NCJ Number
230597
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2010 Pages: 633-655
Date Published
June 2010
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article attempts to adapt Moyer's (1976) seven-factor model of animal aggression to better understand the set of human behaviors that are frequently encountered in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems.
Abstract
This article represents an initial attempt to adapt the three most relevant components of Moyer's animal aggression typology to humans. These include predatory (unemotional, goal-directed), irritable (anger-based), and defensive (fear-based) aggression. As different brain networks are likely involved, the authors hypothesized that executive function and personality tests could differentiate violent from nonviolent criminals and discriminate the types originally classified on the basis of criminal history. Discriminant analyses correctly classified 80 percent of the violent and nonviolent groups and 74 percent of the predatory and irritable groups. Of theoretical salience, the predatory group resembled the unimpaired nonviolent group only on the cognitive Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test but was indistinguishable from the impaired irritable aggression group on the Iowa Gambling, suggesting inhibitory deficits primarily in the face of reward opportunity. Implications for the theory and application to risk assessment are discussed. Tables, figure, and references (Published Abstract)