Ethnic Differences in Psychopathy

Psychopathic personality disorder comprises a distinct collection of deviant affective, interpersonal, and behavioral features. Results of psychopathy testing can sway life-altering decisions for the examinee, including granting of parole, outcome in sexually violent predator civil commitment trials, gaining access to treatment, and even being sentenced to death. Because the disorder is strongly predictive of violent and general criminal recidivism, it has had an impact on correctional theory, public policy, and legal decision making on an international scale. Although psychopathy is one of the most researched disorders within the field of psychology and law, until recently most empirical investigations involved White male prisoners and forensic psychiatric patients in North America. Given that assessments of psychopathy occur regularly and as a matter of law in many contexts, ...