Do Triarchic Psychopathy Components of New Zealand High-Risk Parolees Predict Probation Officer Relationship Quality, Quality of Life on Parole, and Recidivism?

• Author: Devon L.L. Polaschek,Rebecca K. Bell,Allanah R. Casey,Sophie R. Dickson,Julia A. Yesberg
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211049179
• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Date: 01 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211049179

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(15) 1682 –1702

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211049179

journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo

Article

Do Triarchic Psychopathy

Components of New Zealand

High-Risk Parolees Predict

Probation Officer Relationship

Quality, Quality of Life on

Parole, and Recidivism?

Devon L.L. Polaschek1, Rebecca K. Bell1,

Allanah R. Casey1, Sophie R. Dickson1,

and Julia A. Yesberg1

Abstract

The Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) is a self-report scale based on the

Triarchic Model that has been little used in research in the criminal justice system. We

sought to examine associations between pre-release TriPM components, probation

officer relationships, and parolee quality of life, both measured after 2 months in the

community, and reconviction 12 months after release. Using data from 234 New

Zealand male high-risk prisoners, we tested four multivariate models each across

three timepoints. Pre-release, we found Boldness was not predictive, but Meanness

predicted poorer relationship quality after 2 months, both from probation officer

and parolee perspectives, with the former in turn predicting reconviction within

12 months. Disinhibition predicted 12-month recidivism regardless of relationship

quality or external life circumstances. This relationship to recidivism was partially

explained in the final model which linked Disinhibition and poorer subjective

wellbeing, with the latter in turn predicting recidivism.

Keywords

parole, psychopathy, TriPM, triarchic psychopathy model, high-risk violent prisoner,

probation officer relationships, recidivism prediction, high-intensity treatment, quality

of life, reintegration

1Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Corresponding Author:

Devon Polaschek, School of Psychology, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240,

New Zealand.

Email: devon.polaschek@waikato.ac.nz

1049179IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X211049179International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyPolaschek et al.

research-article2021

Polaschek et al. 1683

Although psychopathy is sometimes glamorized in entertainment media, working

with, or living alongside people with high levels of psychopathy may be more chal-

lenging than entertaining. Various components of psychopathy are theorized to have

direct and indirect effects on aspects of social functioning and other forms of adjust-

ment (e.g., in the corporate world, Boddy & Taplin, 2016; Diller et al., 2021). In the

criminal justice system, research has focused mostly on psychopathy’s association

with criminal behavior, with little research on what effects components of psychopa-

thy may have on the intermediate steps to preventing recidivism, including those that

involve effective social relationships such as working with correctional staff for better

personal outcomes, building social and material resources for reintegration, or (re)

establishing a sense of wellbeing. This study presents an exploratory investigation of

associations between high-risk violent prisoners’ self-reported psychopathy compo-

nent scores, and two types of intermediate variables important to successful re-entry

or reintegration, including quality of life in the community, and relationships with

their supervising probation officers.

The Triarchic Model of Psychopathy

Psychopathy is widely regarded as the most important form of personality disorder

or disturbance in the criminal justice system, particularly for its associations with

criminal behavior and criminal risk. Yet there remains significant debate about how

it should best be defined and conceptualized (Skeem et al., 2011), and whether it

should be understood as a “classical syndrome, that is, a constellation of signs and

symptoms that covary across individuals,” or “as a compound trait, that is a configu-

ration [italics original] of largely uncorrelated attributes that combine to forge an

interpersonally malignant condition” (both Lilienfeld et al., 2016, p. 1174). The

Triarchic Psychopathy model (Patrick et al., 2009) was developed to integrate dispa-

rate historic views of psychopathy. Patrick et al. proposed that three distinct pheno-

typic constructs interact to create the divergent pictures of psychopathy that

characterize the literature. These three constructs are (a) Boldness: a relatively

benign expression of underlying fearlessness, and comprising collectedness in

threatening and stressful situations, social poise and effectiveness, confidence, and

tolerance for uncertainty (Patrick et al., 2009); (b) Meanness: a rather less benign

manifestation of the same underlying fearless temperament including underdevel-

oped empathy, interpersonal exploitativeness, devaluing of social attachments, and

antagonism, excitement seeking and deriving personal power from cruelty toward

others; and (c) Disinhibition, characterized by chronic problems with under-regula-

tion of affect and behavior, lack of foresight and planning, and an orientation to

immediate gratification (Patrick et al., 2009). Investigations of Triarchic Psychopathy

to date most often use the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010), a

58-item self-report instrument with three subscales, each operationalizing one of the

components of the Triarchic Model.