This study examined the role of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991) and sexual deviance scores in predicting recidivism in a sample of 94 convicted rapists involuntarily admitted to a Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital between 1975 and 1996. The predictive utility of grouping offenders based on the combination of psychopathy and sexual deviance was also investigated. Measures were coded from prerelease institutional records. Recidivism (reconviction) data were retrieved from the Judicial Documentation Register of the Ministry of Justice and were related to PCL-R and sexual deviance cores. The follow-up period after release ranged up to 23.5 years (M = 11.8 years). Base rates for sexual, violent nonsexual, violent (including sexual), and general recidivism were 34%, 47%, 55%, and 73%, respectively. For all types of offending, offenders scoring high on the PCL-R (>26) were significantly more often reconvicted than other offenders. The sexual deviance score was found to be a significant predictor of sexual reconviction. Survival analyses provided considerable evidence that psychopathic sex offenders with sexual deviant preferences are at substantially greater risk of committing new sexual offenses than psychopathic offenders without deviant preferences or nonpsychopathic offenders with or without sexual deviance. The findings are discussed in terms of their practical and clinical implications.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author .
2.
Andrews, D.A., & Bonta, J. (1994). The psychology of criminal conduct. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
3.
Andrews, D.A., Zinger, I., Hoge, R.D., Bonta, J., Gendreau, P., & Cullen, F.T. (1990). Does correctional treatment work? A clinically relevant and psychologically informed meta-analysis. Criminology , 28, 369-404.
4.
Barbaree, H.E., Seto, M.C., & Langton, M.C. (2001, November). Psychopathy, treatment behavior and sex offender recidivism: Extended follow-up. Paper presented at the 20th Annual Research and Treatment Conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), San Antonio, TX.
5.
Barbaree, H.E., Seto, M.C., Langton, M.C., & Peacock, E.J. (2001). Evaluating the predictive accuracy of six risk assessment instruments for adult sex offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 490-521.
6.
Blackbum, R. (1993). Clinical programs with psychopaths. In C. R. Hollin & K. Howells (Eds.), Clinical approaches to the mentally disordered offender (pp. 179-208). Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley.
7.
Boer, D.P., Hart, S.D., Kropp, P.R., & Webster, C.D. (1997). Manual for the Sexual Violence Risk-20: Professional guidelines for assessing risk of sexual violence. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Institute Against Family Violence.
8.
Bonta, J., & Hanson, R.K. (1994). Gauging the risk for violence: Measurement, impact and strategies for change. [User Report No. 1994-09]. Ottawa, ON, Canada: Ministry Secretariat, Solicitor General of Canada.
9.
Cleckley, H. (1941). The mask of sanity. St. Louis , MO: Mosby.
10.
Cooke, D.J., & Michie, C. (2001). Refining the construct of psychopathy: Toward a hierarchical model. Psychological Assessment, 13, 171-188.
11.
Cox, D.R. (1972). Regression models and life tables. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 34, 187-220.
12.
Doren, D.M. (1998). Recidivism base rates, predictions of sex offender recidivism, and the sexual predator commitment laws. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 16, 97-114.
13.
Douglas, K.S., & Webster, C.D. (1999). Predicting violence in mentally and personality disordered individuals. In R. Roesch, S. D. Hart, & J. R. P. Ogloff (Eds.), Psychology and law: The state of the discipline (pp. 175-239). New York: Plenum .
14.
Fleiss, J.L., Williams, J.B.W., & Dubro, A.F. (1986). The logistic regression analysis of psychiatric data. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 20, 145-209.
15.
Forth, A.E., Kosson, D.S., & Hare, R.D. (in press). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.
16.
Furby, L., Weinrott, M.R., & Blackshaw, L. (1989). Sex offender recidivism: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 303-330.
17.
Gendreau, P.P., Little, T., & Goggin, C. (1996). A meta-analysis of the predictors of adult offenders: What works!Criminology, 34, 575-607.
18.
Grann, M., Långström, N., Tengström, A., & Kullgren, G. (1999). Psychopathy (PCL-R) predicts violent recidivism among criminal offenders with personality disorders in Sweden. Law and Human Behavior, 23, 205-217.
19.
Grann, M., Långström, N., Tengström, A., & Stålenheim, E.G. (1998). Reliability of file-based retrospective ratings of psychopathy with the PCL-R. Journal of Personality Assessment, 70, 416-426.
20.
