Elsevier

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 19, Issue 1, January–February 2014, Pages 23-31
Aggression and Violent Behavior

A review of the relationship between sociocultural factors and juvenile psychopathy

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Juvenile psychopathy is becoming an increasingly important construct for clinicians and those in the judicial system alike. The importance of understanding not only the concept of juvenile psychopathy, but also the sociocultural determinants and risk factors is important for treatment and predictive purposes. A literature review of several social, demographic, and cultural factors that may contribute to the development of juvenile psychopathy was conducted. These factors are race, culture and ethnicity, gender, trauma, family, community influence, and peer influence. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Introduction

Psychopathy is currently viewed as a cluster of behavioral, affective, and interpersonal traits that define an individual's pattern of interactions (Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003). These interactions are characterized by antisocial behaviors, decreased emotionality, and interpersonal relations that are superficial and predatory in nature.

Hare originally conceptualized psychopathy as manifesting in two distinct clusters of symptoms or factors, which he used to develop his measure the Psychopathy Checklist — Revised (PCL-R). The first factor is the interpersonal and affective cluster and the second factor is the socially deviant lifestyle or behavioral cluster (Harpur, Hare, & Hakstian, 1989). Cooke, Kosson, and Michie (2001) have since developed a three-factor model of psychopathy which has had mixed support (Strand & Belfrage, 2005). The factors in this model are: the arrogant deceptive interpersonal dimension; the deficient affective experience dimension, and; the impulsive irresponsible behavior dimension. Hare (2003) more recently postulated a four-factor model that splits each of the original two factors to produce four dimensions: interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial (Jones et al., 2006, Sevecke, Pukrop, Kosson and Krischer, 2009). A five-factor model was also developed from the Five Factor theory of personality.

In 2003, Forth, Kosson, and Hare published the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), a downward extension of the PCL-R for those between the ages of 12 and 18 years. As the PCL:YV was developed from the PCL-R, it is rooted in the two-factor model of psychopathy. Several factor analyses with varied adolescent populations have shown that the three- and four-factor models are a better fit with the PCL:YV (Jones et al., 2006, Kosson et al., 2013, Salekin et al., 2006). Few studies have looked at the five-factor model in juveniles, but a recent study by Salekin, Debus, and Barker (2010) found some evidence for its applicability.

Researchers have long described two distinct subtypes of psychopathy, most commonly referred to as primary and secondary psychopathy. Primary psychopathy is viewed as an innate inability to processing emotions, such as fear and empathy, while secondary psychopathy is thought to develop due to social and environmental conditions, such as severe childhood abuse (Lee, Salekin, & Iselin, 2010). Research with adults has generally found support for two distinct subtypes, with one (secondary) group exhibiting higher levels of anxiety, psychological distress, and lower PCL-R scores and the other (primary) group exhibiting lesser levels of anxiety and higher PCL-R scores (Vaughn, Edens, Howard, & Smith, 2009). Studies with adolescents have found mixed support. Some studies described similar patterns, with the primary group typically presenting as more dangerous, having more antisocial behaviors, and being less impulsive and more psychosocially mature than the secondary group (Andershed et al., 2008, Kimonis et al., 2010, Vaughn et al., 2009). One significant difference with adolescents, identified by Vaughn et al. (2009), was a high level of anxiety across all groups. They suggested that this might be due to higher anxiety levels in adolescents as a whole or possibly due to an environmental factor, such as being incarcerated for the first time.

Juvenile psychopathy has emerged as a highly studied and controversial topic, as clinicians and researchers have begun to extend the concept of psychopathy to children and adolescents. Vitacco and Vincent (2006) noted a 400% increase in articles published on juvenile psychopathy between 1994 and 2004. Researchers credit this to an interest in understanding the development of these traits and predecessor of adult psychopathy, as well as a desire to stem the roots of child and adolescent violence and lifelong recidivism (Verona et al., 2010, Vitacco and Vincent, 2006).

Adolescence is a time of rapid and enormous developmental change. While the construct of psychopathy in adults has been well established in the literature, its extension to juveniles is still tenuous and there are many questions still to be answered. Behaviors central to evaluations of psychopathy in children and adolescents, such as irresponsibility and impulsivity, are also viewed as part of the normal developmental process (Salekin & Frick, 2005). Despite cautions enumerated in the PCL:YV manual itself, mental health professionals may run the risk of misinterpreting normative and transit adolescent traits as antisocial or psychopathic (Forth et al., 2003, Salekin and Frick, 2005). This risk may be exacerbated for adolescents of particular cultural and social backgrounds, as will be addressed later in this paper. Viljoen, McLachlan, and Vincent (2010) found that 79% of forensic clinicians surveyed had used a juvenile psychopathy measure at least once when assessing juvenile risk. Given the transient nature of traits during adolescence, applying a label of psychopathy would suggest a persistent and stable pattern of personality impairment that would be inappropriate. Although there have not been many studies on the stability of psychopathic traits across the lifespan, researchers argue that developmental stages must be considered and biological measures employed when investigating juvenile psychopathy (Rutter, 2005, Salekin and Frick, 2005).

