Antisocial Personalities: Prevalence among offenders in South Africa

1. Antisocial Personalities: Prevalence among offenders in South Africa Ms. Sonja Loots Department of Psychology University of the Free State 2010 lootss@ufs.ac.za

2. Antisocial personalities and violent crime • South African research on violent crime mainly revolves around the incidence of, and social/environmental contributors to crime • Very little research focuses on intrapersonal contributions of violent offenders – and no South African studies have included the possible role antisocial personality traits might play in violent crime

3. Internationally, the antisocial personalities have been strongly associated with violent crime • It is estimated that over half of the United States’ violent crimes are committed by psychopaths • Antisocial personality disordered individuals also report higher rates of general re-offence and are more likely re-offend violently • This study primarily aimed to determine the prevalence of antisocial personalities among an offender sample • The process leading to this goal allowed for the exploration of the applicability of these concepts in the South African context

4. The antisocial personalities • Antisocial personality disorder • American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) • History of conduct disorder under the age of 15 • Determined by behavioural deficits • Three or more of the following criteria: a disregard for social norms and the safety of others, deceitfulness, impulsivity, aggressiveness, irresponsibility, and a lack of remorse • Represent around 50% of offenders (estimated up to 80%), and 3% of the general community

5. 2. Dissocial personality disorder • World Health Organisation: International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) • Largely determined by personality traits or the lack thereof • DPD is characterised by gross disparity between behaviour and the prevailing social norms, callous unconcern for the feelings of others, irresponsibility, incapacity to retain relationships, low frustration tolerance, incapacity for guilt and a tendency for blame externalisation

6. 3. Psychopathy • Behavioural and personality characteristics • Despite magnitude of research – psychopathy is still not deemed a diagnosable disorder • A general contextualisation of psychopathy is “a personality disorder defined by a cluster of interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial traits and behaviours, including grandiosity, egocentricity, deceptiveness, shallow emotions, lack of empathy or remorse, irresponsibility, impulsivity, and a tendency to violate social norms” (Hare & Neumann, 2009). • Psychopaths represent around 20% of prison populations and 1% of the general community

7. Methodology • The sample consisted of 500 male maximum security offenders from the Mangaung Correctional Centre near Bloemfontein • Questionnaires used: • Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) • DSM and ICD Personality Questionnaire (DIP-Q) • Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) • The Aggression Questionnaire (AQ)

8. Results • Study was divided into 5 focus areas: 1) construct validity of psychopathy 2) prevalence of antisocial personalities 3) criminal thinking styles of offenders with antisocial personalities 4) the role of aggression in offenders with antisocial personalities 5) the predictive ability of psychopathy and criminal thinking styles with regard to recidivistic behaviour

9. Psychopathy: Are we measuring the same construct? • Psychopathy has been validated cross-culturally in the Western world • Through a series of statistical processes it was determined that several questions have to be omitted from the PPI-R to increase the instrument’s validity and reliability in the South African context • Omitted items mainly reflected differences in collectivistic vs. individualistic upbringing, as well as comprehension difficulties

10. Prevalence of antisocial personalities • Psychopathy = 27% • Dissocial personality disorder = 38% • Antisocial personality disorder = 17% • Prerequisite of conduct disorder before the age of 15 might be indicative of cultural differences in the expression of the disorder

11. Aggression and criminal thinking styles • Antisocial and dissocial personality disordered individuals portrayed significant differences in levels of aggression and criminal thinking styles than offenders without these disorders • Different levels of psychopaths did not indicate significant differences in levels of criminal thinking styles and only certain aspects of aggression differed between the groups

12. Predictive value of psychopathy • None of the PPI-R subscales could significantly predict recidivistic behaviour • None of the criminal thinking styles could predict recidivistic behaviour

13. In conclusion • Further exploration of antisocial personalities and intrapersonal contributors to violent crime is urgently needed • More research on the cultural influence on the manifestation of disorders are needed • Samples have to be more inclusive • Only then will we be able to create culture-specific risk assessment instruments and generate adequate intervention strategies