Fear Review: Critique of Forensic Psychopathy Scale Delayed 3 Years by Threat of Lawsuit

Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 08:11 in Health & Medicine

A leading psychopathy researcher has used the threat of legal action to have changes made to a research paper critical of a widely used criminological rating scale he developed 20 years ago. In the process the paper, which was accepted for publication in 2007 by Psychological Assessment , was delayed three years. It finally appeared in the journal's June issue, but the whole affair has raised questions about how legal threats can impact the progress of psychological science.The article in question concerns the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R), which is commonly administered in serious criminal cases to help make sentencing decisions as well as in prisons and psychiatric hospitals to determine suitability for release. A high score on the PCL-R is used to diagnose psychopathy . [More] Psychopathy - Law - Hare Psychopathy Checklist -...

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