcomes was recently
examined in a sample of detained girls (Colins et al., 2017). The results showed that the
APSD total score was not a significant predictor of either violent or nonviolent offending
after controlling for past offenses, aggression, and alcohol/drug use. Nevertheless, stud-
ies have generally found less evidence for the predictive validity of psychopathy among
girls (for example, Edens et al., 2007; Schmidt et al., 2006). Using male or mixed gender
416
European Journal of Criminology 16(4)
samples, other studies have found that the APSD total score was related to certain types
of recidivism, such as general but not violent reoffending (Salekin, 2008), violent and
weapons-related but not general recidivism (Douglas et al., 2008), and reoffending con-
ceptualized as a dichotomous but not as a continuous variable (Boccaccini et al., 2007).
The impulsivity subscale was most...
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