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Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and psychopathy are similar, but distinct, psychiatric conditions that are common in male and female inmates; a segment of the population with high rates of trauma exposure. It is unclear whether specific types of lifetime trauma are associated with ASPD and psychopathy in incarcerated women and men. Furthermore, the unique roles of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and trauma victimization in antisocial personality disturbance are not well-understood. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study investigated associations between trauma variables (different kinds of traumatic experiences and PTSD) and antisocial personality variables (ASPD and psychopathy) in a sample of incarcerated women and men who participated in a randomized clinical trial for major depressive disorder. In total, 88 incarcerated men and women were assessed for ASPD diagnosis, psychopathy severity, PTSD symptom severity, and history of physical, sexual, and crime-related trauma. Regression analyses predicted ASPD or psychopathy from trauma variables, controlling for gender.

Physical trauma was the only form of trauma that was significantly related to psychopathy. Physical trauma and crime-related trauma were associated with ASPD. PTSD symptom severity was not associated with psychopathy or ASPD.

There are associations between some kinds of lifetime trauma exposure and current ASPD/psychopathy in the target sample, but these associations do not appear to be mediated through current PTSD symptoms.

Psychopathy and antisocial personality are controversial disorders with alternate behavioral and dynamic formulations. As such, diagnostic approaches are often fragmentary and inconsistent. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the various conceptual parameters and to propose a comprehensive diagnostic approach.

A model is presented based on the congruence and differences among various categories of psychopathic and antisocial personality disorders and their clinical manifestations. Diagnostic approaches are critiqued and evaluated. Specific assessment tools and measures are recommended based on referrals and symptomatology.

Key factors of low frustration tolerance, poor social intelligence, aggression-driven psychopathy, sadism, and superego impairment are shown as central in the differential diagnostics of antisocial individuals.

The model enables the differentiation of problematic behaviors which may appear similar but require different forensic, legal, diagnostic, and intervention strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to present and provide a critical review of most recent studies inquiring into brain abnormalities in psychopathy.

The authors provide an overview of the findings of neurobiological studies conducted in the last five years. Publications chosen for review were found using Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus search engines.

Data in the literature reveal that psychopathy is associated with brain abnormalities in frontal and temporo-limbic regions, i.e. regions responsible for moral decision making, emotional processing and learning. Additionally, interactions between the brain areas have been identified as crucial for the development of psychopathic personality traits. Research findings suggest that the flow of impulses between the frontal cortex and temporo-limbic structures in psychopaths is significantly hindered.

The current paper provides an in-depth review of most recent neurobiological studies inquiring into brain abnormalities associated with psychopathic personality traits. Moreover, a particular attention has been paid to identifying abnormalities in brain structures not previously studied in relation to psychopathy (e.g. mirror neuron system, white matter connections).

This paper aims to evaluate trends in research and clinical practice that may contribute to the limited utility of assessment and treatment modalities designed to capture and address psychopathy. It identifies a lack of consistency between the academic understanding of psychopathy and how the construct is applied in clinical contexts. The authors provide clarity and direction for a more effective application of the psychopathy construct in practical contexts.

This review first examines the etiology of important limitations to psychopathy research and practical application, and proposes the adoption of the most recent empirical conceptualization of the construct into practical contexts. It then evaluates the current functionality of psychopathy in practical contexts. The review ultimately proposes a method for designing intervention practices based on the model used in the development of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder, which will improve the practical utility of the construct.

The present review provides evidence that a multifaceted and dimensional perspective of psychopathy will improve the practical utility of the construct and help move the field forward. It suggests that considering independent components of the psychopathy construct along a continuous scale, as with DBT, will contribute to improvements in assessments and treatments that target psychopathy.

The current review applies relevant research to a model for developing an intervention modality particularly in forensic or correctional settings where individuals high in psychopathy are often seen. The implications outlined provide a framework that could impact practice and assessment in forensic contexts moving forward.

Previous research has not concisely outlined problems concerning the link between psychopathy research and how the construct is applied in practical settings. Few researchers have proposed plausible solutions that could improve the utility of the construct in such settings.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the associations among psychopathic and borderline traits, intimate partner violence (IPV) and sensitivity to facial affect. The authors hypothesized that IPV men high in psychopathic traits would exhibit reduced sensitivity to expressions of distress specifically (fear + sadness), while IPV men high in borderline traits would show heightened sensitivity to facial affect more generally.

