Juvenile transfer to adult courts: A look at the prototypes for dangerousness sophistication-maturity and amenability to treatment through a legal lens.

Juvenile court judges are often required to make distinctions as to whether certain adolescents should remain in the juvenile justice system or be transferred to adult courts. Typically, 3 broad factors weigh into juvenile court judges' decision making: (a) the level of danger the juvenile poses to the community, (b) the level of sophistication-maturity of the juvenile, and (c) the extent to which the juvenile is viewed as treatable. In an earlier study, knowledge of forensic and child psychologists was tapped to elucidate core characteristics related to the transfer process (R. T. Salekin et al, 2001). The current study augments that investigation. Judges provided (a) their perspective regarding the core criteria for dangerousness, sophistication-maturity, and amenability to treatment, and (b) data on the core characteristics of juveniles who were evaluated and subsequently judged to be appropriate for transfer to adult criminal courts. Policy implications for this increasingly critical interface between law and psychology are threefold: (a) Individualized assessments are key; (b) the adoption of a national standard for transfer to adult court is required; and (c) the development of treatment programs to improve the socialization of youth is necessary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of adolescent psychopathy: oppositional and conduct-disordered symptoms

In this paper the sequence specificity of DNA damage has been determined for 11 cisplatin analogues. A number of the analogues used in this study have been included in clinical trials. A Taq DNA polymerase linear amplification technique was utilised to ascertain the sequence selectivity of cisplatin analogues damage to DNA. The analogues differed in their ability to damage DNA with cisplatin being the most effective DNA damaging agent followed by (in decreasing order): tetraplatin (tetrachloro(1,2-diaminocyclohexane)platinum(IV) (RR isomer)), cis-dichlorobis(isopropylamine)platinum(II), dichloro(1,2-diaminocyclohexane)platinum(II) (SS isomer), dichloro(1,2-diaminocyclohexane)platinum(II) (RR isomer), cis-bis(cyclohexylamine)dichloroplatinum(II), carboplatin, cis-dichlorobis(isopentylamine)platinum(II), and CHIP (cis-dichloro-trans-dihydroxybis(isopropylamine)platinum(IV)). However, the sequence specificity of these analogues was similar in position and relative intensity of damage. We also provide evidence that platinum(IV) complexes can damage DNA without being reduced to platinum(II). It was found that a 10-fold higher concentration of cisplatin was required to damage DNA in Tris-HCl compared to Hepes buffers. In this paper we have detected a characteristic pattern of damage with monofunctional analogues that could be used to determine the mode of binding of a cisplatin analogue with DNA. The monofunctional analogues tested were chloro(diethylenetriamine)platinum(II) and cis-diamminechloro(1-octylamine)platinum(II) as well as transplatin.     

Psychopathy in a noninstitutional sample: Differences in primary and secondary subtypes.

Early theoretical conceptualizations suggest psychopathy is a heterogeneous construct whereby psychopathic individuals are found in diverse populations. The current study examined male and female psychopathy subtypes in a large sample of undergraduate students (n = 1229). Model-based cluster analysis of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form (PPI-SF) revealed two clusters in both male and female students. In males, the primary subtype evidenced greater psychopathic personality traits (i.e., Social Potency, Fearlessness, and Impulsive Nonconformity) and lower anxiety (i.e., higher Stress Immunity), whereas the secondary subtype displayed fewer psychopathic personality traits (i.e., Machiavellian Egocentricity and Blame Externalization) and higher anxiety (i.e., lower Stress Immunity). In females, the primary subtype exhibited higher scores across all PPI-SF subscales and lower anxiety whereas the secondary subtype reported lower PPI-SF subscale scores and higher anxiety. Across a diverse array of personality, affective, and behavioral external correlates, differences between the subtypes and with nonpsychopaths emerged. Implications for psychopathy in noninstitutional populations with respect to theory, research, and gender are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are impulsive adolescents differentially influenced by the good and bad of neighborhood and family?

Using the differential susceptibility perspective (Belsky & Pluess, 2009) as a guiding frame-work, age 12 neighborhood disadvantage (ND) and family characteristics (parental knowledge) were examined as moderators of the relations between age 12 youth impulsivity and the development (ages 13, 14, and 15) of positive (community activities) and negative (antisocial behavior; ASB) adolescent behavior. An interaction between ND and youth impulsivity (age 12) operated with differential susceptibility, but only for female community activities at age 13: under low levels of ND, impulsive adolescent females engaged in the highest levels of community activities, whereas under high ND, they engaged in the lowest levels. Exploratory analysis showed the association between community activities and ND to be partially related to parents' or adults' engagement in informal social controls (e.g., alerting the police with misbehavior in the neighborhood). Differential susceptibility effects were not identified for: (i) parental knowledge and impulsivity; (ii) ASB (ages 13, 14 or 15); or (iii) community involvement at ages 14 and 15. Findings provide limited evidence for impulsivity as a differential susceptibility phenotype. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Juvenile waiver to adult criminal courts: Prototypes for dangerousness, sophistication–maturity, and amenability to treatment.

Psychological assessment of juveniles for waiver to adult criminal courts requires systematic evaluation of dangerousness, sophistication–maturity, and amenability to treatment. Despite their importance to the evaluation of juveniles, little is known about the criteria that constitute these 3 constructs. This study clarifies the constructs of dangerousness, sophistication–maturity, and amenability to treatment that typically guide juvenile transfers. Psychologists (n?=?244) from the Clinical Child Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association rated the prototypicality of each construct. Factor analyses of the domains for each of the 3 constructs are reviewed. In addition, forensic diplomates from the American Board of Professional Psychology (n?=?75) provided prototypical ratings of juveniles whom they evaluated and who were subsequently transferred to adult court. Results indicate that these youth were judged as dangerous, criminally sophisticated, and difficult to treat. The interpretation of the results may facilitate evaluations by clinical child and forensic psychologists on juvenile waivers and help to shape policy on this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfer to adult court: A national study of how juvenile court judges weigh pertinent Kent criteria.

Evaluation of juvenile offenders considered for transfer to adult court entails consideration of three factors: (a) potential risk of dangerousness, (b) level of sophistication-maturity, and (c) treatment amenability. Despite the centrality of these concepts to dispositional decision making, virtually no information or guidelines exist describing how juvenile court judges or mental health professionals should weigh these constructs when making vivid line distinctions with respect to transfer. The authors asked judges (N = 361) from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to examine a hypothetical case that varied the level of dangerousness, sophistication-maturity, and treatment amenability. Results showed that dangerousness and sophistication-maturity had a significant impact on transfer, whereas amenability to treatment did not. Policy implications for this important area of law and psychology are threefold: (a) Although individualized assessments may be preferred, key to such evaluations are specific guidelines for weighing Kent criteria; (b) eventually, a national standard should be adopted to outline how to weigh criteria and to reduce disparity across states; and (c) psychologists should continue to refine juvenile assessment technology and ultimately the information they provide courts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and recidivism from mid-adolescence to young adulthood: Cumulating legal problems and limiting life opportunities.

This study examined the ability of psychopathy as indexed by the following 4 scales: Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 1996/2003), Antisocial Process Screening Device (P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2001), Hare Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-II (R. D. Hare, 1991), and Personality Assessment Inventory-Antisocial Scale (L. C. Morey, 1991, 2007) to prospectively predict antisocial outcomes including general and violent recidivism across a 3- to 4-year time span. Results indicated that psychopathy was predictive of both general and violent recidivism from mid-adolescence to young adulthood even after accounting for 14 variables theoretically linked to offending. These findings add to the recent research showing stability in the psychopathy traits across time by also demonstrating that psychopathy in adolescents also has a real-world effect, including a cost to society with higher rates of offending in the community and a cost to youth with cumulating legal records that are likely to narrow their potential for prosocial growth in the community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child psychopathy and protective factors: IQ and motivation to change.

Psychopathy in children and adolescents has received increased attention over the past decade. Researchers have been particularly interested in identifying who tomorrow's chronic and serious offenders might be. In addition, researchers have been increasingly interested in determining the etiology of the disorder so as to inform treatment programs. Despite this interest, few studies to date have investigated the protective factors for psychopathy in youth. The current study investigated 140 adolescent boys and girls and the potential protective mechanisms of intelligence and motivation to change. Findings indicated that motivation to change served as a protective factor for general and violent offending at varying levels of psychopathy. Motivation to change also served as a compensatory factor for psychopathy when examining high rates of violent offending. These findings suggest that the cognitive factor of motivation to change may very well be critical in examining developmental pathways to offending in youth and a key consideration for those youth scoring high on psychopathy scales and considering violence as a means of gain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct validity of psychopathy in a female offender sample: A multitrait–multimethod evaluation.

The authors examined the construct of psychopathy as applied to 103 female offenders, using the multitrait-multimethod matrix proposed by D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959). Instruments used in the study included the following: (a) Antisocial Scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. C. Morey, 1991); (b) Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (R. D. Hare, 1990); and (c) Antisocial scale of the Personality Disorder Examination (A. W. Loranger, 1988). Criterion-related validity was also evaluated to determine the relationship between psychopathy and staff ratings of aggressive and disruptive behavior within the institution. Results revealed significant convergence and divergence across the instruments supporting the construct of psychopathy in a female offender sample. The measures of psychopathy demonstrated moderate convergence with staff ratings of violence, verbal aggression, manipulativeness, lack of remorse, and noncompliance. It is interesting to note that an exploratory factor analysis of the PCL-R identified a substantially different factor structure for women than has been previously found for male psychopathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and Comorbidity in a Young Offender Sample: Taking A Closer Look At Psychopathy's Potential Importance Over Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

The authors examined the construct of psychopathy as applied to 130 adolescent offenders using 3 psychopathy measures and a broad range of DSM-TV Axis I diagnoses and psychosocial problems. Measures used in the study included the following: (a) Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL- PCLYV; A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 2003), (b) Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; YV; P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2002), (c) a modified version of the Self-Report Psychopathy-II scale (SRP-II; R. D. Hare, 1991b), and (d) the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale (APS; W. M. Reynolds, 1998). Results from this study offer incremental support for the construct validity of psychopathy in youth. Psychopathy evidenced better convergent and discriminant validity results than did the disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) such as oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Despite this finding, psychopathy scales nonetheless correlated with other forms of psychopathology at a higher rate than was expected, suggesting that comorbidity is high even when psychopathy is used as a classification scheme. Also, hierarchical multiple regression was used to determine whether psychopathy offered an improvement in the prediction of previous violent and nonviolent offenses. The results for the current study were mixed, with only the PCL-YV significantly predicting previous violent and nonviolent offenses beyond the DBDs. The findings indicate that psychopathy may offer incremental improvement over DBDs with regard to level of comorbidity and perhaps even prediction. However, simply extending the adult construct of psychopathy to youth without considering the array of psychopathology that may accompany adolescent psychopathy could be misleading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)