A recent review of adolescent brain development studies found that executive processing ability (e.g., adolescents' impulse control and decision-making skills) and the skills needed for social cognition (i.e., self-awareness and being able to “attribute[e] mental states … and intentions to other people”) are still developing during this period (Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006, p.302). Although measures of juvenile psychopathy are not meant to diagnose youth, but rather to direct treatment and research, there is the potential for misuse and great harm when used improperly (Forth et al., 2003). Identifying and exploiting protective factors in certain youth could potentially decrease psychopathic traits benefitting not only the individual but also the community at large (Salekin & Lochman, 2008).

Until more is known about juvenile psychopathy, clinicians are at a disadvantage when developing treatment plans for these youth. Researchers have suggested that grouping adolescents into subtypes would be beneficial in this regard (Lee et al., 2010, Vitacco and Vincent, 2006). Other researchers have suggested that psychopathic traits are best viewed as existing on a continuum and have proposed a dimensional model instead of a discrete category. There is some evidence that dimensional models are both applicable to adolescent populations and predictive of future delinquent behaviors (Edens, Marcus, & Vaughn, 2011). The PCL:YV provides a dimensional representation as there is no cut-off score for diagnostic purposes (Forth et al., 2003). Viewing juvenile psychopathic traits on a continuum would allow for specific interventions to be designed while hopefully ameliorating the dangers of applying a diagnostic label.

This literature review examines the emerging studies that attempt to extend the construct of juvenile psychopathy by considering racial and sociocultural factors. Externalizing symptoms, such as antisocial behavior, are not intended to be used interchangeably with psychopathy. However, some of the literature in this review discusses such behaviors in order to examine the associations between sociocultural factors and psychopathy. Also, it tends to be these same behaviors that bring many of these children and adolescents to the attention of mental health providers and the criminal justice system.

Section snippets

Race, culture and ethnicity

Concerns have been raised about the potential for racial bias in psychopathy assessments, as the original assessments were standardized on Caucasian male offenders (Brandt, Kennedy, Patrick, & Curtin, 1997). In the adult literature, studies have not found evidence of significant racial bias for total PCL-R scores when comparing African American with Caucasian populations (Cooke et al., 2001, Skeem et al., 2004). One exception is by Lynn (2002) who concluded that psychopathic traits do have

Gender

It is also important to discuss gender differences, as sociocultural variables impact constructions of gender and psychopathology. Researchers in the juvenile realm have echoed concerns from the adult literature, where there is a much wider research base for male populations. Questions remain as to the predictive ability of different models as well as the ability of these models to capture the range of psychopathic expression in females, as suggested by the differing base rates of psychopathy

Trauma

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the relationship between trauma and juvenile psychopathy. Adolescent offenders who presently or have been exposed to violence, abuse, or neglect significantly influence development of psychopathic traits (Maikovich et al., 2008, O'Neill et al., 2003). This is further supported by studies that demonstrate adolescents offenders who were abused with higher PCL:YV scores than their non-abused counterparts (Campbell et al., 2004, Cauffman, 2008,

Family violence and parental influences

Family and parents (caregivers) are highly influential during a child's formative years, and the quality of these relationships can produce long lasting impacts. Studies postulate that children who experience familial psychological trauma and negative parental care (e.g., abuse, poor bonding) had increased risk of psychopathic trait development (Gao et al., 2010, Litrownik et al., 2003, Marshall and Cooke, 1999). Parents' mental health, criminal activity and substance abuse were also found to

Community influence

According to a study by Taylor, Zuckerman, Harik, and Groves (1992), over half of the adolescents sampled reported witnessing some type of violence in the past year. Such violence can affect children's development, particularly with regard to emotional, behavioral, and social functioning (Gorman-Smith and Tolan, 1998, Perry, 2000). It can also increase aggressive behavior (Gorman-Smith and Tolan, 1998, Perry, 2000) as well as their risk for involvement in juvenile justice settings which is

Peer influence

Research has demonstrated that peer rejection, association with deviant peers, and antisocial peer involvement are all associated with antisocial behavior and delinquency (Barry et al., 2008, Chen et al., 1998, Deković et al., 2004, Laird et al., 2001, Laird et al., 2005). Similarly, research has shown that externalizing behaviors are associated with deviant peer associations (Dishion, 2000, Giordano et al., 1986). How these dynamics would differ with children that are developing or already

