Child and Adolescent Psychopathy: Like a Painting by Monet

• NCJ Number: 227511
• Journal: Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 239-255
• Author(s): Randall T. Salekin; Jill Rosenbaum; Zina Lee; Whitney S. Lester
• Date Published: July 2009
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This literature review discusses the construct of child and adolescent psychopathy and examines controversy about this issue, along with some of the reasons that it might be developmentally appropriate.

Abstract

Although there has been considerable debate about the appropriateness of the concept of psychopathy in children and adolescents due to parallels between the features of psychopathy and normative adolescent development, there is some evidence to suggest that the syndrome is a reliable one as currently measured. Moreover, the structure of psychopathy in children is similar to that of adults. Although many adolescents exhibit impulsivity, irresponsible behavior, and egocentricity, the bulk of research suggests that youth do not exhibit these characteristics to a high degree such that psychopathy in youth can be distinguished from normative adolescent development. Regarding the issue of whether child psychopaths maintain the core features of psychopathy into adulthood, current data suggest that a few likely do, but many do not. Many of the longitudinal studies show that a significant portion of youth diagnosed with psychopathy have a decrease in psychopathic characteristics over time; however this conclusion must be qualified by the possibility that measures of psychopathy over time may lack the sophistication to detect the features of psychopathic personality and all of its potential sequelae across developmental periods. Findings on child psychopathy continue to raise many more questions than they answer. Data thus far constitute estimates of the construct with limited outcome data, such that there is little monitoring data on the development of youth who might be psychopathic. More research is required in order to provide greater clarity regarding the features and changing manifestation of psychopathy from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. 77 references