A REVIEW AND METAANALYSIS OF THE PSYCHOPATHY CHECKLIST AND PSYCHOPATHY CHECKLIST-REVISED - PREDICTIVE-VALIDITY OF DANGEROUSNESS

The Psychopathy Checklist (PCL/PCL-R) continues to receive recognition among clinicians and researchers for its ability to predict violent a nd nonviolent recidivism. This article reviews the psychometric proper ties and the clinical utility of the PCL-R and reports a meta-analysis of 18 studies that investigate the relationship between the PCL/PCL-R and violent and nonviolent recidivism. We found that the PCL and the PCL-R had moderate to strong effect sizes and appear to be good predic tors of violence and general recidivism. As a component of dangerousne ss assessments, psychologists may want to consider utilizing the PCL-R when making probability statements regarding placement decisions in i nstitutions, parole and conditional release decisions, and community p lacement decisions for psychiatric patients. The generalizability of t he PCL beyond these groups, which have primarily consisted of Anglo-Am erican samples, is still in question and requires further research.