Discriminant analysis of high-risk recidivism in criminal offenders based on psychopathological factors from MMPI-2-RF profiles

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to identify the critical factors discriminating individuals at high risk for recidivism among criminal offenders based on psychopathological characteristics. Data was collected from 182 violent offenders using psychological testing from prosecutors’ offices nationwide in Korea between 2017 and 2022. The offenders were divided into two groups based on the Korean Offender Recidivism Assessment System Scale-General (KORAS-G) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), which are two major risk assessments in the Korean criminal justice system. Multiple comparisons were performed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2nd edition Restructured Form (MMPI−2-RF), and discriminant function analysis was used to identify the scales with discriminative power and hierarchical structure of relative contribution for the two risk recidivism assessments. This study highlights the utility of MMPI−2-RF in comprehensive assessments for decision-making in sentencing and judgment in the legal system. We discussed violent recidivism in the context of externalizing dysfunction, vulnerabilities in interpersonal relationships, pathological history of misconduct/antisociality and risk-taking motivation. This study calls for attention to the domestic situation of risk assessment and suggests future directions in recidivism prediction with the practical utility of MMPI−2-RF.

KEYWORDS:

• recidivism
• criminal behavior
• risk assessment
• psychopathology
• MMPI-2-RF
• discriminant analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Sogang University Research Ethics Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was declared exempt from requiring informed consent due to the following reasons: 1) no future risk of criminal or civil responsibility, reputation, financial status, and employment, 2) the study uses only anonymous data and requires no further evaluations, and 3) obtaining consent and explaining research process would have serious effects on the validity and trial sentencing.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.