Analysis of psychopathological symptoms and aggressive expressive and instrumental behavior as a function of the risk of violence in offenders

Abstract

The goal of this research was to identify the most characteristic psychopathological symptomatology and type of aggression (expressive and instrumental) in individuals who presented a higher risk of violence in a sample of offenders. The sample consisted of 285 incarcerated males aged 20 to 67 years (M= 34.73, SD= 10.34) and it was divided into three groups according to violence risk (high, moderate, and low). The instruments used were the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), the Instrumental and Expressive Aggression Questionnaire (CAIE) and the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ). The results showed that, as violence risk increases, the levels of psychopathological symptomatology increase, as do expressive and instrumental aggressive behaviors, although psychoticism and expressive aggression best predicted belonging to the moderate- and high-risk groups. Therefore, moderate violence risk is sufficient to establish prevention and intervention measures in this population.