Psychopathy as a taxon: evidence that psychopaths are a discrete class.

Taxometric analyses were applied to the construct of psychopathy (as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist) and to several variables reflecting antisocial childhood, adult criminality, and criminal recidivism. Subjects were 653 serious offenders assessed or treated in a maximum-security institution. Results supported the existence of a taxon underlying psychopathy. Childhood problem behaviors provided convergent evidence for the existence of the taxon. Adult criminal history variables were continuously distributed and were insufficient in themselves to detect the taxon.

[1]  G. Harris,et al.  Psychopathy, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse, and violent recidivism. , 1995, International journal of law and psychiatry.

[2]  V. Quinsey,et al.  Correlates of Psychopathy in a Noninstitutional Sample , 1994 .

[3]  P. Meehl.  Factors and Taxa, Traits and Types, Differences of Degree and Differences in Kind , 1992 .

[4]  R. Tremblay,et al.  Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: longitudinal analyses. , 1992, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[5]  Grant T. Harris,et al.  Psychopathy and violent recidivism , 1991 .

[6]  R. Hare,et al.  Assessment of psychopathy in male young offenders. , 1990 .

[7]  Stephen D. Hart,et al.  The revised Psychopathy Checklist: Reliability and factor structure. , 1990 .

[8]  G. Harris,et al.  Recidivism among Male Insanity Acquittees , 1990 .

[9]  M. Rice,et al.  Predicting treatment outcome and recidivism among patients in a maximum security token economy , 1990 .

[10]  D. Magnusson,et al.  The role of early aggressive behavior in the frequency, seriousness, and types of later crime. , 1989, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[11]  R. Golden,et al.  A taxometric analysis of cognitive and neuromotor variables in children at risk for schizophrenia. , 1989, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[12]  Michael J. Strube,et al.  Evidence for the Type in Type A behavior: A taxometric analysis. , 1989 .

[13]  Stephen C. P. Wong,et al.  Is Hare's Psychopathy Checklist Reliable without the Interview? , 1988, Psychological reports.

[14]  R D Hare,et al.  Performance of male psychopaths following conditional release from prison. , 1988, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[15]  C. H. Foust,et al.  The Prediction of Criminal Violence , 1987 .

[16]  V. Quinsey,et al.  Maximum Security Psychiatric Patients , 1986 .

[17]  R. Hare.  Comparison of procedures for the assessment of psychopathy. , 1985, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[18]  J. Chaiken,et al.  Offender Types and Public Policy , 1984 .

[19]  R. Golden,et al.  A Taxometric Model For The Detection Of A Conjectured Latent Taxon. , 1982, Multivariate behavioral research.

[20]  P. Meehl,et al.  Detection of the schizoid taxon with MMPI indicators. , 1979, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[21]  C. Widom.  A methodology for studying noninstitutionalized psychopaths. , 1977, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[22]  Lewis Yablonsky,et al.  Crime and Delinquency , 1975 .

[23]  D. D. Akman,et al.  THE MEASUREMENT OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY IN CANADA* A Replication Study , 1967 .

[24]  R L Stubblefield,et al.  Behavioral sciences and the law. , 1966, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[25]  V. Hasselblad.  Estimation of parameters for a mixture of normal distributions , 1966 .

[26]  J. P. Harding,et al.  The Use of Probability Paper for the Graphical Analysis of Polymodal Frequency Distributions , 1949, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[27]  H. Cleckley,et al.  The mask of sanity. , 1942, Postgraduate medicine.

[28]  R. Loeber.  Development and risk factors of juvenile antisocial behavior and delinquency. , 1990 .

[29]  M. Zuckerman,et al.  Personality in the third dimension: A psychobiological approach☆ , 1989 .

[30]  D. Farrington,et al.  Aggression and dangerousness , 1987 .

[31]  R D Hare,et al.  Violent and aggressive behavior by criminal psychopaths. , 1984, International journal of law and psychiatry.

[32]  S. Mednick,et al.  Genetic Influences in Criminal Behavior:Evidence from an Adoption Cohort , 1983 .

[33]  S. Mednick,et al.  Prospective studies of crime and delinquency , 1983 .

[34]  Philip C. Kendall,et al.  Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology , 1982 .

[35]  R. Michels,et al.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed , 1981 .