Gretton, H.M., McBride, M., Hare, R.D., O'Shaughnessy, R., & Kumka, G. (2001). Psychopathy and recidivism in adolescent sex offenders . Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 427-449.
21.
Hall, G.C.N. (1995). Sexual offender recidivism revisited: A meta-analysis of treatment studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 63, 802-809.
22.
Hanson, R.K., & Bussière, M.T. (1996). Predictors of sexual offender recidivism: A meta-analysis. [User Report No. 1996-04]. Ottawa, ON, Canada: Ministry Secretariat, Solicitor General of Canada.
23.
Hanson, R.K., & Bussière, M.T. (1998). Predicting relapse: A meta-analysis of sexual offender recidivism studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 348-362.
24.
Hanson, R.K., Gordon, A., Harris, A.J.R., Marques, J.K., Murphy, W., Quinsey, V.L., et al. (2002). First report of the collaborative outcome data project on the effectiveness of psychological treatment for sex offenders . Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 14, 169-194.
25.
Hanson, R.K., & Harris, A.J.R. (2000). Where should we intervene? Dynamic predictors of sexual offense recidivism. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27, 6-35.
26.
Hanson, R.K., Morton, K.E., & Harris, A.J.R. (in press). Sexual offender recidivism risk: What we know and what we need to know. In R. Prentky, E. Janus, M. Seto, & A. W. Burgess (Eds.), Understanding and managing sexually coercive behavior. New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
27.
Hanson, R.K., & Thornton, D. (1999). Static-99: Improving acuarial risk assessments for sex offenders [User Report No. 99-02]. Ottawa, ON, Canada: Department of the Solicitor General.
28.
Hare, R.D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Toronto, ON, Canada: Multi HealthSystems.
29.
Hare, R.D. (1996). Psychopathy: A clinical construct whose time has come. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 23, 25-54.
30.
Hare, R.D., Clark, D., Grann, M., & Thornton, D. (2000). Psychopathy and the predictive validity of the PCL-R: An international perspective. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 18, 623-645.
31.
Hemphill, J.F., Hare, R.D., & Wong, S. (1998). Psychopathy and recidivism: A review. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 3, 139-170.
32.
Hemphill, J.F., & Hart, S.D. (2002). Treatment of psychopathic personality disorder . In E. Blaauw & L. Sheridan (Eds.), Psychopaths: Current international perspectives (pp. 159-174). The Hague, The Netherlands: Elsevier.
33.
Hildebrand, M., de Ruiter, C., & van Beek, D.J. (2001). SVR-20: Richtlijnen voor het beoordelen van het risico van seksueel gewelddadig gedrag. [SVR-20: Guidelines for the assessment of risk of sexual violence]. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Forum Educatief.
34.
Hildebrand, M., de Ruiter, C., de Vogel, V., & van der Wolf P. (2002). Reliability and factor structure of the Dutch language version of Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised . International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 1, 139-154.
35.
Laws, D.R. (1989). Relapse prevention with sex offenders. New York: Guilford.
36.
Laws, D.R., Hudson, S.M., & Ward, T. (2000). Remaking relapse prevention: A sourcebook. London: Sage.
37.
Looman, J., Abracen, J., & Nicholaichuck, T.P. (2000). Recidivism among treated sexual offenders and matched controls: Data from the Regional Treatment Centre (Ontario). Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 279-290.
38.
Looman, J., Abracen, J., Serin, R., & Marquis, P. (2002). Psychopathy, treatment change and recidivism in high risk need sexual offenders. Manuscript submitted for publication.
39.
Lösel, F. (1998). Treatment and management of psychopaths. In D. J. Cooke, A. E. Forth, & R. D. Hare (Eds.), Psychopathy: Theory, research, and implications for society (pp. 303-354). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
40.
Maletzky, B.M. (1996). Denial of treatment or treatment of denial?Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 8, 1-15.
41.
Marques, J.K. (1999). How to answer the question "does sex offender treatment work?" Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 437-45 1.
42.
Marshall, W.L. (1994). Treatment effects on denial and minimization in incarcerated sex offenders. Behaviour Research and Therapy , 32, 559-564.
43.
Marshall, W.L., & Barbaree, H.E. (1990). Outcome of comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment programs. In W. L. Marshall, D. R. Laws, & H. E. Barbaree (Eds.), Handbook of sexual assault: Issues, theories, and treatment of the offender (pp. 363-385). New York: Plenum.
44.
Marx, B.P., Miranda, R., & Meyerson, L.A. (1999). Cognitive-behavioral treatment for rapists: Can we do better? Clinical Psychology Review , 19, 875-894.