A community sample of 79 IPV men in heterosexual relationships were exposed to slides of facial affect displays while psychophysiological reactions were recorded. Sensitivity to facial affect was operationalized as accuracy in recognizing and skin conductance responses (SCR) while viewing discrete facial expressions.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) features were positively related to accuracy in labeling fear and surprise while primary psychopathy (Factor 1) was negatively related to accuracy in labeling disgust. Borderline traits were positively associated with SCR while primary psychopathy was negatively associated with SCR while viewing slides of facial affect. Secondary psychopathy (Factor 2) follows the same physiological patterns of BPD traits but the correlates are weaker. Results suggest that IPV men high in traits of primary psychopathy show hypoarousal whereas those high borderline features show hyperarousal to facial emotions.

Limitations include a small sample of heterosexual violent community couples. Women’s IPV was not analyzed. Findings suggest that BPD and primary psychopathy traits are diametrically opposite in SCR, making them powerful comparison groups for psychophysiological studies. Findings challenge Blair’s (1995) model of a specific deficit in processing distress cues for individuals high in psychopathic traits. Rather results suggest that IPV men high in traits of primary psychopathy show more pervasive hypoarousal to facial emotion. The hyperarousal of men high in BPD traits across facial expressions supports Linehan’s (1993) emotional vulnerability model of borderline personality disorder.

Differences in psychophysiological responding to emotions may be clinically relevant in the motivations for violence perpetration. The hypoarousal associated with primary psychopathy may facilitate the perpetration of proactive violence. The hyperarousal associated with BPD and secondary psychopathy may be fundamental in the perpetration of reactive violence. Treatment matching by IPV perpetrators’ personality traits may improve the efficacy of battering intervention programs. Perpetrators high in borderline personality features may benefit from emotional regulation therapies, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy. IPV men high in traits of primary psychopathy may benefit from affective empathy and validation training.

Currently, battering intervention programs show little efficacy in reducing intimate partner recidivism. Experimental psychopathology studies such as this one may inform advocates seeking to develop new, tailored treatment packages for partner violence offenders with different personality disorder traits.

Many treatment providers assume that men who batter women have deficits in empathy and emotional intelligence. However, this study suggests that rather than global deficits, deficits depend on personality traits. The current study is the first to assess psychophysiological reactivity in response to facial affect displays among IPV perpetrators. Examining SCR responding to photos of facial affect may be used in future studies of affect sensitivity.

The purpose of this study was to survey practitioners’ use and perceptions of psychopathy assessments in Canadian forensic psychiatric settings. Psychopathy assessments are widely used in forensic settings to inform decisions about sentencing, placement, rehabilitation and parole. Recent empirical evidence suggests that the utility of psychopathy assessments might be overestimated, leading to a debate about their legal and ethical justification. However, one shortcoming of these discussions is that they rely heavily on anecdotal evidence about how exactly psychopathy assessments influence forensic decisions, due to a general lack of survey data on field uses. Some data are available in European and American contexts, but little is known about Canadian clinical practice.

To address this shortcoming in the literature, the authors conducted a pilot study of practitioners in forensic psychiatric units in Ontario (N = 18), evaluating their use of psychopathy assessments, reporting habits and their perceptions of psychopathic offenders.

Practitioners reported that they primarily used the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) as a risk assessment tool, often in combination with other tools. Most clinicians reported using psychopathy assessments infrequently, that there was a low base rate of psychopathic offenders and their attitudes and beliefs about psychopathy were generally consistent with the empirical literature.

This pilot study provides novel insights into the use of psychopathy assessments in Canadian forensic psychiatry with the potential to inform current debates.

