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The Use of a Screening Device to Assess Psychopathy in Young Offenders

The Use of a Screening Device to Assess Psychopathy in Young Offenders

Authors :
Silva, Teresa
Genov?s, Vicente Garrido
Latorre, M. Jos? L?pez
Source :
The Spanish Journal of Psychology; July 2012, Vol. 15 Issue: 2 p724-735, 12p
Publication Year :
2012

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine to what extent a psychopath screening device (the APSD) is useful in forensic assessments to predict general and violent offending. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was done and 238 young people serving a sentence were assessed. The gold standard instrument used to measure psychopathy was the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth, Kosson & Hare, 2003). The results indicate that the association found between the screening device scores and several indicators of risk is low if compared with those obtained with the PCL:YV, suggesting that it is less useful as a tool in order to predict offending or violent offences. However, an Area Under the Curve of .784 and a validity index of 62.5 support its use as a screening device or as a preliminary approach to assess psychopathy in this population. The usefulness of this instrument to make assessments with young people in the forensic setting is discussed.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
11387416 and 19882904
Volume :
15
Issue :
2
Database :
Supplemental Index
Journal :
The Spanish Journal of Psychology
Publication Type :
Periodical
Accession number :
ejs40788956
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_SJOP.2012.v15.n2.38884