Lecture 7 Personality & Crime PDF

PERSONALITY PSYU/X2234 Lecture 7: Personality & crime A/Prof Simon Boag email: [email protected] 1 Reading (suggested) Ferracuti, S., Mandarelli, G., & Del Casale, A. (2020). Psychopathy, Personality Disorders, & Violence. In Violence & Mental Di...

PERSONALITY PSYU/X2234 Lecture 7: Personality & crime A/Prof Simon Boag email: [email protected] 1 Reading (suggested) Ferracuti, S., Mandarelli, G., & Del Casale, A. (2020). Psychopathy, Personality Disorders, & Violence. In Violence & Mental Disorders (pp. 81-94). Springer, Cham Jones, S. E., Miller, J. D., & Lynam, D. R. (2011). Personality, antisocial behavior, & aggression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Criminal Justice, 39, 329-337 2 Outline 1. Introduction Types of crimes Is there a ‘born criminal’? Non-personality risk-factors 2. Personality & crime ‘Normal’ personality traits & crime Dark personality traits & crime 3. Antisocial Personality Disorder 3 1. Introduction: types of crime Crimes against persons vs property Violent crime Sexual assault Drug-related crime White collar crime Cybercrime DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY 4 NSW Crime statistics Is there a ‘born criminal’? Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) Italian physician & criminologist Crime & biological determinism Criminals born with physiological & psychological abnormalities Some predisposed to crime Criminals “are born with evil intentions” 6 Important ethical issues Self-fulfilling prophecy: “The process by which one person’s expectations about another become reality by eliciting behaviours that confirm those expectations” (Smith & Mackie, 2000) Profiling: focus upon false suspects, excluding viable suspects Rehabilitation? 7  Non-personality crime risk factors Age/crime relation (Farrington, 1986) Gender (Rowe et al, 1995) Females lower arrest rates for most crimes Males > violence Concentrated disadvantage (Pratt & Cullen, 2005) Poverty, family disruption 8 Non-personality crime risk factors Murray et al (2010): prospective longitudinal study (1970 British Cohort study) (n = 16,401) Assessed conduct disorder at age 10, criminal conviction at ages 30-34 Early psychosocial risk factors were strong predictors of later crime eg. Maternal smoking in pregnancy, low cognitive stimulation, hyperactivity, poor visual-motor skills, internalising 9 Non-personality crime risk factors Murray et al (2010) Murray, et al. (2010). Very early predictors of conduct problems & crime: results from Cumulative risk factors a national cohort study. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 51, 1198-1207 10  2. Personality & crime Eysenck (1977): Comparing prisoners vs non-prisoners The criminal personality is high in PEN due to underlying biology Problem: Sample-bias & under- representation (eg. prisoner samples) ‘Hidden criminals’: offenders who commit crimes but are not caught Control samples may include 11 Personality & crime: risk factors Caspi et al (1994): 2 samples: NZ birth cohort at 18 (n = 862); Pittsburgh: ethnically diverse 12-13 yr boys (n = 430) Assessed personality (MPQ) & delinquency ↑ delinquency: ↑ Negative Emotionality (NE) & ↓ Constraint (poorer impulse control) Delinquency same across countries, age cohorts, gender groups, ethnic 12 Caspi et al. (1994) Caspi et al. (1994). Are some people crime‐prone? Replications of the personality‐crime relationship across countries, genders, races, & 13  Traits & Antisocial behaviour (ASB) Miller & Lynam (2001): Meta- analysis: 60 studies conducted b/w 1963-2000 Assessed various tests of personality (eg. PEN, FFM, MPQ) ASB: violence, crime, delinquency, aggression Main finding: ASB associated with low A (hostility) & low C (poor 14 impulse control) Traits & ASB “Individuals who commit crimes tend to be hostile, self-centered, spiteful, jealous, & indifferent to others (i.e., low in Agreeableness). They tend to lack ambition, motivation, & perseverance, have difficulty controlling their impulses, & hold nontraditional & unconventional values and beliefs (i.e., are low in Conscientiousness)” (Miller & Lynam, 2001) 15  Traits & Antisocial behaviour (ASB) Jones et al. (2011): Follow-up meta-analysis: 53 studies published since 2000 Examined FFM, ASB & aggression Findings consistent with previous meta-analytic studies Main finding: ASB associated with low A (hostility) & low C (poor impulse control) 16 Introduction to the dark personality traits Psychopathy: Shallow affect, callousness, lack of remorse, lack of empathy, glibness, superficial charm, manipulativeness, irresponsibility Narcissism: Exaggerated sense of self- importance, sense of entitlement, intense need for admiration, exploitative, deficient empathy, arrogance 17 Personality & white collar crime White-collar crime: non-violent crime for financial gain committed by means of deception Pusch & Holtfreter (2021): Meta- analysis (N = 54,205 Ss & 6,425 corporations) Examined age, education, gender, ethnicity & personality (etc.) Findings: strongest predictors: Negative relation with honesty & agreeableness Positive relation with psychopathy & narcissism 18 Corporate psychopaths (Babiak & Hare, 2007) 4. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) DSM-5: individuals who engage in repetitive, irresponsible, delinquent, & criminal behaviour "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, & violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence & continues into adulthood” Psychopathy, Sociopathy Most consistently diagnosed PD (Meloy & Yakeley, 2011) 19 20  Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) Conduct disorder: aggression to people/animals property destruction deceitfulness/theft serious rule violation ASPD Prevalence General population: Approx 3 % men; 1 % women (Gibbon et al, 2010) Prison samples: 47 % men; Fazel, S., & Danesh, J. (2002). Serious 21% women (Fazel & Danesh, 2002) mental disorder in 23,000 prisoners: a systematic review of 62 surveys. The 21 Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) 80-85% of individuals with ASPD also meet criteria for a substance use disorder ASPD most commonly found with males & alcohol abuse disorder (>70%) (DSM-5) 22  Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) DeLisi et al (2019): N = 865 prisoners “Offenders with no evidence of ASPD had the least severe criminal careers followed by those with symptoms & those with formal diagnostic history” DeLisi, et al (2019). The etiology of antisocial personality disorder. Comprehe 23 nsive Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD): causes? Both genetic & environmental component DSM-5: APSD associated with: Child abuse/neglect Unstable/erratic parenting Inconsistent parental discipline Poverty Childhood physical/sexual abuse (DeLisi et al 2019) ASPD becomes less evident after age 30 APSD more likely to die prematurely by violent means (eg. suicide, accidents, homicides) 24 Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD): treatment? APSD individuals unlikely to seek help Common belief that APSD is untreatable (Meloy & Yakeley, 2014) Little evidence that treatment reduces recidivism (Wilson, 2014) Gibbon et al. (2020): Systematic review: “No intervention reported compelling evidence of change in antisocial behavior” Gibbon, et al (2020). Psychological interventions for antisocial personality disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 9. Wilson, H. A. (2014). Can antisocial personality disorder be treated? A meta- analysis examining the effectiveness of treatment in reducing recidivism for 25 individuals diagnosed with ASPD. International Journal of Forensic Mental  Questions? 26