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Self-control and psychopathy are prominent general theories of antisociality that, although present a very similar type of individual, have not often been studied in tandem, and few studies have conducted a head-to-head test of their association with serious delinquency and youth violence. Using a near census of institutionalized delinquents from Missouri, the current study found that both low self-control and psychopathy were significantly associated with various forms of delinquency and severe/chronic delinquency as measured by 90th percentile on the distribution. However, low selfcontrol was associated with more forms of delinquency, and victimization and youth with the lowest levels of self-control were at greatest risk for pathological delinquency relative to those with the most psychopathic personality. Both self-control and psychopathy are essential for understanding the most severe variants of delinquency, and more head-to-head tests are encouraged to assess the strength of criminological theories.

Purpose That psychopathy imposes substantial societal costs and economic burden is axiomatic, but monetization studies have overlooked cost estimates of the disorder. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a near census of institutionalized delinquents from Missouri, the current study devised new crime cost measures for self-reported offending. Findings Youth imposed $30 million in total costs annually in large part due to extensive involvement in robbery, theft, and assault. The most criminally active youth imposed costs in excess of $700 million. Psychopathy features were differentially correlated with crime costs. APSD-SR callous-unemotional traits, mPPI-SF Blame Externalization, mPPI-SF Machiavellian Egocentricity, and mPPI-SF Social Potency were significantly associated with between four and five crime costs. Psychopathic traits associated with ruthless self-interest, callousness, and expectations to control and dominate others manifest in diverse ways including serious violence and repeated property crime. Other features such as mPPI-SF Impulsive Nonconformity, mPPI-SF Stress Immunity, mPPI-SF Coldheartedness, mPPI-SF Carefree Nonplanfulness, mPPI-SF Fearlessness, APSD-SR Impulsivity, and APSD-SR Narcissism had limited associations with crime costs. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first monetization study to quantify the effects of assorted psychopathy features on crime costs.