Palgrave s Frontiers in Criminology Theory

Transcription

1 Palgrave s Frontiers in Criminology Theory Series Editors Matt DeLisi Department of Sociology Iowa State University Ames, Iowa, USA Alex R. Piquero Criminology Program University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, Texas, USA

2 Frontiers in Criminology Theory advances contemporary theory and research on two broad areas of criminological scholarship. The first focal area is on conceptual content areas that seek to explain the etiology and developmental course of antisocial behavior. The series conceptualizes antisocial behavior broadly to acknowledge and incorporate research from multiple disciplinary perspectives including criminology, developmental psychology, sociology, behavior genetics, social work, and related fields. Works in this focal area include book-length developments of extant theoretical ideas, edited volumes of leading research within a specific theoretical area (e.g., self-control theory, social learning theory, general strain theory, etc.), and, of course, new theoretical ideas on the causes and correlates of anti-social behavior. The second focal area encompasses the criminology theory of the juvenile justice system, criminal justice system, and allied social service providers. Like focal area one, the criminal justice system is conceptualized broadly to include multiple disciplinary perspectives that advance research on prevention, psychiatry, substance abuse treatment, correctional programming, and criminal justice policy. Works in this focal area include book-length developments of extant topics, edited volumes of leading topics in criminal justice, and, of course, new theoretical and conceptual approaches to the prevention, treatment, and management of criminal justice clients. More information about this series at

3 Matt DeLisi Psychopathy as Unified Theory of Crime

4 Matt DeLisi Criminal Justice Studies Iowa State University Ames, USA Palgrave s Frontiers in Criminology Theory ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Control Number: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: Charles Hill / EyeEm / Getty Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York

5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In my career, I ve written or edited more than 20 books, and the current one was the most enjoyable, and even fun to produce despite the gravity of the subject matter. In the academic world of psychopathy, I am a man without a country in the sense that my work is located betwixt and between the academic disciplines of criminology, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, and others, and assumptions and content from these, at times, very distinct worlds nevertheless figure into my thinking on psychopaths and their criminal careers. This interdisciplinary approach is described in Chap. 1. Because of my disparate and interdisciplinary intellectual background (or maybe because I am a heretic of sorts), I found myself disagreeing with various sacred cows found in the psychopathy literature, and at times taking bold stances (in an academic context at least) on the nature of psychopathy, its relation to antisocial conduct, its existence among children and adolescents, and other issues. In that regard, I hope that readers find this book to be thought-provoking and fun even if some of my musings are differentially offensive to the disparate worlds of criminology, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, and others. There s likely something to please and something to annoy everyone in these pages. There are many joys in writing and one of them is the extraordinary amount of learning that occurs. In writing this book, I learned much from clinicians, academicians, and practitioners whose expertise is psychopathy. Some of these persons are close friends, some are acquaintances, and some are people I ve never met. Irrespective of their association to me, I ve benefitted greatly from their work and would like to acknowledge v

6 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Michael Vaughn, Ray Corrado, Glenn Walters, Jesse Cale, Evan McCuish, Jeff Mathesius, Shayne Jones, Robert Hare, Carl Gacono, Olivier Colins, Pedro Pechorro, Hughes Hervé, Daniel Boduzek, Katie Dhingra, Agata Debowska, Adrian Raine, Yaling Yang, Yu Gao, Andrea Glenn, Reid Meloy, Stephen Porter, Michael Woodworth, Lee Robins, Robert Schug, Selma Salihovic, David Farrington, Grazyna Kochanska, Josh Miller, James Blair, Don Lynam, Randy Salekin, Scott Lilienfeld, Jeremy Coid, Steve Hart, Alan Drury, Michael Elbert, Jerry Evans, Henrik Andershed, Stephanie van Goozen, Essi Viding, Paul Frick, James Ray, Catherine Tuvblad, Kent Kiehl, Robert Plomin, Terrie Moffitt, and Ben Karpman. Thank you for your research and insights into this disorder. This is also my first book with Palgrave Macmillan, a relationship that I look forward to growing into many future projects. I would like to thank Lani Oshima, Mireille Yanow, Julia Willan, and Mara Berkoff for their support and assistance on this project.

7 CONTENTS 1 Why Psychopathy as Unified Theory of Crime? 1 2 Psychopathy, Its Etiology, and the Nature of Crime 15 3 Psychopathy, Assessment, and the Structure of Crime 61 4 Psychopathy and the Life-Course 97 5 Psychopathy and Criminal Offenders Psychopathy and Biosocial Criminology Psychopathy and the Criminal Justice System Conclusion 225 References 237 Index 239 vii