Abstract
The relationship between the concepts of Psychopathy (as conceptualised by a four-facet model of the Psychopathy Checklist – PCL-R; Hare, R.D. (2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R) (2nd ed.). Toronto: Multi-Health Systems) and the biopsychosocial model of normal personality (the Temperament and Character Inventory, – TCI; Cloninger, C.R., Przybeck, T.R., Svrakic, D.M., & Wetzel, R.D. (1994). The temperament and character inventory (TCI): A guide to its development and use. Washington University, St Louis, MI: Centre for Psychobiology of Personality) was explored in a sample (N = 121) of personality disordered, serious and repeat offenders. High total PCL-R scores were associated with high Novelty Seeking and low Harm Avoidance alongside the characteristic of low cooperativeness. At a facet level, Facet 1 (Interpersonal) was associated with low Harm Avoidance, Facet 2 (Affective) with low Reward Dependence and Facets 3 (Lifestyle) and 4 (Antisocial), with both high Novelty Seeking and low Co-operativeness. The results show that the different facets of psychopathy are related to different personality constructs as defined by the biopsychosocial model, which in turn may suggest different treatment and management regimes.
Acknowledgements
We thank the staff and prisoners of Her Majesty s Prison Grendon for their co-operation in the research process. We are very grateful to the National Programme for Forensic Mental Health Research and Development for initial pump-priming funding for this research. We also thank the Wales Office for Research and Development (WORD) for financial support. Professor Malcom McCulloch contributed to the starting of this project, and Ms. Jennifer Smith helped with the data collection.