Psychopathy: theory, measurement, and treatment

The purpose of this article is to link empirical literature to the theoretical background of the concept of psychopathy and the impact that this has had on the development of treatment and intervention procedures for psychopathic offenders. This article begins with a discussion of the different theories of psychopathy, which leads into considerations of different developmental pathways of psychopathy in the individual. The discussion will then lead on to the psychometrics and measurement tools used to assess psychopathy in the individual. The measurement section will primarily be focused on Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), as this is the most frequently used and validated measure of psychopathy. The relationship between psychopathy and different types of crime is also discussed. The final section of the article considers the treatment and interventions that are available to psychopathic offenders and the implications this has for future research.