Problems of Forensic Sciences 2012 Vol. 90 (XC) 155-163
THE TEMPERAMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF PSYCHOPATHY IN PERPETRATORS OF AGGRESSIVE CRIMES – RESEARCH REPORT
Józef Krzysztof GIEROWSKI1, 2, Ewa BŁASZCZUK2, Barbara KORPAŁA-BĘTKOWSKA2, Alicja SZYNKLARZ2, Anna STAROWICZ2, Jakub LICKIEWICZ3
1Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
2Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
3Department of Nursing and Obstetrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
This paper gives an account of research aimed at analysing the temperamental determinants of psychopathy in perpetrators of aggressive crimes. The participants were sixty-two men aged between twenty and sixty-three serving prison sentences for committing an aggressive crime. The statistical analyses concerned forty of these men whose psychopathy was more intense – including in its clinical form. The study employed Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour-Temperament Inventory (FCZ¬-KT) by Zawadzki and Strelau. Based on a correlation analysis a positive relationship was proved between the interpersonal-affective factor of psychopathy and sensory sensibility. A comparison of participants whose dominant factor was either the interpersonal-affective or antisocial behaviour dimension, revealed differences with respect to two temperamental indicators: sensory sensibility and activity. Both factors were higher in the group for which the interpersonal-affective component was predominant. A step regression indicated that the influence of sensory sensibility on the interpersonal-affective factor (b = 0.35) explained 24% of the variance, while the antisocial lifestyle factor was determined by endurance (b = –0.33) and perseveration (b = –0.36) explaining 13% of the variance. The research confirmed the existence of temperamental determinants of psychopathy and provides arguments for a biological approach to the etiopathogenesis of psychopathic disorders.
Słowa kluczowe
Psychopathy; Temperament; Aggressive perpetrators.