45.
McGraw, K.O., & Wong, S.P. (1996). Forming inferences about some intraclass correlation coefficients. Psychological Methods, 1, 30-46.
46.
Mossman, D. (1994). Assessing predictions of violence: Being accurate about accuracy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 62, 783-792.
47.
Porter, S., Fairweather, D., Drugge, J., Hervé, H., Birt, A., & Boer, D.P. (2000). Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27, 216-233.
48.
Prentky, R.A., Lee, A.F.S., Knight, R.A., & Cerce, D.D. (1997). Recidivism rates among child molesters and rapists: A methodological analysis. Law and Human Behavior, 6, 635-659.
49.
Proulx, J., Pellerin, B., Paradis, Y., McKibben, A., Aubut, J., & Ouimet, M. (1997). Static and dynamic predictors of recidivism in sexual aggressors. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 9, 7-27.
50.
Quinsey, V.L., Lalumière, M.L., Rice, M.E., & Harris, G.T. (1995). Predicting sexual offenses. In J. D. Campbell (Ed.), Assessing dangerousness: Violence by sexual offenders, batterers, and child abusers (pp. 114-137). Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.
51.
Quinsey, V.L., Rice, M.E., & Harris, G.T. (1995). Actuarial prediction of sexual recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10, 85-115.
52.
Rice, M.F. (1997). Violent offender research and implications for the criminal justice system. American Psychologist, 52,414-423.
53.
Rice, M.E., & Harris, G.T. (1995). Violent recidivism: Assessing predictive validity . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 737-748.
54.
Rice, M.E., & Harris, G.T. (1997). Cross validation and extension of the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide for child molesters and rapists. Law and Human Behavior, 21, 231-241.
55.
Rice, M.E., Harris, G.T., & Quinsey, V.L. (1990). A follow-up of rapists assessed in a maximum security psychiatric facility. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5, 435-448.
56.
Salekin, R.T., Rogers, R., & Sewell, K.W. (1996). A review and meta-analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist and Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: Predictive validity of dangerousness . Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 3, 203-215.
57.
Serin, R.C., & Brown, S.L. (2000). The clinical use of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised in contemporary risk assessment. In C. B. Gacono (Ed.), The clinical and forensic assessment of psychopathy: A practitioner's guide (pp. 251-268). Mahwah, NJ : Erlbaum.
58.
Serin, R.C., Mailloux, D.L., & Malcolm, P.B. (2001). Psychopathy, sexual arousal, and recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 234-246.
59.
Seto, M.C., & Barbaree, H.E. (1999). Psychopathy, treatment behavior, and sex offender recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 1235-1248.
60.
Seto, M.C., & Lalumière, M.L. (2000). Psychopathy and sexual aggression. In C. B. Gacono (Ed.), The clinical and forensic assessment of psychopathy: A practitioner's guide (pp. 333-351 ). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .
Sjöstedt, G., & Långström, N. (2002). Assessment of risk for criminal recidivism among rapists: A comparison of four different measures. Psychology, Crime and Law, 8, 25-40.
63.
Vertommen, H., Verheul, R., de Ruiter, C., & Hildebrand, M. (2002). Handleiding bij de herziene versie van Hare's Psychopathie Checklist. [Manual of the Dutch version of Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised]. Lisse, The Netherlands: Swets Test Publishers.
64.
de Vogel, V., de Ruiter, C., Beek, van D., & Mead, G. (2002). Predictive validity of structural and actuarial risk assessment for sexual violence: A retrospective study in a Dutch sample of treated sex offenders. Manuscript submitted for publication.
65.
Wallace, J.F., Vitale, J., & Newman, J.P. (1999). Response modulation deficits: Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of psychopathy. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly, 13, 55-70.
66.
Ward, T., McCormack, J., Hudson, S.M., & Polaschek, D. (1997). Rape: Assessment and treatment. In D. R. Laws & W. O'Donohue (Eds.), Sexual deviance: Theory, assessment, and treatment (pp. 356-393). New York: Guilford.
67.
Wong, S. (1988). Is Hare's Psychopathy Checklist reliable without the interview. Psychological Reports, 62, 931-934.
68.
Wong, S. (2000). Psychopathic offenders. In S. Hodgins & R. Muller-Isberner (Eds.), Violence, crime and mentally disordered offenders: Concepts and methods for effective treatment and prevention (pp. 81-112). Chichester , United Kingdom: Wiley.
