The Maltreatment–Aggression Link among Prosecuted Males: What about Psychopathy?

Abstract

Criminal offenders constitute a high-risk sample regarding experiences of childhood maltreatment and engagement in severe aggression. Moreover, psychopathic traits are more common in samples of offenders than non-offenders. Although research has underlined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adult aggression, the influence of psychopathy on this link is still unclear. We examined the dynamics of maltreatment, aggression, and psychopathy in a mixed sample of 239 male violent, sexual, and other offenders using latent factor structural equation modeling. We found a consistent positive association of maltreatment with aggression. Psychopathy did not mediate this relation. Maltreatment was not associated with psychopathy, although psychopathy had a positive effect on aggressive behavior. These dynamics appeared similar for violent, sexual, and other offenders. However, latent variables were constructed somewhat differently depending on the offender status. For instance, sexual abuse appeared to be of specific importance in sexual offenders. Violent offenders showed high rates of psychopathy compared to sexual and other offenders. The current findings may inspire future research to focus more closely on the different subtypes of psychopathy when examining its role in the prediction of aggression based on childhood maltreatment. Moreover, childhood maltreatment must not be neglected in treatment and prevention approaches aimed at reducing the risk of aggressive behavior.

The Suitability of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in Criminal Offender Samples

“…The final evaluation reports were analyzed by trained psychologists and psychiatrists who had not been involved in the basic evaluation process using a structured coding scheme [ 47 ], which was adapted for use in adult offenders based on a previous scheme already proven in studies on criminal file analyses in juvenile offender samples [ 48 , 49 , 50 ]. On 44 pages, the coding scheme included forensically relevant variables assigned to the following areas (see also [ 51 ]): (1) administrative data (e.g., name, date), (2) demographic information (e.g., place of residence, country of origin), (3) current/index delinquency (e.g., type of offense, victim characteristics), (4) offense analysis (e.g., degree of violence, alcohol/drugs involved), (5) previous delinquency (e.g., criminal records), (6) biographic/family information (e.g., childhood residential area, family diseases), (7) general and sexual development (e.g., school career, romantic relationships, also previous and current psychiatric diagnoses), (8) adverse childhood experiences (e.g., different types of intra- and extrafamilial abuse and neglect), (9) the content of forensic evaluation (e.g., the profession of the evaluator, type of evaluation: risk assessment vs. criminal responsibility), and (10) risk assessment (e.g., considered risk assessment instruments). To determine inter-rater reliability, 30 randomly selected evaluations (stratified for the context of assessment: criminal responsibility vs. risk of criminal recidivism) were independently double-rated.…”

The Effect of Childhood Maltreatment on Violent Behavior in Adulthood

“…Simultaneously, latent maltreatment, which was assessed through latent factor structural equation modeling, also influences violent crimes. For instance, childhood sexual violence is particularly significant for sex offenders [8].…”