Psychopathy and Developmental Instability

Martin Lalumiere, Grant Harris, Marnie RicePresented by:

Michelle M., Jennifer C., Ellen Y.

IntroductionCharacteristics:

DeceitfulSelfishManipulativeIrresponsibleImpulsiveAggressiveLacking concern for others or remorse for their

actions

IntroductionEstimated less than 1% of general populationApproximately 11% of forensic psychiatric

populationApproximately 23% of the correctional

populationThought to be a discrete nature, not on a

continuum

IntroductionHigh scoring psychopaths

Extensive and versatile criminal historyMore apt for recidivism

Scores for psychopathy consistently and positively associated with self-reported use of sexual coercion and aggression

IntroductionCrime differences between psychopaths and

non-psychopathsOften more goal orientedMore often involve weapons and violenceMore often involve non-kin and stranger

victimsMore often involve male victims

IntroductionPsychopaths vs. non-psychopaths behavior in

the laboratoryShow little tolerance or delayMore perseverance when punishedLess control over dominant responsesLess affected by the consequences of their

actions

IntroductionPsychopaths vs. non-psychopaths

physiological responses in the laboratoryLess reactive when exposed to cues of distress

or startling stimuliDon’t show different behavioral and

electrocortical reactions to emotional and to neural verbal information

Show less cerebral lateralizationDiffer on contemporaneous measures of

cerebral activity when processing verbal information

Psychopathy as psychopathologyDevelopment disturbedBehaviorally, emotionally, physiologically and

cognitively impairedTherapy designed to attempt to increase

empathy, responsibility and understandingTherapy associated with higher recidivism

when released

Psychopathy as psychopathologyPossible causes:

Deleterious genesobstetrical problemsNeurological injuryPoor childhood environmentFailure to bond with primary caregiver

Psychopathy as “Special Design”Behavioral, emotional, cognitive and

neuropsychological attributes not deficitsCharacteristics are a “set of organized,

functional, and specialized phenotypic features that formed a viable reproductive social strategy in human evolutionary history”

ESS maintained by frequency-dependent selection

Developmental InstabilityObstetrical problems

Difficulties during pregnancy, labor, delivery or post delivery, and atypical outcomes of pregnancy

Problems associated with:Low intelligence, and many psychopathological

problems

Study One800 male offenders assessed/treated in a

max-security psychiatric hospital between 1970 and 1983Virtually all had committed a violent offense

ranging from assaults to multiple homicides

Study OneCharacteristics of the participants

Age at index offense: 27.9 yearsLived with both natural parents until age 16:

40%No. prior admissions: 1.2Parental criminal history: 7%Parental psychiatric history: 14% parental history of alcohol abuse: 36%Meet DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia: 22%

Study One - MethodsCoded all participants using a 20-item

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised20 item checklist of traits

Ex: glibness/superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, lack of remorse/guilt

Scored based on clinical recordsHigh reliability and predictive validityEither scored as 0 (not present), 1, or 2

(definitely present)Score over 25 most likely a psychopath

Study One - MethodsAlso scored obstetrical problems of

participantsGave subject a point for each indicator Prevalence's were low

Few offenders received more than a single point Most received none: 69%

Study One - ResultsAverage PCL-R score was 16 (range = 0 to

40) of entire sampleAverage obstetrical problem score was 0.28

(range = 0 to 4)Because schizophrenia has been linked to

obstetrical problems, removed all participants diagnosed with schizophrenia

Study One - ResultsObstetrical problem

items and their prevalence among the 800 offenders

Study One - ResultsMean values of obstetrical problems scale

Nonpsychopaths: PCL-R of 0 to 24, n = 643Psychopaths:

PCL-R of25 – 40, n = 157

Study One - ResultsSuggests that while many mental disorders

are related to obstetrical problems, psychopathy is not

Schulsinger (1972) reported that psychopaths did not differ from matched controls (no mental disorder) on composite measure of obstetrical complications

Study 2Measuring fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of

psychopathic offenders, non-psychopathic offenders, and non-offenders

FA- deviation from perfect bilateral symmetry

•Low FA associated with high phenotypic quality (Malyon & Healy, 1994; Manning, Kourkouakis, & Brodie, 1997; Manning & Pickup, 1998; Mùller, 1990)

•Low FA human males use more direct intrasexual competitive tactics and report more sexual partners, an earlier are at first intercourse and more offspring than high FA men (Simpson, Gangestad, Christensen, & Leck, 1999; Thornhill & Gangestad, 1994; Waynforth, 1998)

•High FA is related to schizophrenia (Mellor, 1992), developmental delay, mental retardation (Naugler & Ludman, 1996), birth prematurity (Livshits & Kobyliansky, 1991)

and left handedness (Yeo, Gangestad, & Daniel,

1993).

SubjectsOffenders: 38 men who’ve been charged with

violent crimes+2 who were civilly committed due to concernsAll patients at a max. security psychiatric hosp.80% not completed HS85% were single

Non-offenders: 31 men recruited among the hospital staff6.5% not completed HS29% were single

Measures & ProceduresLeft and right side of 10 bilateral traits

measured by two trained researchersLengths of ears, third, fourth, ad fifth digits, and

widths of ears, hands, wrists, elbows, feet, and ankles

PCL-R obtained for offenders4 features showed statistically significant

right-based directional asymmetry (DA)Wrist, foot, ear width, and fourth finger length

1 feature showed statistically significant left-based DAElbow width

ResultsNon-offenders had a lower FA than

nonpsychopathic offenders, with psychopathic offenders scoring in the middle

Correlation between FA and PCL-R scores nonsignificant

5 offenders that met most stringent criterion for id of psychopathy had lowest asymmetry values among offenders

DiscussionEvidence shows that psychopathic offenders

show less evidence of developmental instability

Special design received more support, but was not completely supported

Low FA associated with high mating effort and aggression

ProblemsAll offenders were patients at a maximum-

security hospitalMost has serious psychiatric diagnoses

SchizophreniaCo-morbid disorders (mental and physical)

Future ResearchStudy with less individuals with major mental

disordersMore from correctional facilities and men in

the communityMore developmental researchBehavioral and molecular genetic studiesLongitudinal studies of psychopathic and

non-psychopathic children