6533b860fe1ef96bd12c387e
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Types of Offense among the Cleckley Psychopaths
Jaana Haapasalosubject
Psychopathy Checklistmedia_common.quotation_subject050901 criminology05 social sciencesPsychopathy050109 social psychologyCriminal behaviormedicine.diseasePathology and Forensic MedicineDevelopmental psychologyArts and Humanities (miscellaneous)ArgumentmedicineJuvenile delinquencyPersonality0501 psychology and cognitive sciences0509 other social sciencesPsychologySocial psychologyApplied Psychologymedia_commondescription
The Cleckley psychopath is superficially charming and convincing in his behavior but also unreliable and callous. These personality characteristics imply that he/she may be prone to deceive and manipulate others. In the area of criminality, this may mean apropensity to fraud-like offenses. The present paper tested the argument by comparing types of offense committed by psychopaths and nonpsychopaths. The Psychopathy Checklist was used for psychopathy assessments. In a sample of 92 male offenders, the percentage of the Cleckley psychopaths convicted for fraud-like offenses was higher than among the other offenders. The results were discussed with respect to the problem of circular conclusions. It was argued that a person-oriented approach could be used to examine the relationships between psychopathy and criminal behavior.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-03-01 | International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology |