Introduction
Psychopathy is a personality disorder that consists of a myriad of interpersonal, lifestyle, affective, and antisocial traits and behaviors. The behaviors exhibited by psychopaths include trickery, impulsivity, unreliability, lack of compassion, motivation seeking, poor behavior controls, lack of guilt, sexual promiscuity, insolence for other people’s civil liberties, and unethical and antisocial behavior (Aharoni et al., 2013). Tools such as the PCL-R and the PCL-SV are applied in forensic and correctional situations because of their confirmed association with recidivism and antagonistic or brutal conduct.
Assessing psychopathic behavior in an adult forensic population in society is very important. People who have psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder exhibit characteristics that are detrimental to themselves and society. Unlike other personality disorders, people with psychopathy commit actions with the intention of hurting others (Skeem & Cooke, 2010). They are manipulative. They can easily lie to find their way out of criminal proceedings if their underlying disorder is not understood. Psychopaths are also more likely to commit crimes in society.
For this reason, understanding the psychopathic behavior of the members of the society is central since it ensures that relevant authorities can put in place monitoring and prevention measures to reduce the likelihood of criminal behavior in society (Hare & Neumann, 2008). The reason for assessing psychopathic behavior is often on the request of a judge to understand a suspect’s behavior or thinking. It can also be used as a preventive tool for alleged offenses. For instance, determining whether an individual is hiding or altering evidence can help in law enforcement. Concisely, the assessment of the mental disorder can help the legal system in making good decisions to guarantee safety and justice for all people (Evans, Ioannou, & Hammond, 2015). The assessment is also important in determining the likelihood of re-offending in previous offenders. The determination of psychopathy uses different measurement approaches. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist is the most common tool for assessing antisocial traits.
Psychopathy Assessment in Adjudicative Processes
In the adjudicative process, assessing psychopathy is a common procedure. In this case, the process is applied when or where serious crimes such as murder, domestic violence, theft, assault, or terrorism have been committed. Psychopathy differs significantly from other Antisocial Personality Disorders (APD) (Hart, 2011). For instance, in other mental health issues, people commit a crime without any intention, as opposed to psychopathy where criminals deliberately commit offenses to harm others (Skeem & Cooke, 2010). Further, psychopaths see no wrong in their behavior. For example, assessing whether an individual has psychopathy allows the determination of criminal intent of individuals, hence guiding the process of justice delivery.
Psychopathy Assessment and Case Outcome
Assessment of psychopathy can influence a case outcome. In this case, an assessment of psychopathy allows a judge to understand the thinking process of an individual. In other words, it gives a judge an opportunity to delve into the internal thinking or the mind of the criminal (Hart, 2011). With such knowledge, a judge can make a well-informed decision that allows justice to prevail. Further, since psychopathy has the potential of causing personal harm and damage, understating it within the context of the legal system is vital. Appreciating psychopathy is indeed recognized as a step towards the prevention of criminal acts and other issues that follow such unlawful acts. For example, recognizing that a criminal is psychotic can lead to higher sentences. According to Aharoni et al. (2013), it may also result in follow-up actions that will ensure that the individual does not re-offend.
References
Aharoni, E., Vincent, G., Harenski, C., Calhoun, V., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., Gazzaniga, M., & Kiehl, K. (2013). Neuroprediction of Future Rearrest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(15), 6223-6228.
Evans, L., Ioannou, M., & Hammond, L. (2015). A predictive model of criminality in civil psychiatric populations. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 5(1), 1-12.
Hare, R., & Neumann, C. (2008). Psychopathy as a clinical and empirical construct. Clinical Psychology, 4(1), 217-246.
Hart, S. (2011). Psychopathy Checklist. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Skeem, J., & Cooke, D. (2010). Is criminal behavior a central component of psychopathy? Conceptual directions for resolving the debate. Psychological assessment, 22(2), 433-438.