Crime profiles and conditional release performance of psychopathic and non-psychopathic sexual offenders

Purpose. This study investigated the influence of psychopath ya nd sex offender subtype on criminal history, probability of being granted conditional release ,a nd performance while on conditional release in ad iverse group of violent offenders. We predicted that psychopathic sexual offenders would be associated with relatively prolific violent and sexual offending, ah igh probability of successful conditional release applications despite their past behaviour (resulting from ‘putting on ag ood show’ in a parole hearing), and poor performance in the community. Methods. Information was gathere dv ia ac orrectional file review of 310 Canadian male federal offenders. Offenders wer ec ategorized into groups based on their sexual offence histor y( non-sex offender ,r apist, child molester ,o rm ixed rapist/molester) and Psychopath yC hecklist –R evised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) ratings. Their offences (sexual, violent, or non-violent) and their complete conditional release histories wer ec oded. Results. Psychopath yw as associated with more violent and non-violent, but not sexual, offences. As ignificant interaction between psychopath ya nd offender subtype revealed that psychopath yw as associated with ag reater number of sex offences within child molesters. High-psychopath yo ffenders (both sexual and non-sexual offenders) wer ea bout 2.5 times more likely to be granted conditional release than nonpsychopathic offenders. Conclusions. Psychopath yi sa ssociated with more prolific sexual offending among child molesters and –d espite their extensiv ec riminal histories and high recidivism rate –a great proficiency in persuading parole boards to release them into the community. Specialized education and training in dealing with psychopathic offenders is urgently needed.