Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by Author "Botha, Ryan"
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Item Open Access Psychopathy and comorbid mental disorders among South African female offenders(University of the Free State, 2014-07) Botha, Ryan; Louw, D. A.; Loots, SonjaEnglish: South Africa has one of the highest numbers of offenders among all African countries. Although the vast majority of crimes are perpetrated by males, recent statistics have shown that the number of crimes committed by females has increased in recent years. Among the crimes committed by sentenced female offenders in South Africa, aggressive and violent crimes are the most prevalent, followed by economic crimes. Internationally, psychopathy has been associated strongly with criminality, particularly violent crime. While extensive research has investigated the socio-economic and environmental variables contributing to violent crime in South Africa, there is very little research elucidating the potentially unique intrapsychic variables, such as psychopathy, that may underpin criminal behaviour in this country. Further, existing forensic psychological data are mainly available on male offenders in the Western world. To address this lacuna in the empirical forensic psychology corpus, a research project was launched, and its outcomes are discussed by means of five related yet independent research articles. More specifically, the overarching aim of this research was to explore the clinical entity of female psychopathy in a South African forensic context. The research sample consisted of 108 medium- and maximum-security female offenders from the East London, Kroonstad and Johannesburg centres of the Department of Correctional Services. This sample was divided into three groups representing non-psychopathic, medium psychopathic, and advanced psychopathic offenders. The first study presents a narrative review of the literature on psychopathy with the aim of delineating important gender and cultural considerations. The primary focus of this review is on gender, as this represents the key variable in the empirical studies that follow. First, an overview of psychopathy is presented with a view to contextualizing the foremost measure of the disorder, namely the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Second, the concept of psychopathy is defined and discussed in terms of its similarities and differences across gender. Of importance here are the gender-based disparities in psychopathy in terms of its prevalence, severity, factor structure, behavioural expression, comorbidity, and treatment. Third, a review of cross-cultural research on the disorder is presented in the light of the diverse cultural composition of the sample used in the empirical studies that follow. In this regard, the ‘individualistic-collectivist’ framework and the concept of “secondary psychopathy” are elucidated in terms of their interpretive utility in assessing psychopathy in culturally diverse samples. An understanding of these gender and cultural variables forms an important theoretical background for interpreting the empirical data presented in the broader research corpus. In the second study, several theoretical factorial structures of the Hare PCL-R were tested and compared. The exploratory factor analysis reveals that a three-factor model consistent with Cooke and Michie’s (2001) factorial composition of psychopathy shows the best fit with the female offender data. This finding is consistent with other studies examining the factor structure of psychopathy across gender and diverse cultural groups. The results of this study suggest provisional support for the unified theory of psychopathy, as the affective dimension of the disorder was consistently stable across the different factorial models. The findings carry preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the three-factor model of PCL-R psychopathy in a South African female forensic context. The third study explored psychopathy and its association with demographic variables in a South African female forensic context. This was conducted with a view to isolating demographic variables that discriminated between non-psychopathic, medium psychopathic and advanced psychopathic female offenders. Classification of the respective offender groups was conducted by using the PCL-R, the most validated instrument in psychopathy measurement. The chi-square test for independence revealed significant associations between the three groups with regard to the demographic variables under study. Specifically, age of first offense, marital status, number of children, child/adult abuse, suicide attempts and employment history all shared important empirical associations with the psychopathic offender group. Analyses of the demographic data provided associational support for the presence of secondary psychopathy in the current sample of offenders. The results underline the importance of specific demographic variables in identifying high-risk groups of offenders. The fourth study examined the relationship between psychopathy as measured by the PCL-R, and Axis I mental disorders as measured by the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III). The Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed a number of significant differences between levels of Axis I mental disorders and levels of psychopathy. In line with international literature, psychopaths evidenced significantly higher rates of substance abuse compared to non-psychopaths. Additionally, the high rate of psychiatric comorbidity across the sample provides tentative support for the phenotypic expression of secondary psychopathy in the present study. This finding also underlines the need for the adequate implementation of mental health interventions in South African forensic settings. Specifically, clinical intervention in treatable comorbid Axis I mental disorders may enhance the management and rehabilitation of psychopathic offenders. Finally, the issue of malingering warrants specific reflection, as it represents an important corollary of elevated psychopathy scores. The fifth study examined the relationship between psychopathy, as measured by the PCL-R, and Axis II personality disorders, as measured by the MCMI-III. The Kruskal- Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed a number of significant differences between levels of Axis II personality disorders and levels of psychopathy. Specifically, the results support international findings that significantly higher rates of Cluster B personality disorders are found among psychopathic offenders compared to non-psychopathic offenders. The findings underline the need for a clinical focus on Cluster B personality pathology in interventions with psychopathic offenders.