NCJ Number
218736
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal Volume: 34 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2007 Pages: 739-751
Date Published
June 2007
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study explored the relationships among psychopathic traits, empathy, attachment, and motivations for violence among incarcerated adolescent offenders.
Abstract
Results indicated significant differences in the psychopathy scores for youth who never engaged in instrumental violence, youths who were instrumentally violent once or twice, and youths who were frequently instrumentally violent. The findings are consistent with Meloy’s (2006) theory that psychopaths’ predisposition to engage in instrumental violence could be due to their low levels of autonomic arousal, their emotional detachment, and their lack of empathy. The findings here indicated that the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy and not the behavioral and antisocial features were what contributed to an increased likelihood to use instrumental violence. Results were mixed in regards to the relationship between psychopathic traits and parental attachment. The findings did suggest, however, that low attachment to a father figure for male youths might be related to higher ratings on psychopathy. Future research should focus on the relationships between attachment and instrumental violence in psychopathic youth. Participants were 51 male adolescents incarcerated in 1 of 3 institutions in Canada. Participants were interviewed and also completed a series of four self-report questionnaires. Main variables under analysis included psychopathy, empathy, perceptions of positive or negative relationships, impression management and self-deception enhancement, and motivations for violence. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Tables, references