Differences in core feature according to Korean Psychopathy Levels: From a Therapeutic Perspective

This study is aimed at exploring unique characteristics of psychopathic offenders in Korea by comparing them with their lower-level counterpart. Psychopathy was measured using the PCL-R, with the cut-off score set at 25, recognized in Korea as the threshold for psychopathy. Among 1,102 prisoners, Social Network Analysis was conducted against 315 with high-level psychopathy and 787 with low-level psychopathy, using the polychoric and bootnet packages included in R. Prisoners with high-level psychopathy are shown to have been influenced by factors such as affective and interpersonal. What is worth noting is that early behavioral problems and juvenile delinquency, which belong to antisociality factor. The items which have high centrality in low-level psychopathy group fall into the affective factor, and the key trait of them boils down to criminal versatility in antisociality factor and need for stimulation in lifestyle factor. This study is expected to be of help to the development of tools for psychopathic examination and its validation, understanding high-level psychopathy prisoners based on their traits. Moreover, it is anticipated that it will contribute to developing policies which monitor criminals and prevent recidivism. Finally, it is expected that a better understanding of these individuals lead to more effective, efficient management from a therapeutic perspective, potentially reducing public fear and facilitating community-based management.