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A comparison of psychopathy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and brain dysfunction among sex offenders
- Authors:
- LANGEVIN Ron, CURNOE Suzanne
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 10(3), May 2010, pp.177-200.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia
With a sample of 1,695 adult, violent and non-violent, male sex offenders from a forensic database of men seen for psychological assessment at a university hospital and/or private clinic in an urban area of the United States, this study looks at the relationship of Hare’s psychopathy scores (PCL-R) with ADHD diagnosis and brain dysfunction/damage measures. The Wender Utah and Connors Adult ADHD Rating Scales were used for childhood and adult ADHD symptoms, respectively. Two neuropsychological measures, the Halsted-Reitan Battery and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, were used to measure brain dysfunction. Participants were comprised of 1,520 sex offenders and paraphilics, and two comparison groups, 133 violent non-sex offenders and 42 non-violent non-sex offenders. Their age and education data are presented. Findings showed that ADHD and brain dysfunction were significantly more common among psychopaths than non-psychopaths, and psychopaths showed more neurological disorders and early problems with learning disorders or disabilities. The authors point out that “although psychopathy is characteristically considered to be an untreatable and dangerous condition, its significant association with ADHD and brain dysfunction indicates that there are important treatments paths that should be explored”. They claim that preventive practice, early treatment and intervention could be an important consideration in the prevention of adult offender behaviours.