Limitations

A majority of research on juvenile psychopathy has been dedicated the description of psychopathy in adolescents and children and the validity and reliability of psychopathy measures. Due to a limited number of studies directly examining psychopathy in relation to some sociocultural factors, links had to be made indirectly which limits the generalizability of the findings. Regarding assessments, there is evidence of cross-cultural scoring differences in the adult literature. This creates a

Discussion and future directions

The concept of psychopathy has been extensively studied with the adult population and has produced a body of research suggestive of a stable construct. Although the factor structure is still debated, the core features of psychopathy appear to be mostly consistent across gender, race, and the cultural and ethnic groups studied thus far (e.g., Flores-Mendoza et al., 2008, Verona et al., 2010). However, the cultural and social landscape is constantly changing and studies that consider

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Lindsay Savage, Lauren Reed, Regina Marotta, Claire Johnson, and Brian Page for their work in the initial stages of this project.

References (105)

  • S. Blakemore et al.

    Development of the adolescent brain: Implications for executive function and social cognition

    Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

    (2006)
  • J. Brandt et al.

    Assessment of psychopathy in a population of incarcerated adolescent offenders

    Psychological Assessment

    (1997)
  • M. Campbell et al.

    Psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders: An evaluation of criminal history, clinical, and psychosocial correlates

    Behavioral Sciences and the Law

    (2004)
  • E. Cauffman

    Understanding the female offender

    Future of Children

    (2008)
  • E. Cauffman et al.

    A multimethod assessment of juvenile psychopathy: Comparing the predictive utility of the PCL:YV, YPI, and NEO PRI

    Psychological Assessment

    (2009)
  • P. Chauhan et al.

    The impact of neighborhood disadvantage and exposure to violence on self-report of antisocial behavior among girls in the juvenile justice system

    Journal of Youth and Adolescence

    (2009)
  • C. Chen et al.

    A cross-cultural study of family and peer correlates of adolescent misconduct

    Developmental Psychology

    (1998)
  • N.E. Cook et al.

    The confluence of mental health and psychopathic traits in adolescent female offenders

    Criminal Justice and Behavior

    (2010)
  • D.J. Cooke et al.

    Cross-national differences in the assessment of psychopathy: Do they reflect variations in raters' perceptions of symptoms?

    Psychological Assessment

    (2004)
  • D.J. Cooke et al.

    Psychopathy and ethnicity: Structural, item, and test generalizability of the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R) in Caucasian and African American participants

    Psychological Assessment

    (2001)
  • D.J. Cooke et al.

    Psychopathy across cultures: North America and Scotland compared

    Journal of Abnormal Psychology

    (1999)
  • D.J. Cooke et al.

    Reconstructing psychopathy: Clarifying the significance of antisocial and socially deviant behavior in the diagnosis of psychopathic personality disorder

    Journal of Personality Disorders

    (2004)
  • R.R. Corrado et al.

    Predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version for general and violent recidivism

    Behavioral Sciences and the Law

    (2004)
  • T.J. Dishion

    Cross-setting consistency in early adolescent psychopathology: Deviant friendships and problem behavior sequelae

    Journal of Personality

    (2000)
  • M.C. Dolan et al.

    Is juvenile psychopathy associated with low anxiety and fear in conduct-disordered male offenders?

    Journal of Anxiety Disorders

    (2006)
  • V. Dupéré et al.

    Affiliation to youth gangs during adolescence: The interaction between childhood psychopathic tendencies and neighborhood disadvantage

    Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

    (2007)
  • J.F. Edens et al.

    Exploring the taxometric status of psychopathy among youthful offenders: Is there a juvenile psychopath taxon?

    Law and Human Behavior

    (2011)
  • D.P. Farrington

    Psychosocial predictors of adult antisocial personality and adult convictions

    Behavioral Sciences and the Law

    (2000)
  • D.P. Farrington et al.

    Long-term criminal outcomes of hyperactivity-impulsivity-attention deficit and conduct problems in childhood

  • D.P. Farrington et al.

    Environmental influences on child and adolescent psychopathy

  • A.E. Forth et al.

    Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)

    (2003)
  • Y.Y. Gao et al.

    Early maternal and paternal bonding, childhood physical abuse and adult psychopathic personality

    Psychological Medicine: A Journal of Research in Psychiatry and the Allied Sciences

    (2010)
  • P.C. Giordano et al.

    Friendships and delinquency

    American Journal of Sociology

    (1986)
  • D. Gorman-Smith et al.

