Although psychopathy may be viewed as an evolutionary adaptation that serves the individual well, it typically is construed as a personality disorder, or a chronic, inflexible, and maladaptive pattern of relating to the world. Most conceptualizations of psychopathy emphasize traits of emotional detachment, including callousness, failure to form close emotional bonds, low anxiety proneness, remorselessness
The treatment of psychopathy is a controversial and underinvestigated area of study. Many researchers and clinicians have suggested that the pervasive and manipulative nature of the disorder makes it unlikely that psychopathic individuals can benefit from treatment. It is of concern that the primary characteristics of psychopathy (e.g., manipulation, deceit, and shallow affect) result in
Despite disagreement about its exact contours, most conceptualizations of psychopathic personality disorder emphasize traits of emotional detachment, including callousness, failure to form close emotional bonds, low anxiety proneness, remorselessness, and deceitfulness. Nevertheless, most measures of psychopathy go beyond these interpersonal and affective features to assess repeated involvement in antisocial behavior, which many scholars view as
The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (2nd edition, PCL-R) is a 20-item rating scale for the measurement of the clinical construct of psychopathy. Although it was designed for use in research, its explanatory and predictive features have led to its widespread use within the criminal justice system. This entry describes the development of the PCL-R, its psychometric
The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) is a 12-item symptom-construct rating scale designed for use by expert observers to assess the lifetime presence and severity of symptoms of psychopathic personality disorder. It was derived from the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, or PCL-R. The PCL:SV is intended for use with adult males and females in a
The construct of psychopathy as applied to children and adolescents has received increasing attention in recent years. Many researchers and clinicians believe that psychopathic traits and behaviors are first manifested early in life, which has led to efforts to develop measures to identify psychopathic traits early in development. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
Robert Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and the briefer screening version (PCL:SV) are the predominant tools for assessing psychopathic traits in adult forensic and correctional settings. Psychopathy is a multidimensional personality disorder characterized by an arrogant and manipulative interpersonal style, poverty in major affective reactions, an impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle, and persistent and inadequately motivated antisocial
The Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) is an assessment that measures psychopathic traits and behaviors in youth aged 12–18 years. The construct of psychopathy has been studied in adults with structured assessment measures developed by Robert Hare since the 1970s using the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL), which later became the PCL–Revised (PCL-R), a measure of psychopathy
The Self-Report Psychopathy (SRP) scale was designed by Robert D. Hare as a self-report version of his Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and its revision (PCL-R). Originally created using correctional and forensic populations, the PCL-R is a 20-item construct rating scale that conceptualizes psychopathy as a superordinate dimensional construct composed of four correlated factors: interpersonal (glibness/superficial charm
Predicting violence and criminal behavior is a particularly challenging endeavor for the criminal justice system and forensic mental health clinicians alike. Psychopathy, which is sometimes referred to as the psychopathic personality, is a psychological construct that has been extensively examined with respect to its utility to predict violence and crime. Psychopathy is a personality disorder