Psychopathy in women: a review of its clinical usefulness for assessing risk for aggression and criminality

Abstract

Despite a flurry of studies examining psychopathy in women, and the recent release of the second version of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist--Revised manual, there is still little consensus whether the lateral extension of the current conceptualization of psychopathy to women is appropriate. In particular, very little agreement exists concerning the clinical utility of the Hare psychopathy measures to assess women's risk of future offending and violence. This article presents a comprehensive review of studies of the association between psychopathy, antisocial behavior, and violence, in diverse samples of women, and looks at similarities and differences between these constructs in males and females. Findings from inmates and offenders, civil and forensic psychiatric patients, substance abusers, and community samples indicate a consistently lower base rate of psychopathy among women than among men. With some exceptions, correlates of psychopathy in women relevant to risk assessments for crime and violence tend to be modest and significant, generally mirroring what we see in men. Clinicians and policy makers charged with the care and management of women at risk for criminal offending and violence are likely to find the PCL-R and PCL:SV have clinical utility; however, cautious application is called for and ongoing research is required.

Psychopathic personality development from ages 9 to 18: Genes and environment

“…Further, consistent with previous research (Nicholls, Ogloff, Brink, & Spidel, 2005), our analyses revealed higher mean values of psychopathic personality (i.e., CPS total score) in males than in females, based on both caregiver ratings and youth-self reports, thus indicating that these traits are more prevalent among males than females. However, no differences in the magnitude in genetic and environmental variance components were found across males and females.…”

Gender Differences in the Assessment and Manifestation of Psychopathy: Results From a Multicenter Study in Forensic Psychiatric Patients

“…Overall, the PCL-R is assumed to have relevance, for instance, in violence risk assessment in both women and men (Nicholls, Ogloff, Brink, & Spidel, 2005). However, concerns have been expressed about whether the PCL-R captures the construct of psychopathy satisfactorily in women (McKeown, 2010;Logan & Weizmann-Henelius, 2012).…”

Sexually Coercive Tactics Used by University Students: A Clear Role for Primary Psychopathy

“…Thus, evidence suggests that psychopathy may be expressed differently amongst female offenders in comparison to their male counterparts (Forouzan & Cooke, 2005;Hamburger, Lilienfeld, & Hogben, 1996;Nicholls, Ogloff, Brink, & Spidel, 2005;Sevecke, Lehmkuhl, & Krischer, 2009;Vitale, Smith, Brinkley, & Newman, 2002). Finally, investigations to explore gender differences with regards to sexual aggression in psychopathic non-offenders are seemingly non-existent.…”