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Psychopathy

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Clinical Forensic Psychology

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Abstract

Psychopathy is a personality disorder most similar to Antisocial Personality Disorder and has a network of characteristics that impair interpersonal, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Psychopathy is also the most parsimonious and potent explanation for antisocial behavior in the social, behavioral, and forensic sciences. The current chapter synthesizes recent research on psychopathy and its associations with criminal careers, homicide, and sexual offending, its manifestations among correctional clients within the criminal justice system, and profiles Ted Bundy, a prolific serial sexual homicide offender and career criminal in the United States, whose personality functioning and life history instantiates psychopathy.

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Suggested Further Readings

  • The following works include insights from authors who have extensive research, practitioner, and clinician experiences working with the most violent and pathological offenders.

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  • DeLisi, M. (2016). Psychopathy as unified theory of crime. Palgrave Macmillan. The thesis is that psychopathy can explain conduct problems from early childhood through adulthood and that it is the best and thus “unified” theory of crime.

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  • Hare, R. D. (1999). Without conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. The Guilford Press. The most-cited and foremost psychopathy scholar in the world and the creator of the most widely-used psychopathy instruments, this works takes his psychological research to a public audience.

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  • Kiehl, K. A. (2015). The psychopath whisperer: The science of those without conscience. Broadway Books. A renowned neuroimaging scholar who scans the brains of psychopathic offenders, this work does a great job of presenting scholarly information in a popular press way.

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  • Meloy, J. R. (1988). The psychopathic mind: Origins, dynamics, and treatment. Rowman & Littlefield. This work contains brilliant and unparalleled insights into the psychological functioning and emotional life of psychopaths from a forensic psychologist with extensive experience with serious offenders.

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  • Salekin, R. T., & Lynam, D. R. (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of child and adolescent psychopathy. The Guilford Press. This edited volume contains contributions from a worldwide cast of scholars who focus on psychopathic features among youth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Matt DeLisi

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  1. Matt DeLisi
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Correspondence to Matt DeLisi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Carlo Garofalo

  2. Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Jelle J. Sijtsema

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DeLisi, M. (2022). Psychopathy. In: Garofalo, C., Sijtsema, J.J. (eds) Clinical Forensic Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80882-2_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80882-2_15

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