Abstract
The violent recidivism rates of 169 adult male mentally disordered offenders released from a maximum security psychiatric hospital were compared over an average 10-year follow-up period. Forty percent of the total and 77% of the psychopaths (as defined by the Psychopathy Checklist) committed a violent offense. It was possible to predict outcome with considerable accuracy using combinations of childhood history, adult history, index offense, and institutional or program variables. However, the Psychopathy Checklist alone performed at least as well as any combination of variables and also improved upon the prediction based on criminal history variables. Psychopaths continued to recidivate at a higher rate than nonpsychopaths even beyond age 40.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akman, D. D., & Normandeau, A. (1967). The measurement of crime and delinquency in Canada: A replication study.British Journal of Criminology, 7, 129–149.
American Psychiatric Association (1980).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.
Andrews, D. A. (1982).The level of supervision inventory (LSI). Toronto: Ministry of Correctional Services (Ontario).
Barker, E. T., & Buck, M. H. (1977). L.S.D. in a coercive milieu therapy program.Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 22, 311–314.
Barker, E. T., & Mason, M. H. (1968). The insane criminal as therapist.Canadian Journal of Corrections, 10, 553–561.
Barker, E. T., Mason, M. H., & Wilson, J. (1969). Defense-disrupting therapy.Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 14, 355–359.
Barker, E. T., & McLaughlin, A. J. (1977). The total encounter capsule.Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 22, 355–360.
Black, D. A. (1982). A 5-year follow-up study of male patients discharged from Broadmoor hospital. In J. Gunn & D. P. Farrington (Eds.),Abnormal offenders, delinquency and the criminal justice system (pp. 307–323). New York: Wiley.
Blishen, B. R., & McRoberts, H. A. (1976). A revised socioeconomic index for occupations in Canada.Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 13, 71–79.
Brennan, R. L., & Prediger, D. J. (1981). Coefficient, kappa: Some uses, misuses, and alternatives.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 41, 687–699.
Buss, A. (1966).Psychopathology. New York: Wiley.
Canada. (1977).Proceedings of the Subcommittee on the Penetentiary System in Canada. Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. House of Commons, Second Session of the Thirtieth Parliament. March 8.
Cleckley, H. (1976).The mask of sanity (4th Ed). St. Louis: Mosby.
Farrington, D. P. (1986). Age and crime. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.),Crime and justice: An annual review of research. (pp. 189–250). Chicago: University, of Chicago Press.
Gibbens, T. C. N., Pond, D. A., & Stafford-Clark, D. (1959). A followup study of criminal psychopaths.Journal of Mental Science, 105, 108–115.
Hare, R. D. (1970).Psychopathy: Theory and research. New York: Wiley.
Hare, R. D. (1980). A research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations.Personality and Individual Differences, 1, 111–117.
Hare, R. D. (1983). Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder in two prison populations.American Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 887–889.
Hare, R. D. (1985a). Comparison of procedures for the assessment of psychopathy.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 7–16.
Hare, R. D. (1985b).The Psychopathy Checklist. Unpublished manuscript, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Hare, R. D. (1986). Twenty years of experience with the Cleckley psychopath. In W. H. Reid, D. Dorr, J. I. Walker, & J. W. Bonner (Eds.),Unmasking the psychopath (pp. 3–27). New York: W. W. Norton.
Hare, R. D., Harpur, T. J., Hakstian, A. R., Forth, A. E., Hart, S. D., & Newman, J. P. (1990). The Revised Psychopathy Checklist: Reliability and factor structurePsychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2, 338–349.
Hare, R. D. & Jutai, J. W. (1983). Criminal history of the male psychopath: Some preliminary data. In K. T. VanDusen & S. A. Mednick (Eds.),Prospective studies of crime and delinquency (pp. 225–236). Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff.
Hare, R. D., & McPherson, L. M. (1984). Violent and aggressive behavior by criminal psychopaths.International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 7, 35–50.
Hare, R. D., McPherson, L. M., & Forth, A. E. (1988). Male psychopaths and their criminal careers.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 710–714.
Harpur, A., Hakstian, R., & Hare, R. D. (1988). Factor structure of the Psychopathy Checklist.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 741–747.
Hart, S. D., Kropp, P. R., & Hare, R. D. (1988). Performance of male psychopaths following conditional release from prison.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 227–232.
Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1987). Prediction. In H. C. Quay, (Ed.),Handbook of juvenile delinquency (pp. 325–382) New York: Wiley.
Maier, G. J. (1976). Therapy in prisons. In J. R. Lion & D. J. Madden (Eds.),Rage, hate, assault and other forms of violence (pp. 113–133). New York: Spectrum.
McCord, W. M. (1982).The psychopath and milieu-therapy. New York: Academic Press.
Pruesse, M., & Quinsey, V. L. (1977). The dangerousness of patients released from maximum security: A replication.Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 5, 293–299.
Quinsey, V. L. (1981). The long term management of the mentally disordered offender. In S. J. Hucker, C. D. Webster & M. Ben-aron (Eds.),Mental disorder and criminal responsibility (pp. 137–155). Toronto: Butterworths.
Quinsey, V. L., Pruesse, M., & Fernley, R. (1975a). Oak Ridge patients: Prerelease characteristics and postrelease adjustment.Journal of Psychiatry, and Law, 3, 63–77.
Quinsey, V. L., Pruesse, M., & Fernley, R. (1975b). A followup of patients found not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit for trial.Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 20, 461–467.
Schroeder, M. L., Schroeder, K. G., & Hare, R. D. (1983). Generalizability of a checklist for assessment of psychopathy.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 511–516.
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J., & Robins, E. (1978).Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a selected group of functional disorders. New York: Biometrics Research.
Widiger, T. A., & Frances, A. (1987). Interviews and inventories for the measurement of personality disorders.Clinical Psychology Review, 7, 49–75.
Wong, S. (1984).The criminal and institutional behaviours of psychopaths. Ottawa: Ministry of the Solicitor General.
Wormith, J. S., & Goldstone, C. S. (1984). The clinical and statistical prediction of redidivism.Criminal Justice and Behavior, 11, 3–34.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation under grant No. 952-86-88. Thanks are due to R. Hare and V. Quinsey for comments on earlier versions of this paper and to V. Bell, C. Lang, L. Koshkerian, S. Robinson, and C. MacKnight for collecting the data.
About this article
Cite this article
Harris, G.T., Rice, M.E. & Cormier, C.A. Psychopathy and violent recidivism. Law Hum Behav 15, 625–637 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065856
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065856