Psychopathic traits in young offenders vs. non-offenders in similar socioeconomic condition
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Citações na Scopus
7
Tipo de produção
article
Data de publicação
2014
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título do Volume
Editora
Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria - ABP
Citação
REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE PSIQUIATRIA, v.36, n.3, p.241-244, 2014
Resumo
Objective: To analyze the differences in psychopathic traits between offender and non-offender youths with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Method: The Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) scale was used to identify whether 39 young offenders with no history of mental disorders or criteria for psychopathy exhibited differences in its total score, and specifically for factor 1 or factor 2 of this scale, when compared with 32 other young people, living in similar socioeconomic conditions, who had not committed offenses. Results: We observed statistically significant between-group differences (p < 0.01) in mean PCL-R scores, with a mean score of 13.4 in the offender group vs. 2.1 in the non-offender group. We also detected significant between-group differences when we analyzed mean factor 1 (p < 0.01) and factor 2 (p < 0.01) scores separately. Although the groups exhibited statistically significant difference in educational attainment, between-group comparison of mean PCL-R scores controlling for educational attainment by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the difference in PCL-R scores remained statistically significant (p < 0.01). Conclusions: We conclude that, in this sample, the presence of both primary (interpersonal/affective characteristics) and secondary (lifestyle/antisocial behavior) psychopathic traits differed between offender and non-offender youths, even when excluding psychopathy and other mental disorders from the assessments. These results suggest a need for wide-ranging interventions, not restricted to socioeconomic aspects, for the management of juvenile delinquency.
Palavras-chave
Juvenile delinquency, psychopathic personality, antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder
Referências
- Morana HC, 2003, Identificação do ponto de corte para a escala PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised) em população forense brasileira: caracterização de dois subtipos de personalidade
- transtorno global e parcial [dissertation]