Evaluating the construct validity of psychopathy in Black and White male inmates: Three preliminary studies.

Abstract

Although Black inmates represent almost half the population of United States prisons and have been included in several studies of psychopathy, there appear to be no published studies to date addressing the validity of the psychopathy construct in Black inmates. Three studies were conducted to assess the validity of the construct in Black male inmates using Hare's Psychopathy Checklist (PCL). In Study 1, we examined the internal structure of the PCL and the relation of checklist scores to several constructs relevant to psychopathy. We observed differences between Blacks and Whites in the distribution of psychopathy scores, in the relation of psychopathy to measures of impulsivity, and in the congruence of the underlying factor structure of the PCL. In Study 2, Black psychopaths were found to manifest a pattern of passive avoidance deficits similar but not identical to that reported for White psychopaths in Newman and Kosson's study. Study 3 demonstrated that psychopaths of both races receive more criminal charges in a wider variety of offense categories than do nonpsychopaths. The psychopathy construct appears tentatively applicable to Blacks, although its components may be somewhat different than for Whites.

Deficient Behavioral Inhibition and Anomalous Selective Attention in a Community Sample of Adolescents with Psychopathic Traits and Low-Anxiety Traits

“…For instance, research suggests that the association between psychopathy and deficient response modulation is relatively specific to a subgroup of Caucasian psychopathic offenders with low levels of anxiety as assessed by the Welsh Anxiety Scale. Research with African American samples has failed to yield significant group differences on the passive avoidance or picture-word tasks (Kosson, Smith, & Newman, 1990;Newman & Schmitt, 1998;Newman et al, 1997;Thornquist & Zuckerman, 1995) and comparisons involving high-anxious psychopathic and nonpsychopathic offenders have also yielded non-significant results (Newman & Schmitt, 1998;Newman, Howland, Patterson, & Nichols, 1990;Newman et al, 1997). Thus, although response modulation deficits may be relevant to the disinhibited behavior of low-anxious, Caucasian psychopathic individuals, they do not appear to be central to the disinhibited behavior of these other groups.…”

Assessing callous–unemotional traits in adolescent offenders: Validation of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits

“…Third, this study was limited by its use of a predominantly Caucasian sample. There is a growing body of research suggesting that minority individuals with psychopathic traits may not show the same correlates as Caucasian individuals (Kosson, Smith, & Newman 1990;Lorenz & Newman, 2002). Fourth, much of the research on CU traits have been conducted with detained adolescents and it would therefore be important to test the validity of this new measure in such an antisocial sample.…”

Behavioral evidence of prolonged interhemispheric transfer time among psychopathic offenders.

“…Each item is scored 0, 1, or 2, for a maximum total score of 40. The reliability and validity of the PCL-R is well documented (e.g., Hare, 1991Hare, , 1996Hare & McPherson, 1984;Hart & Hare, 1997;Kosson, Smith & Newman, 1990). Following the recommendations of Hare (1991), and in accord with standard practice, individuals scoring 30 or above were classified as psychopathic, individuals scoring 20 or below were classified as nonpsychopathic controls, and individuals scoring between 20 and 30 ("middles") were excluded from categorical data analyses.…”