Increasingly, it is recognized that (larger) organizations have many employees who present with corporate psychopathy (i.e. a milder version of anti-social personality disorder). Importantly, such a disorder contributes to the presence of deviant workplace behavior. Organizations must therefore adapt its practices to both identify and manage employees who either present with, or have tendencies toward, corporate psychopathy. As a means of developing a guiding framework for organizational adaptation, this two part paper offers two reviews of relevant research. The first revolves around the body of knowledge regarding corporate psychopathy and the primary, established behavioral method of identifying its presence; the second is a brief review on physiological measures that can complement current gold standards. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A range of published empirical and practitioner research articles were reviewed to first, elaborate on anti-social personality disorder and corporate psychopathy; second, showcase the efficacy of the currently most accepted method of detecting psychopathic behavior – the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL); and third, highlight physiological methods of detecting psychopathic tendencies which may complement usage of the PCL – electroencephalography, measurement of galvanic skin responses, and electromyography.

First, deviant workplace behaviors cause losses of billions of dollars across all business organizations, and much of this behavior stems from corporate psychopaths in positions of leadership. Second, the PCL, while useful, can nonetheless yield sharp differences in the identification of psychopathy across different administrators of the test. Third, measures of physiological states show good reliability in discriminating psychopathic persons from non-psychopathic persons. Based on these findings, the authors propose guidelines for how to identify and mitigate the effects of corporate psychopathy for organizations.

The proposed guidelines must be tested in an empirical paper to measure their effectiveness.

The paper suggests an overall framework that may help leaders and organizational development practitioners identify the major factors which may be considered to safeguard against the potentially detrimental conduct of corporate psychopaths in their organizations.

This paper highlights the need to identify and ward against the presence of corporate psychopaths. There needs to be guidelines for organizations on how to identify and mitigate the effects of corporate psychopathy for organizations.

The suggestion of integrating physiological methods of detection with the PCL, as well as urging pro-active education of all employees as the symptoms and effects of corporate psychopathy, is the novel contribution of the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of psychopathy facets on the relationship between traumatic exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology.

Participants were male prisoners incarcerated in the UK.

The analysis revealed differential associations between the two facets of psychopathy, with potentially traumatic events and symptoms of PTSD. Specifically, neither primary psychopathy nor trauma exposure were significantly related to PTSD, while secondary psychopathy was positively and significantly related with PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, the effect of trauma exposure on PTSD was found to depend on the level of secondary psychopathy. More specifically, trauma exposure was strongly and positively associated with PTSD symptoms for low levels of secondary psychopathy and negatively associated with PTSD symptomology for individuals with high levels of secondary psychopathy.

The findings clarify linkages among psychopathy facets, trauma, and PTSD, and extend the understanding of the presentation of PTSD in male prisoners.

For decades, psychopathy has been thought to be untreatable. Yet, conceptualisations, and indeed its assessment, have deviated away from viewing the disorder as personality pathology towards a behavioural focus where the core underlying deficits in cognition and affect have been ignored. Interventions have followed suit leading to a premature discounting of the role of therapy in adjusting psychopathic traits. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The review critically evaluates the conceptual and empirical evidence relevant to the treatment of psychopathy, deciphering components integral to the disorder that require intervention. Psychopathy is approached from a developmental perspective, with the review identifying several mechanisms thought to be responsible for precipitating and perpetuating its expression.

There appears some utility in targeting psychopathy from multiple angles, addressing experiences of trauma, associated schemas and the underlying cognitive-affective dysfunction noted to give rise to psychopathic traits. A new model for treatment was proposed integrating these factors to encourage the design of effective interventions that will address the origins and underlying deficits of the disorder, rather than symptomology.

The review encourages future research to consider the aetiology of psychopathy, with the aim of informing early intervention and containing the disorder whilst in its infancy, as well as addressing neurobiological dysfunction when most malleable.

The PCL‐R has been heralded as the ‘unparalleled’ (Salekin et al, 1996) risk assessment tool for assessing risk of violent and non‐violent recidivism. In the UK, the PCL‐R looks likely to become an industry standard assessment in psychological evaluation of individuals thought to have a dangerous and severe personality disorder. However, current knowledge about the PCL‐R is unsatisfactory, and a number of issues need to be addressed before clinicians can be confident in the use of this measure. This paper highlights these issues from the perspective of the practising clinician. Questions are raised about the theoretical, methodological and treatment implications of the use of the PCL‐R. Future research needs are established in this context of caution over the use of the measure in routine clinical and academic assessment.