    The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth

    Development and Psychology

    (1998)
  • M.E. Hamburger et al.

    Psychopathy, gender, and gender roles: Implications for antisocial and histrionic personality disorders

    Journal of Personality Disorders

    (1996)
  • R.D. Hare

    The Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R)

    (2003)
  • T.J. Harpur et al.

    Two-factor conceptualization of psychopathy: Construct validity and assessment implications

    Psychological Assessment

    (1989)
  • U. Ikpe et al.

    Encouraging the use of community involvement and restorative practices as treatment for trauma with black juvenile offenders

    Loyola Public Interest Law Reporter

    (2010)
  • T.O. Ireland et al.

    Living in partner-violent families: Developmental links to antisocial behavior and relationship violence

    Journal of Youth and Adolescence

    (2009)
  • R.L. Jackson et al.

    Impulsivity, anger, and psychopathy: The moderating effect of ethnicity

    Journal of Personality Disorders

    (2007)
  • S. Jones et al.

    Investigating different factor structures of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version: Confirmatory factor analytic findings

    Psychological Assessments

    (2006)
  • K. Keenan et al.

    Developmental and social influences on young girls' early problem behavior

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1997)
  • P.K. Kerig

    Introduction of part I: Trauma and juvenile delinquency: Dynamics and developmental mechanisms

    Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma

    (2012)
  • P.K. Kerig et al.

    Nothing really matters: emotional numbing as a link between trauma exposure and callousness in delinquent youth

    Journal of Traumatic Stress

    (2012)
  • P.K. Kerig et al.

    Posttraumatic stress as a mediator of the relationship between trauma and mental health problems among juvenile delinquents

    Journal of Youth and Adolescence

    (2009)
  • E.R. Kimonis et al.

    Callous–unemotional traits and the emotional processing of distress cues in detained boys: Testing the moderating role of aggression, exposure to community violence, and histories of abuse

    Development and Psychopathology

    (2008)
  • E.R. Kimonis et al.

    Are secondary variants of juvenile psychopathy more reactively violent and less psychologically mature than their primary variants?

    Law and Human Behavior

    (2010)
  • E.R. Kimonis et al.

    Substance-related disorders among juvenile offenders: What role do psychopathic traits play?

    Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

    (2012)
  • D.S. Kosson et al.

    Factor structure of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) in adolescent females

    Psychological Assessment

    (2013)
  • Cited by (12)

    • Victimization and psychopathic features in a population-based sample of Finnish adolescents

      2016, Child Abuse and Neglect
      Citation Excerpt :

      In the past two decades, psychopathic features in youth have been a highly studied topic as clinicians and researchers have begun to trace the development of psychopathy in adolescence and childhood (Rubio, Krieger, Finney, & Coker, 2014). Although the construct of psychopathy is well-established in adult literature, the extension of psychopathy to youth and children is controversial (Rubio et al., 2014), and carries a potential for misuse and harm when used improperly (Forth et al., 2003). As full-fledged psychopathy does not manifest in childhood or adolescence, it is more appropriate to examine continuously varying psychopathic features instead of clinical diagnosis when studying child and adolescent populations (Loeber, Burke, & Pardini, 2009).

    • Psychosocial adversity, delinquent pathway and internalizing psychopathology in juvenile male offenders

      2015, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
      Citation Excerpt :

      Studies contributing to the understanding of the variables associated with psychosocial adaptation are recommended because it may contribute to the development of early intervention programs that involve the enhancement of both these adolescents' individual assets and the resources available in the family and in the community (UNICEF, 2012), and consequently, to make possible for professionals to promote rehabilitation and reintegration into society. In recent years, a number of studies have focused on psychopathological traits, particularly psychopathy, as a way to differentiate adolescent-limited versus long-term or persistent offenders (e.g., Fritz, Wiklund, Koposov, Klinteberg, & Ruchkin, 2008; McCuish, Corrado, Lussier, & Hart, 2014; Pechorro et al., 2013; Rubio, Krieger, Finney, & Coker, 2014). However, the study of internalizing disorders is extremely relevant in juvenile delinquents, due to the higher proneness to emotional distress and suicide behaviors (ideation and attempt) of this specific group, when compared to general population samples (Bickel & Campbell, 2002; Gunter, Chibnall, Antoniak, Philibert, & Hollenbeck, 2011; Huskey & Tomczak, 2013).

    • Women and Girls with Psychopathic Characteristics

      2020, The Wiley International Handbook on Psychopathic Disorders and the Law, 2nd Edition: Diagnosis and Treatment: Volume I and II
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    1

    Tel.: + 1 224 622 4726.

    2

    Tel.: + 1 647 787 4615.

    View full text