About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

29 J. Psychiatry & L. 433 (2001)
Psychopathy and the Death Penalty: Can the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised Identify Offender Who Represent a Continuing Threat to Society

handle is hein.journals/jpsych29 and id is 451 raw text is: The Journal of Psychiatry & Law 29/Winter 2001 Psychopathy and the death penalty: can the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised identify offenders who represent a continuing threat to society? BY JOHN F. EDENS, PH.D., JOHN PETRILA, J.D., LL.M., AND JACQUELINE K. BUFFINGTON-VOLLUM, M.A. Psychopathy has gained increasing importance in the field of risk assessment in the last decade, in large part because of the established association between this construct and future violence and criminality. Situations in which the prediction of future dangerousness is at issue appear to be logical areas in which the assessment of psychopathic traits would be relevant to decision- making. One recent application of psychopathy has been its inclusion in death penalty cases, wherein Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) scores have been introduced to support the position that a defendant will represent a continuing threat to society-even if serving a life sentence in prison. Despite such claims, a review of the relevant research indicates that the empirical basis for these conclusions is minimal at present. This article summarizes what is known about the relationship between psychopathy and violence, and reviews the legal and professional implications of this research in relation to the use of the PCL-R in the penalty phase of capital cases. AUTHORS' NOTE: Correspondence should be addressed to John Edens, Department of Psychology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341-2447. Electronic mail may be sent to edens@shsu.edu. © 2002 by Federal Legal Publications, Inc. 433

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most