Abstract

CABRERA SANCHEZ, José; GALLARDO VERGARA, René; GONZALEZ MORAGA, Fernando Renee  and  NAVARRETE CASTRO, Rayén. Psychopathy and crime: comparisons and differences between sexual offenders and ordinary criminals at a prison in Chile. Rev. Crim. [online]. 2014, vol.56, n.2, pp.229-245. ISSN 1794-3108.

In this research a comparison relating to psychopathy was made between sexual offenders and ordinary criminals in a prison in Chile. The sample consisted of 57 sexual aggressors and 82 common delinquents, all of them convicted and held at the correction facilities of the "Centro de Cumplimiento Penitenciario" in the city of Puerto Montt, Chile. The instrument used in this study was Robert Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The results show that the psychopathy level does not seem to affect in a significant way the fact that convicts have been sentenced for some kind of sexual crime. On the other hand, moderate psychopathy levels are observed in individuals charged with non-violent offenses. As psychopathic features increase, a positive association with violent and/or bloody crimes is evidenced. The conclusion is that sexual offenders and recidivist common criminals exhibit higher psychopathy levels.

Keywords : Psychopathy; PCL-R; sexual offenses; ordinary/small-scale crime; crime comparisons.

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