186,228 research outputs found
The assessment of psychopathic personality across settings
No full textThe Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare in The Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised. Mutli-Health Systems, Toronto, ON, 2003) has for many years been the gold standard psychopathy assessment, shaping the understanding of psychopathic personality. While the PCL-R remains a leading measure of psychopathy, some concerns have been raised that the instrument has become the sole representation of psychopathy. Recently, a number of measures and conceptual theories have emerged to both expand upon and counterbalance the large body of literature related to the PCL-R, this has included, self-report tools, clinical instruments, and research protocols. The PPI-R (Lilienfeld and Widows in Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) Professional Manual. Psychological Assessment Resources, Florida, 2005) is one of the modern assessment tools of psychopathy, focused on personality, rather than encompassing criminal behaviour in the assessment of psychopathy. Other emerging instruments with promising application in criminal and noncriminal settings include, the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP; Cooke et al., in International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 11, 242-252, 2012) and Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (Lynam et al., in Psychological Assessment, 2010), while in research, the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TRiPM; Patrick, 2009) is a developing assessment tool with potential for clinical use. In the corporate setting, the Business-Scan (B-Scan; Mathieu et al., 2013) and the Corporate Personality Inventory-Revised (Fritzon et al., 2016) have been specifically developed, with the B-Scan 360 solely measuring psychopathy, and CPI-R examining problematic personality traits, including psychopathic characteristics. The chapter will review the body of assessment instruments examining psychopathic personality, explore strengths and weakness, and discuss the measures most suitable for use in the workplace.</p
Corporate psychopathy: Entering the paradox and emerging unscathed
No full textPsychopathy, the dark triad and related personality disorders may have negative consequences within organisations, individuals and society. There may, however, be positive benefits in terms of creativity and reaction to stressful circumstances and extreme environments. The developing body of research is beginning to address some elements of the paradoxes related to psychopathy. In this chapter, the focus is on both concluding the key themes emerging in the field and moreover, providing guidance for addressing and minimising the exposure to organisational, societal and individual threats that can easily become toxic to those caught in the psychopathic “tangled web”.</p
Overview of theories and empirical findings relevant to psychopathic personality characteristics amongst high-functioning populations
No full textThis book brings together a collection of theoretical and empirical work on psychopathy, and related personality traits, particularly as they manifest in a noncriminal context. There has been a growing body of work over the past two decades which examines psychopathy outside of the realm of criminal populations and this book aims to contribute to the debate about what many authors have referred to as the “paradox” of psychopathy, namely that while many psychopathic traits are damaging and harmful, in certain circumstances these same characteristics may convey an advantage and allow the individual to achieve a measure of success. Throughout the book, we will present research in which theories, classification systems and clinical descriptions of psychopathy have highlighted the potential for adaptive traits associated with this personality construct to manifest in positive outcomes, particularly in a business context. We begin in the current chapter with a broad overview of definitions of psychopathy as well as some of the primary theories that explain the psychopathic personality as a whole. In the second half of the chapter, we will examine the evidence for adaptive and positive outcomes associated with the disorder.</p
Research methods in forensic psychology
No full textStudents wishing to undertake research on a forensic-relevant topic often have no difficulty coming up with interesting, novel and worthwhile research ideas; however, these ideas often are beyond the scope of what would be considered 'do-able' for a fourth year, or even Masters level, thesis. Often, the research topics that forensic students are initially interested in would take years to design, implement and analyse, or would never get past a university ethics committee! Some examples of the latter include studying psychopathic characteristics in children and the influence of memory-enhancing techniques on rape-victims' experience of trauma; examples of the former include the big question: Why do people commit crimes
The development of a measure of dark triad traits in a corporate sample
No full textThe current chapter provides a brief review highlighting the problems identified in the literature surrounding existing measures of psychopathy and related negative personality traits within high-functioning business populations. The chapter will then describe a programme of research that has tested the psychometric properties of a new measure (the CPI-R) that captures dark triad personality traits via self-report and third-party ratings, and whose items are framed to capture behaviours, attitudes and decisions within a work context.</p
Assessment and treatment of fire-setters
No full textExtract: I am malicious because I am miserable. -Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Within clinical literature there has been an assumption that the above quote typifies a large proportion of individuals who deliberately commit arson. In other words, that psychological disorders of some kind can be found in the majority of such persons (Geller, Fisher, & Moynihan, 1992). For example, early conceptualisations of the condition pyromania meant that any individual who set more than one fire was considered to suffer from an 'irresistible impulse'- merely for the fact that they did not resist the impulse to set a fire. Now, however, a more sophisticated definition means that pyromania is a very rare diagnosis for arsonists
Criminal and Noncriminal Psychopathy: The Devil is in the Detail
No full textPsychopathy is prevalent and problematic in criminal populations, but is also found to be present in non-criminal populations. In 1992, Robert Hare declared that psychopaths may also “be found in the boardroom”, which has since been followed by an interest in the issue of non-criminal, or even successful, psychopathy. In this chapter the paradox of criminal and noncriminal psychopathy is discussed with specific attention given to the similarities and differences that account for psychopathic personality across contexts. That psychopathy is a condition typified by a constellation of traits and behaviours requires wider research across diverse populations, and thus the streams of research related to criminal and non-criminal psychopathy are presented and the implications of these contrasting streams are explored
Overview of the impact of psychopathy and other problematic personality constructs in the workplace
No full textThis chapter recognises a large body of work on negative personality traits and occupational outcomes, especially what is commonly referred to as counterproductive work behaviour, i.e. behaviour that is not in line with the organisational goals and which potentially causes harm to the organisation and to other individuals within it. The chapter first describes the characteristics commonly associated with each of the dark triad personalities and then discusses empirical findings linking these to negative workplace outcomes. Finally, the chapter considers a range of contextual and other personality variables that may moderate or mediate the relationship between the dark triad and workplace outcomes.</p
Variations in the offence actions of deliberate firesetters:A cross-national analysis
No full textSince Canter and Fritzon first introduced their "4D" classification system for arson, many studies have replicated the model with samples of arsonists from around the world. However, scholars have reported differences in the offence actions of arsonists across samples. No study as yet has attempted to statically examine the relevance of these differences. Using multidimensional scaling procedures and two-way chi-square contingency analyses, this study examined whether cross-national differences in arson variables existed between Australian and British arsonists. The results indicated that differences did exist and, furthermore, that differences reflected the environmental characteristics of the country from which each sample was drawn. These findings have important theoretical and clinical implications, particularly for the utility of the "4D" model as an investigatory tool and for the wider arson profiling literature.</p
Arson-associated homicide in Australia: a five year follow-up
No full textOver the period 1989 to 2010, there were 123 incidents of arson-associated homicide, involving 170 unique victims and 131 offenders.
Foreword
Arson homicides are rare, representing only two percent of all homicides in Australia each year. In this study, data was collected from the AIC’s National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) to build on previous research undertaken into arson-associated homicides and to provide more detailed analysis of cases and offenders.
Over the period 1989 to 2010, there were 123 incidents of arson-associated homicide, involving 170 unique victims and 131 offenders. The majority of incidents (63%) occurred in the victim’s home and more than half (57%) of all victims were male. It was found that there has been a 44 percent increase in the number of incidents in the past decade.
It is evident that a considerable proportion of the identified arson homicides involved a high degree of premeditation and planning. These homicides were commonly committed by an offender who was well known to the victim, with over half of the victims (56%) specifically targeted by the offender. This paper therefore provides a valuable insight into the nature of arson homicides and signposts areas for further investigation
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