| For most people, it is intuitively
obvious that an individual's personality is of importance to the
risk of their committing an act of violence. Unfortunately, personality
orientated 'explanatory models' for violence often refer to obscure
terms and frequently conclude with alluring circular arguments.
An individual's violent actions are sometimes explained by the fact
they are 'impulsive' or they have 'a personality disorder', without
questioning the fact that impulsivity and personality disorders
have often themselves been defined as the violent behaviour that
was to be explained from the outset.
During the more sociological era of criminal science, along with
the 'anti-psychiatry' wave within healthcare, it was not considered
possible to explain violence with personality pathology. It was
society that was ill, not the individual. The legacy of Lombroso
continues to haunt the Swedish debate on personality factors, such
as a lack of empathy, pathological narcissism and low IQ, and their
relevance in this context.
Several studies conducted in the 1990s have however indicated that
there is a small but distinct subgroup of highly criminal individuals
that run a significantly higher risk of criminality, and violent
crime in particularly. They display personality deviations that,
using the Psychopathy Checklist, are diagnosed as psychopathic personality
disorders. And psychopathy has a strong position as a risk factor
in explaining violent behaviour, even considering social factors
such as socioeconomic status and segregation, and other established
risk factors such as alcohol and drug abuse, childhood misconduct
and previous violent actions. Although the word 'psychopathy' makes
people uncomfortable and the term is politically challenging, the
strategy to deny these individuals from existence is certainly not
productive (refer to debate article (in Swedish)).
There is support from longitudinal birth cohort studies that some
of the core characteristics of this personality disorder, such as
callous-unemotional traits, are manifested early on in life and
cannot simply be explained by social factors or by neuropsychiatric
disorders such as ADHD/DAMP. It is suspected that some of these
core characteristics are genetic. It has been known for a long time
that a reduced ability to think in steps and plan actions is determined
by the so-called executive functions, which are impaired or lacking
among many violent offenders. Repeated studies using brain-mapping
techniques have found frontal and frontotemporal alterations that
are interesting but difficult to explain .It is not yet clear what
in this context is the cause and what is the effect. Nor is it possible
to know for sure whether some third factor, such as drug abuse,
has given rise to the findings. Changes in perception, such as regarding
central and peripheral attention under stress, have been found among
convicted violent offenders that have been diagnosed as psychopathic.
It is also though that the brain's system for fear and anxiety is
highly abnormal among these individuals.
There is a need for research to map the psychological and neuropsychological
functions in individuals with violent tendencies and deviating personality
characteristics, in an aim to study the aetiology of violence and,
by extension, possible approaches towards successful treatment.
This theme group co-ordinates research at CVP in the significance
of personality factors in acts of violence.
Scientific Theme Coordinator: Niklas Långström
|
