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Dr. Daniel Boduszek, assistant professor of criminal psychology at the University of Huddersfield, has done research and developed a new method for assessing psychopathy. It is published in the Journal of Criminal Justice.
Boduzek's goal was to develop a scale that would measure psychopathy without regard to background factors, including crimes committed. Psychopaths are found not only in the criminal sphere, but, for example, in business. Therefore, there is a need for what Dr. Boduzhek describes in a new article as "a pure personal dimension of psychopathy, not contaminated with behavioral elements." This "will allow researchers to expand the concept to all populations."
So, although Dr. Boduzhek and colleagues conducted a study of 1,794 inmates from 10 prisons, criminality and antisocial behavior of the participants were not considered when evaluating the questionnaires they completed to identify psychopathic personality traits. The questionnaire was developed by Dr. Boduzhek. It includes statements such as “I don’t care if I upset someone with my actions”, “I am more focused on my own thoughts and ideas than on what others think”, “Seeing people crying does not upset me”, “ I am ready to help other people only if I see the benefit in it "," Sometimes I provoke people, just to see their reaction. "
The new questionnaire focuses on key factors first described in 1940 by the influential American psychologist Hervey M. Cleckley. One of the main goals of the questionnaire design was to make sure that self-centeredness is fully tested. It was one of Cleckley's main criteria, but "is now often neglected in evaluating psychopathic research," Boduzhek said.
Prior to the start of his academic career, Boduzhek worked as a psychologist in prisons, including high security prisons. Thanks to old connections, he organized a large-scale survey of almost 2,000 inmates from 10 maximum security prisons in Poland - from murderers and sex maniacs to people who have committed non-violent crimes.
To assess the correctness of the new questionnaire, the participants also completed 6 more questionnaires used by psychologists to assess personality traits. In the article, Dr. Boduszek provides a detailed description of the methodology and the results obtained, and argues that his model of psychopathy is represented by four distinguishing factors, such as emotional responsiveness, cognitive responsiveness, interpersonal manipulation tendencies and egocentricity. He also emphasized that when studying psychopathy, one should pay attention to, among other things, the level of intelligence.
He concludes that "this behavior-less approach can be applied equally to criminals and law-abiding citizens."
Boduzhek plans to develop and test the questionnaire further. He hopes to do research in US prisons and the general population. Its task is to develop a diagnostic tool that is applicable primarily to work with prisoners - for example, to identify they have elevated psychopathic traits and subsequent therapy.
***
Previously, images of the brain taken by scientists from the University of Radboud (Netherlands) helped to establish the peculiarities of the work of neural networks in criminals prone to psychopathy. It turns out that the lack of self-control, combined with the expectation of a reward, pushes people to commit a crime.
As you know, psychopathy includes, on the one hand, a lack of empathy and emotional involvement, and on the other hand, impulsivity and selfish behavior. These character traits are closely related to the reward center in the brain. The researchers analyzed brain MRI scans of 14 psychopathic inmates and 20 ordinary people, half of whom had a high score on the psychopathic disorder scale. The photographs showed that in all participants with psychopathy (both convicts and others), the reward center was activated significantly more than in people without mental disabilities.
Perhaps this is inherited, but addiction and constant stress over the years also play a large role in shaping the personality of the offender.
Numerous studies have shown that “good” neural connections between the reward center and the mid-forebrain help us better control our behavior. This is the first study conducted on convicts to show that propensity to commit crime arises from expectation of reward and lack of self-control.
Boduzek's goal was to develop a scale that would measure psychopathy without regard to background factors, including crimes committed. Psychopaths are found not only in the criminal sphere, but, for example, in business. Therefore, there is a need for what Dr. Boduzhek describes in a new article as "a pure personal dimension of psychopathy, not contaminated with behavioral elements." This "will allow researchers to expand the concept to all populations."
So, although Dr. Boduzhek and colleagues conducted a study of 1,794 inmates from 10 prisons, criminality and antisocial behavior of the participants were not considered when evaluating the questionnaires they completed to identify psychopathic personality traits. The questionnaire was developed by Dr. Boduzhek. It includes statements such as “I don’t care if I upset someone with my actions”, “I am more focused on my own thoughts and ideas than on what others think”, “Seeing people crying does not upset me”, “ I am ready to help other people only if I see the benefit in it "," Sometimes I provoke people, just to see their reaction. "
The new questionnaire focuses on key factors first described in 1940 by the influential American psychologist Hervey M. Cleckley. One of the main goals of the questionnaire design was to make sure that self-centeredness is fully tested. It was one of Cleckley's main criteria, but "is now often neglected in evaluating psychopathic research," Boduzhek said.
Prior to the start of his academic career, Boduzhek worked as a psychologist in prisons, including high security prisons. Thanks to old connections, he organized a large-scale survey of almost 2,000 inmates from 10 maximum security prisons in Poland - from murderers and sex maniacs to people who have committed non-violent crimes.
To assess the correctness of the new questionnaire, the participants also completed 6 more questionnaires used by psychologists to assess personality traits. In the article, Dr. Boduszek provides a detailed description of the methodology and the results obtained, and argues that his model of psychopathy is represented by four distinguishing factors, such as emotional responsiveness, cognitive responsiveness, interpersonal manipulation tendencies and egocentricity. He also emphasized that when studying psychopathy, one should pay attention to, among other things, the level of intelligence.
He concludes that "this behavior-less approach can be applied equally to criminals and law-abiding citizens."
Boduzhek plans to develop and test the questionnaire further. He hopes to do research in US prisons and the general population. Its task is to develop a diagnostic tool that is applicable primarily to work with prisoners - for example, to identify they have elevated psychopathic traits and subsequent therapy.
***
Previously, images of the brain taken by scientists from the University of Radboud (Netherlands) helped to establish the peculiarities of the work of neural networks in criminals prone to psychopathy. It turns out that the lack of self-control, combined with the expectation of a reward, pushes people to commit a crime.
As you know, psychopathy includes, on the one hand, a lack of empathy and emotional involvement, and on the other hand, impulsivity and selfish behavior. These character traits are closely related to the reward center in the brain. The researchers analyzed brain MRI scans of 14 psychopathic inmates and 20 ordinary people, half of whom had a high score on the psychopathic disorder scale. The photographs showed that in all participants with psychopathy (both convicts and others), the reward center was activated significantly more than in people without mental disabilities.
Perhaps this is inherited, but addiction and constant stress over the years also play a large role in shaping the personality of the offender.
Numerous studies have shown that “good” neural connections between the reward center and the mid-forebrain help us better control our behavior. This is the first study conducted on convicts to show that propensity to commit crime arises from expectation of reward and lack of self-control.
