Cardiac response and anxiety levels in psychopathic murderers

Ensaio sobre a Psicologia Jurídica: Uso e Consequências Sociais do PCL-R

Resumo Este trabalho tem por objetivo problematizar o agenciamento entre a psicologia e o aparelho judiciário. Para tanto, tomamos a escala Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) - criada por Robert Hare para avaliar e mensurar a psicopatia - como um acontecimento analisador. Realizamos uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa que fez uso da pesquisa bibliográfica e documental como estratégias metodológicas. Os dados produzidos foram analisados à luz das obras de Foucault e de autores da criminologia crítica. Pensamos a psicologia e o aparelho judiciário como marcados por lógicas normativas que produzem práticas de controle sobre os modos de existir. Por este viés, ao se agenciar com dispositivos do sistema penal, determinadas práticas psi podem instrumentalizar os artefatos de controle e repressão. Em nosso percurso de pesquisa, realizamos uma revisão de literatura da produção acadêmica brasileira relativa à utilização da escala no país (2005-2018). Partindo da análise das publicações encontradas constatou-se que a maioria das pesquisas enfatizam as propriedades psicométricas da escala e reforçam a sua eficácia em predizer a reincidência criminal. Ademais, verificou-se que as publicações levantadas não analisam as implicações ético-políticas da aplicação da escala na execução penal, assim como não consideram a instituição prisional como produtora e mantenedora da delinquência. Por fim, questionamos se a escala PCL-R seria utilizada como mais um dispositivo de controle e gestão da vida das populações que são alvo do sistema penal brasileiro.

Heart Rate and Skin Conductance Associations with Physical Aggression, Psychopathy, Antisocial Personality Disorder and Conduct Disorder: An Updated Meta-Analysis

The associations between physiological measures (i.e., heart rate and skin conductance) of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and severe antisocial spectrum behavior (AB) were meta-analyzed. We used an exhaustive partitioning of variables relevant to the ANS-AB association and investigated four highly relevant questions (on declining effect sizes, psychopathy subscales, moderators, and ANS measures) that are thought to be transformative for future research on AB. We investigated a broad spectrum of physiological measures (e.g., heart rate (variability), pre-ejection period) in relation to AB. The search date for the current meta-analysis was on January 1^st, 2020, includes 101 studies and 769 effect sizes. Results indicate that effect sizes are heterogeneous and bidirectional. The careful partitioning of variables sheds light on the complex associations that were obscured in previous meta-analyses. Effects are largest for the most violent offenders and for psychopathy and are dependent on the experimental tasks used, parameters calculated, and analyses run. Understanding the specificity of physiological reactions may be expedient for differentiating between (and within) types of AB.

Emotional Assessment in Spanish Youths With Antisocial Behavior

Impaired emotional capacity in antisocial populations is a well-known reality. Taking the dimensional approach to the study of emotion, emotions are perceived as a disposition to action; they emerge from arousal of the appetitive or aversive system, and result in subjective, behavioral, and physiological responses that are modulated by the dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance. This study uses the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to study the interaction between the type of picture presented (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant) and group (adolescents under custody in juvenile justice centers, adolescents under non-custodial measures, and secondary school students) in the emotional assessment of these dimensions. The interaction between the study variables was statistically significant. Statistically significant differences were found between the three types of pictures presented, in the ratings of unpleasant pictures between the custody group and the group of secondary students in regular schooling in valence, and in the ratings of unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant pictures in arousal, between the custody group and all groups. Discriminant analyses of each affective dimension indicate that the unpleasant pictures with violent and/or aggressive content tend to be in the functions that most differentiate the antisocial groups.

Personality traits and violent behavior: a comparison between psychopathic and non-psychopathic male murderers

The relationship between psychopathy and traits of temperament and character in a specific population of criminals, such as murderers, has not been sufficiently investigated. This study assesses the relationship between psychopathy and temperament and character traits in murderers. The sample consisted of 118 men divided into three groups: psychopathic murderers (N=40), non-psychopathic murderers (N=40) and 38 non-psychopathic non-criminals (controls). All individuals were evaluated by Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) and The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Psychopathic murderers presented higher scores than the other two groups in PCL-R; both criminal groups presented higher scores than non-psychopathic non-criminals. Psychopathic murderers showed lower scores than non-psychopathic murderers on Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directness and Cooperativeness. There was no difference between murderers groups regarding Novelty Seeking and Self-transcendence. In all TCI personality traits psychopathic and non-psychopathic murderers showed scores lower than controls, except Harm Avoidance for non-psychopathic murderers. In conclusion, most personality traits assessed by TCI were associated with psychopathy, while Novelty Seeking and Self-transcendence were associated with homicidal behavior independently of the psychopathy.