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Psychopathy as a Predictor of Instrumental Violence Among Civil Psychiatric Patients
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Psychopathy as a Predictor of Instrumental Violence Among Civil Psychiatric Patients

Heath Hodges and Kirk Heilbrun
International journal of forensic mental health, v 8(2), pp 131-141
22 Sep 2009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14999010903199373

Abstract

instrumental violence proactive violence psychiatric patients psychopathy risk assessment
Identifying the motivation for violent behavior is important in risk assessment and risk management. This study examined previously archived data from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study to investigate the relationship between psychopathy and instrumental violence committed by civil psychiatric patients following hospital discharge. Analyses compared the traditional two-factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) to Cooke and Michie's revised three-factor model and Hare's revised 4-facet model. Results indicated that higher total scores on all models were associated with increased risk for instrumental membership. This remained the case after controlling for variables related to instrumental violence. When examining the individual contribution of factors/facets in all three models, those reflecting antisocial traits (Factor II, facet 4) were the only significant predictors of instrumental membership. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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