Juvenile Psychopathy: A Primer

by Jamie L. Flexon Ph.D.

Overview

Scholars have focused upon youth in efforts to better understand psychopathy. While the term psychopath is an often-evoked term used to describe the worst among us; the serial killer, the sadist, the chronically violent criminal who preys upon the weak, the distance between the commonly used term and those who satisfy the criteria for the personality disorder is striking. Aggravating the understanding of psychopathy is the disagreement that exists in the scientific community concerning classification, identification and measurement -issues that are amplified when trying to apply the psychopath label to youth. This work is an effort to sort through the literature and to educate the reader with a burgeoning interested on the subject. It is a starting place to anchor the complexity of the issues toward further study and understanding. The orientation of this work, then, is one of simplicity aimed toward a broad audience. The reality that informs this work, and one that is essential to understand, is that while there is an avalanche of research on the topic of psychopathy, including developmental psychopathy, there are more questions than settled empirical findings. While it may appear that many issues are resolved, questions often remain insofar as there is disagreement over conceptual development and measurement of psychopathy -and juvenile psychopathy, in particular. These problems are not unique to psychopathy research, and such complexities are recognized in this writing. Chapters cover issues, such as the identification of psychopathy over time, the changing criteria, definition and measurement of juvenile psychopathy, variants or types of psychopaths, treatment strategies, legal issues and directions for future development. Some of the ideas that readers will become acquainted with are: --Whether there is a dark figure of psychopathy--Whether all psychopaths become violent criminals--Are there variants or types of psychopaths?--Can we improve upon the classification criteria for psychopathy?--Does treatment help psychopathy?--What are the legal consequences that attach to psychopathsBy the end of the book, the reader should have a better grasp of the research and thoughts that inform the study of juvenile psychopathy. While the scholarly landscape is complex, this work breaks down the issues into broad, more easily understood ideas. The reader is also aided by understanding the debates in the literature that have characterized the psychopathy literature for some time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936651054
Publisher:	Weston Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	03/31/2018
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Jamie L. Flexon is an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice in the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. Her M.A. and Ph.D. were earned at the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany in Albany, New York. While there, Dr. Flexon worked as an editorial assistant and research support specialist (2001-2006) for the Utilization of Justice Statistics Program, SOURCEBOOK of Criminal Justice Statistics at the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, which was funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.

Her research interests involve juvenile delinquency, juvenile psychopathy, criminal justice issues related to punishment, and policy evaluation. She has presented numerous papers at profes-sional conferences, and her research has appeared in various outlets, including Journal of Criminal Justice, Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Criminal Justice and Behavior, American Journal of Criminal Justice, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Victims & Offenders, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, among others. Dr. Flexon also is the author of the book, Racial Disparities in Capital Sentencing: Prejudice and Discrimination in the Jury Room (2012), among others, as well as a contributing author to chapters in books, such as Wrongly Convicted, Perspectives on Failed Justice and Race and the Death Penalty: The Legacy of McCleskey v. Kemp.

Belonging to the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Criminal Justice Section of the ABA, Dr. Flexon is also a member of the Racial & Ethnic Justice & Diversity Committee, the Juvenile Justice Committee, Forensic & Investigative Practices Committee, and the Science Technology & Forensics Committee of the ABA. She also reviews for various journals, including Crime & Delin-quency, Journal of Criminal Justice (Editorial Board Member), Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice (Editorial Board Member), Sociological Quarterly, among others, as well as for publishing companies.