The influence of a biological explanation of psychopathy in the courtroom.

Abstract

Psychopaths are a troubling population for the general public and criminal justice system. Psychopathic patterns of antisocial behavior appear early in life and remain present for life (Hare, 2003). Most psychopaths are not violent or in prison. However, psychopaths are responsible for over half of all serious crimes (Hare, 1993; Hare, 2012; Slater & Pozzato, 2012; Babiak et al., 2012). Another troubling issue is that there is currently no established treatment for psychopaths, which prevents rehabilitation (Skeem et al., 2011). In the current study, mock jurors read a law case that involved a convicted defendant who was a diagnosed psychopath. The researcher's purpose was to determine if a biological explanation and brain scan imagery representative of psychopathy affected sentencing. The researcher also examined how jurors' psychopathy influenced sentencing. Participants who read testimony on a biological explanation for psychopathy and viewed brain scan images of the defendant's psychopathic brain doled out the least severe sentences of any condition.