NCJ Number
190203
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 402-426
Date Published
August 2001
Length
25 pages
Annotation
The study examined male criminal violence.
Abstract
The interrelationships and the independent contributions of three major constructs associated with male criminal violence were examined. These three constructs are neurodevelopmental insults, antisocial parenting, and psychopathy. Neurodevelopmental insults include brain damage associated with either acute or chronic trauma. Antisocial parenting includes persistent and severe adult aggression toward children and antisociality. Psychopathics exhibit impulsiveness, poor behavior control, and are more likely to commit violent offenses. Subjects were 868 violent offenders assessed or treated at a maximum-security psychiatric hospital. Background variables such as reports from families and schools were examined. Most importantly, very early health and developmental problems were examined. The hypothesis was that although all three constructs were related to violence, neurodevelopmental insults and psychopathy were unrelated to each other, but inadequate, antisocial parenting was correlated with each. The results supported the hypothesis that there are at least two distinct general paths to criminal violence. In the first, a variety of neurological insults and dysfunctions produce impairment, causing the individual to act violently. The second path, psychopathy, represents a much more important cause of violence than the neurodevelopmental insults associated with disorders. The present results are consistent with the idea that psychopaths are qualitatively distinct from other violent persons and that psychopathy is not due to neurodevelopmental defects. 3 figures, 3 tables, and 85 references