Abstract

POZUECO ROMERO, J.M.; ROMERO GUILLENA, S.L.  and  CASAS BARQUERO, N.. Psychopathy, violence and crime: a psychological-forensic, psychiatric-legal and criminological analysis (Part II). Cuad. med. forense [online]. 2011, vol.17, n.4, pp.175-192. ISSN 1988-611X.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1135-76062011000400002.

Spanish jurisprudence is frequently faced with the fact that in some expert reports appear terms like psychopath, antisocial Personality disorder, psychopathic personality, cruel psychopath, epileptoid psychopathy, sociopathy, etcetera. In this way, it's not infrequent that jurists (magistrates, judges, public prosecutors, lawyers) became disorientated with so much terminology which, despite all, they are nothing at all about synonym terms. Doctrine, on the other hand, dissents from the traditionally point maintained by the Jurisprudence that psychopaths are non-attributed individuals. Many penologists know very good psychological and psychiatric manuals and research studies on subject, and they are usually based on them to make some differences which apparently are fines. One of the controversies more extended is if the terms antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy are the same category. In the review of this Part II, it's also pretended to go deeply into and emphasize those fine differences, now that it's been proved repeatedly that both diagnosis categories, if it's of course true that they share some common features, they are neither the same concept nor involve the same consequences. It also examines the bitter controversy that exists regarding the frequent association between psychopathy and substance abuse, a controversy that seems to set its roots in the same terminological confusion between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. Finally, we review the literature about the criminality of psychopaths, with special reference to the case of both common criminals and the case of serial murderers and other violent criminals, without losing sight of the position that psychopaths currently have at a penological, doctrinal and jurisprudential level.

Keywords : Antisocial personality disorder; Criminality; Doctrine; Jurisprudence; PCL-R; Penology; Psychopathy.

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