One of the main issues of the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R) is that it is very subject and therefore can be easily misused. Although any test can be misused, the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R) has a higher risk of being misused due to its extreme subjectivity. A psychologist did investigate the issue of misusing the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R) and found two real-life examples of such incidents (Edens, 2001; Edens et al., 2001). Mental health experts play an important role in many cases involving suspects with antisocial personality behaviour. Therefore, it is important that issues such as adversarial allegiance, conformation bias and the impact of the traits, culture and background of the evaluator has on the outcome of the test are discussed in the …show more content…
Thus, it is important to shed light on the few research papers that have discussed this issue. A few research papers did investigate the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R) on imprisoned females (Loucks, 1995; Neary, 1990; Strachan, 1993; Tien, Lamb, Bond, Gillstrom, & Paris, 1993). These research papers have introduced us to some important issues that should be taken into account when discussing gender-biasness in the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R). One of this issues is that on average women scored 35% less compared to the outcome of the test for men. The factor structure did also change when the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R) was used to assess women. These issues might suggest that the Psychopathic Checklist (PCL-R) might not be as gender-neutral as we thought it was. However, it should be noted that these investigations included a limited number of participants ranging from 55 to 130. Thus, no conclusion could be made from previous research papers. However, it helps us predict the outcomes for coming investigations and gives us a general overview of the issue. It did also present us with some interesting
The city of Vancouver had a dreadful reputation early in the 21st century when the world ascertained that there was a serial killer living in the area. The man responsible for this, known as Robert William Pickton, soon became notorious for the crimes he committed on the women who lived in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Often, individuals who engage in severe criminal activities have some sort of personality disorder brought about by either biological characteristics, environmental factors or both. An individual's upbringing also plays a critical role in future deviant behaviour. If one's parents show love, support, and trust, then that individual is much less likely to engage in deviant activities, On the other hand, if one's parents do not care what their children do and act like they do not exist, then that individual is much more
Through the case study of Robert P. Hanssen, we can highlight that psychopathy is still
Individuals who score high of the PCL-R have limited range of depth feelings, meaning that psychopaths usually do not feel depressed. In fact, individuals who had suicidal tendencies tend to score lower in the “shallow affect” symptom. On the hand, PCL-R Factor 2 focused on the antisocial factor which indicates whether the individual has violated norms or laws. Some symptoms include early behavioral problems, lack of realistic goals, irresponsible, juvenile delinquency, early behavioral problems, etc. Dixon Jr may have scored higher in Factor 2 due to his juvenile delinquency record and his aggression towards the inmates during the beginning of his sentencing.
Majority of these cases involve offenders who murder for sexual reasons. Typologies are broken into categories to show differences in each serial murder case Gaines, Morton, Tillman, 2016, pg 4,7-8). Chapter 2 deals with study parameters and results. It involved charts and accurate information on the offender from examining activity at a crime scene such as motivation, method of killing, victim selection, etc. The charts generally will show the percentages of victims that were of a certain age group and the offender's ethnicity.
Countless factors can influence individuals to commit acts of crime such as murder. According to Morton and cook social factors hold the most influence especially when it comes to youthful offenders. Social factors include substance and alcohol abuse, disorganized and abusive families, minority background, poverty and violent communities with lack of support, and poor educational achievements. Many famous serial killers had bad childhoods and showed signs of psychopathic behaviors. Also, the McDonald triad also explains that children who wet their beds, committed acts of arson, and animal abuse was psychopathic and they would be more likely to kill (Simon,2015).
The court to exhibit Subject A’s behavior, the narrator from the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. Subject A is now going under experimentation to determine whether or not Subject A is a psychotic killer. Carefully analyzed it has been determined that Subject A is a psychotic killer. In the article ‘’Portrait of a Psychopath’’ by Denise Mann it states that the regular psychopath has five indications.
There are a variety of theories within crime and psychology, and a multitude can be applied to the never-ending list of infamous serial killers, as well as newly developing ones. Myra Hindley is the most notorious female serial killer in the history of Britain. Her past experiences and actions reveal how she was nurtured into becoming a hardcore killer. I will be covering her from her childhood well into her adulthood, and thus what lead her to pursue her deadly career. Of the many theories that can be applied to killers, I will be applying the theory of psychopathy and the differential-association reinforcement theory.
Through the years and through inmate experiences few things are changing for female and identified mentally ill offenders. From years past, Caucasian women offenders were seen as “pious and naïve of the evils” (Hanser, 2013), and African-American women offenders were more likely to face incarceration for wrongful actions. However, women, in general, did not hold the largest offender numbers like their male counter-offenders. From the RH REALITY CHECK Internet article, written by Sharona Coutts and Zoe Greenberg, in March of 2015, “In 2010, Black women were incarcerated at nearly three times the rate of white women . . .” While women incarceration rates increase, the conditions of the institutions still lack the necessities for women and
In examining the role of expert testimony in criminal law cases, there are several factors to be considered; the most significant is the question of what weight is given to the expert witnesses’ testimony and what affect this has on the outcome. In cases to determine whether an offender ought to be labeled as a dangerous offender, these questions have reaching implications. The medicalization of deviancy, and the role of expert witnesses in presenting their psychological and psychiatric findings to the court, deeply affects the outcomes for the offenders involved. By medicalizing risk and relying on diagnoses such as psychopathy, the medical experts’ testimony contributes to the pathologizing of criminal individuals and leads to higher rates of dangerous offender designations.
A definition of serial homicide will be provided. The case of one of Cody Legebokoff will then be presented, outlining its key aspects. The theoretical perspectives of Psychopathy and Routine Activities Theory will
While a few theories are not as regular, others have developed and are utilized as a part of numerous criminal reviews today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the
A prime example of a forensic psychology concept, psychopathy, is a television series called "Dexter". Throughout the whole show, but specifically season two episode eleven, titled "Left Turn Ahead", Dexter Morgan, the show's protagonist, represents the nature of psychopathy. Psychopathy is defined as a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls, commonly resulting in persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behavior. In this specific episode, the main character begins to worry that his adoptive sister was showing psychopathic tendencies that may have been brought out by him.
The show dramatizes the lives of many real cases where the majority of viewers are familiar with. For example, many people know about the case of the Zodiac the serial killer, Robert Berdilla, one of the most aggressive, bloody and torturing assassins who used to take photographs of his horrifying acts, and many other cases which are narrated in this show. According to the author of the book “The forensic psychology of criminal minds” Ramsland mentions that, “in criminal minds, we see not only the activity of crime scene analysis and reconstruction variety of criminal psyches.” (8) On the show psychopathic murders are portray as cold-blooding, lacking of rumour, and emotionless.
Criminal Justice Psychologist The psychologist is a vital asset to the criminal justice system. The psychologist can examine victims, police officials and various witnesses thus making them ethically obligated to make the right decisions and evaluations. This essay will discuss the roles of psychologist as they work within the criminal justice system. I will Identify and describe the psychologists’ roles within the criminal justice system as it pertains to the applied scientist, the basic scientist, the policy evaluator, and the advocate.
Furthermore, the psychology of criminal behavior, psychology, and criminology all have a primary objective of achieving an understanding of the variation in the criminal behavior of individuals (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Empirically, the study of variation in criminal behavior is done by the studying of covariates (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). The primary covariates that PCC studies are biological, social, and psychological (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Although, criminology tends to assess criminality at an aggregate level, in comparison to the psychology of criminal conduct’s focus on an individual level. Additionally, a psychology of criminal conduct involves applying what is learned by the studying of psychological information and methods to the predicting and influencing the propensity of criminal behavior on an individual