Psychopathy and its relationship to criminal behaviour

Abstract

This paper traces the roots of the hotly debated concept of psychopathy and its relationship to criminal behavior. We begin with a short overview of the term followed by key contributions to the term and its notion. Modern perceptions are then reviewed with particular emphasis on the Psychopathy Checklist and its revisions. We criticize the current tools used to measure psychopathy and recognize their limitations. We then combine psychopathy and criminality shedding light on various contributions in the field. Psychopathy is further compared to criminal recidivism. The paper concludes with the necessity to investigate more the interaction between psychopathy and criminal behavior since it has only been explored to a very limited extent.