Boys from low socioeconomic environments were rated on physical aggression at ages 6, 10, 11, and 12 by teachers and classified according to stability of fighting over time: stable high fighters, high fighters with late onset, desisting high fighters, variable high fighters, and nonfighters. The fighter groups differed from each other both in family background and parenting behavior. They were also significantly associated with delinquency across ages 10 to 14. A stepwise logistic regression with fighter groups, family adversity index, and parenting behavior variables as predictors showed that the Punishment x Fighter Group interaction, together with supervision, predicted self-reported delinquency. The study thus showed that the developmental pathways of physically aggressive behavior for boys in low socioeconomic environments were related to familial adversity and poor parenting, and that they predicted delinquency.

The objectives of the present study were to examine the life circumstances, childhood abuse, and types of homicidal acts of 48 mothers who killed/attempted to kill their children) under age 12 between 1970-96 in Finland. Data on the mothers’ life stresses, psychological problems, and childhood abuse were collected from mental state examination (MSE) reports. The cases were divided into 15 neonaticides and 33 mothers who killed an older child. Childhood abuse was documented in 63% of the mothers’ MSE reports. Qualitative analysis identified neonaticides, joint homicide-suicide attempts, impulsive aggression, psychotic acts, postpartum depression, and abusive acts. Nonlinear principal components analysis showed that different variables were related to the neonaticide and non-neonaticide cases. We concluded that despite differences in the psychosocial profiles of neonaticides and other maternal homicidal acts the cycle of violence perspective can be applied to both cases, even though it may not be a sufficient explanation for maternal child killings.

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Cleckley's concept of psychopathy includes characteristics such as superficial charm, unreliability, and affective poverty. In this study, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and personality questionnaires (MMPI, CPI, EPQ, and SSS) were used to assess 9 2 non~violent male offenders. The variable~based approach was applied in order to study the structure of the PCL and the relationships between the PCL, the PCL factors and the personality questionnaire scores. The results indicated that the personality scale scores failed ta correlate positively with the PCL score, with the exception of the MMPI hypomania score. Two PCL factors emerged: factor 1 related to the core personality characteristics of the Cleckley psychopath, and factor 2 referred ta a chronically unstable and antisocial lifestyle.In the person~oriented approach, three offender groups were distinguished based on the cluster analysis of the PCL items; cluster 1 subjects scored high on factar 1 items describing the personality characteristics of Cleckley's psychopathy. They were psychopaths with a high level of fraud~like offences . Severely antisocial offenders, starting their criminal behaviour early and having an active criminal lifestyle, comprised cluster 2. Cluster 3 was a group oi non~psychopathic but antisocial and experience~seeking offenders. The overall results advocated the importance of the PCL as a method of assessing the Cleckley psychopaths and the usefulness of person~ oriented analysis in differentiating them /rom others.