Criminal violence - The roles of psychopathy, neurodevelopmental insults, and antisocial parenting

The authors examined the interrelationships and the independent contributio ns of three major constructs associated with male criminal violence (neurod evelopmental insults, antisocial parenting, and psychopathy) using structur al equation modeling. Subjects were 868 violent offenders assessed or treat ed at a maximum security psychiatric hospital. Results indicated that neuro developmental insults and psychopathy are not interrelated but are both dir ectly and independently related to criminal violence, and antisocial parent ing is related to both neurodevelopmental insults and psychopathy but has n o direct relationship to criminal violence. These results are not consisten t with a view of psychopathy as a disorder but are consistent with the view of psychopathy as an evolved life history strategy. Criminal violence has at least two separate developmental pathways originating very early in life , one involving neurodevelopmental damage and one involving psychopathy.