Psychopathy and violent recidivism among young criminal offenders

To investigate the predictive validity of psychopathic personality traits (assessed with the revised psychopathy checklist, PCL-R; Hare, 1991) for violent criminal recidivism among young offenders.

The relationship between PCL-R psychopathy and violent re-offending was studied in 98 young (M=18.40, range 15-20 years) violent and sex offenders subjected to forensic psychiatric evaluation in Sweden during 1988-95. Subjects were followed during detainment and for 24 months in the community to first reconviction for a violent offence.

We found a modest but significant association between PCL-R scores and violent recidivism, almost exclusively accounted for by behavioural criteria. Among 13 possible confounders tested, conduct disorder before age 15 and a young age at first conviction eliminated the relationship between psychopathy and violent recidivism in pair-wise logistic regression models.

PCL-R psychopathy may be a less valid predictor for violent criminal recidivism among severe youthful offenders than among adult offenders.