Making a CASE for Revisiting Psychopathy and Intelligence in Youth Justice Populations: Implications for RNR and Links to Community Recidivism

The present study examined the interrelations of psychopathy cognitive ability, achievement, and school engagement variables to recidivism in a diverse sample of 417 justice-involved youth court referred for assessment and/or treatment services. The Psychopathy Checklist Youth: Version (PCL: YV) and a set of criminogenic, education, and developmental variables were rated from file; recidivism data were obtained from criminal records. PCL: YV total and most facet scores were inversely related to verbal IQ, unrelated to academic achievement, and strongly associated with school disengagement; however, interpersonal facet scores showed the opposite pattern among male youth. Cox regression survival analyses demonstrated that composite variables reflecting global achievement and school engagement concerns incrementally predicted recidivism outcomes controlling for PCL: YV scores; higher achievement and school engagement appeared to mitigate risk. By contrast, while global cognitive ability similarly mitigated risk among male youth, it was associated with increased recidivism among female youth after controlling for baseline psychopathy. The results underscore the risk, need, and responsivity (RNR) relevance of cognitive ability, achievement, and school engagement in reducing risk for future crime and violence.