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Psychopathy and behavioral correlates of victim injury in serious juvenile offenders
Author(s) -
Vitacco Michael J.,
Caldwell Michael F.,
Van Rybroek Gregory J.,
Gabel Jason
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20211
Subject(s) - psychopathy , juvenile delinquency , psychology , poison control , psychopathy checklist , injury prevention , aggression , anger , human factors and ergonomics , population , antisocial personality disorder , clinical psychology , juvenile , suicide prevention , developmental psychology , personality , medical emergency , social psychology , medicine , environmental health , biology , genetics
The study examines delinquent behavior and psychopathy and assesses their relationship to victim injury in a population of 168 incarcerated juvenile delinquent males with lengthy histories of criminal and violent behavior. A series of multiple regressions found that 17% of the variance associated with level of victim injury was accounted for by a model that included the three‐factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [Forth, Kosson, and Hare, 2003], criminal versatility, and age of onset of criminal offending. Notably, anger and DSM‐IV symptoms of conduct disorder were not related to level of victim injury. The results of this study support an escalation hypothesis where individuals with earlier onset to criminal behavior and greater criminal versatility escalate to more severe violence. The current results demonstrate the importance of integrating established theories of juvenile delinquency when explaining severe violence in youth. Aggr. Behav. 33:537–544, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.