The Role of Arrest Risk Perception Formation in the Association Between Psychopathy and Aggressive Offending

• Author: Joseph L. Nedelec,Ian Silver,Sultan Altikriti
• DOI: 10.1177/15412040211029991
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Date: 01 October 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Role of Arrest Risk

Perception Formation in the

Association Between

Psychopathy and

Aggressive Offending

Sultan Altikriti

1

, Joseph L. Nedelec

2

, and Ian Silver

3,4

Abstract

Research on the role of risk perception as a mechanism linking personality traits and behavioral

outcomes is limited. The current study assessed a developmental model of the influence of psy-

chopathic traits (PPTs) on the between- and within-individual variation in perceptions of risk and

aggressive offending. Multivariate latent growth curve models were used to estimate the role of

risk perceptions in the association between PPTs and aggressive offending in a sample of 1,354

adjudicated youths. The results indicated that PPTs influenced between-individual differences in

perceptions of risk (b¼.312) and aggressive offending (b¼.256), although the effects on within-

individual differences suggested some attenuation over time. Additionally, higher PPT scores

exhibited an indirect influence on increased aggressive offending through reduced perceptions of

risk (b¼.049). Implications from this line of research support calls for a developmentally informed

juvenile justice system that considers latent personality traits and their long-term effects. Broader

implications support individualized rehabilitative programming and tailored responses to offending

over the blanket deterrence approach that dominates the current landscape of the American

criminal justice system.

Keywords

developmental criminology, risk, individual differences, psychopathy, deterrence

Deterrence theory has been instrumental in guiding policy decisions since the early development of

the American criminal justice system (Paternoster, 2010). Briefly, deterrence theory argues that the

risk of formal sanction or arrest (referred to as “risk”) can dissuade individuals from offending.

1

College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA

2

School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, OH, USA

3

Law and Justice Department, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

4

Corrections Institute, University of Cincinnati, OH, USA

Corresponding Author:

Sultan Altikriti, College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, 816 17th Street, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA.

Email: altikriti.edu@gmail.com

Youth Violence and JuvenileJustice

2021, Vol. 19(4) 402-422

ªThe Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/15412040211029991

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Recently, heterogeneity in perceptions of risk has become a central topic in perceptual deterrence

research. Some of the heterogeneity in risk has been attributed to individual differences. Research

has assessed how a range of individual differences and characteristics can influence the formation of

perceptual deterrence factors (e.g., Jacobs, 2010; Loughran, Piquero, et al., 2012; Pogarsky, 2002) or

interact with them (Ray et al., 2020) to affect outcomes of interest. This merger of personality traits

with situational factors has the potential to bring distinct subdisciplines together toward theoretical

consilience (Wikstro¨m et al., 2017).

An individual characteristic that could influence the formation of perceptual deterrence is psy-

chopathic personality traits (PPTs). Prior research has illu strated that PPTs are associated with

reduced conditioning to aversive stimuli (punishment) and increased sensitivity to appetitive stimuli

(reward; Birbaumer et al., 2005; Rothemund et al., 2012). PPTs have also been found to affect risk

appraisal and learning mechanisms by inhibiting behavioral adjustment in response to stimuli

exposure—i.e., those with elevated PPTs may be less likely to learn from experience and update

their perceptions in response (Gregory et al., 2015; Rothemund et al., 2012). As such, past PPTs

likely exert long-term effects on future thinking and behavioral patterns, at least partially through

skewed perceptions of consequences, affecting a range of life course outcomes (Beaver et al., 2014;

Hare, 1996), including violent offending (Corrado et al., 2015). Given this background, PPTs appear

to play an integral role in information processing and learning from emotional experiences (Stillman

& Baumeister, 2010), such as discipline and punishment. This link potentially hinders the appro-

priate formation and development of risk perceptions in response to exposure to stimuli, posing

important implications for perceptual deterrence. Thus, assessing the mechanisms through which

individual traits such as PPTs affect offending addresses a gap in the literature regarding the effects

of distal developmental traits on outcomes of interest via more proximal situational factors.

Although there have been studies that separately assessed the links between PPTs, perceived risk,

and offending, the extant literature has yet to examine how PPTs influence offending through the

influence on perceptions of risk. The current study addressed this gap by evaluating the longitudinal

associations between PPTs, perception of arrest risk, and aggressive offending. Specifically, the

objective of the current study was to estimate the influence of PPTs on aggressive offending through

perceptions of risk during the transitional period from adolescence into emerging adulthood. It was

hypothesized that those with elevated levels of PPTs would exhibit decreased perceptions of risk and

increased aggressive offending. This line of research is important in three regards. First, with a

robust literature linking PPTs to longitudinal patterns of offending, and especially aggressive

offending, it is critical to understand the mechanisms through which PPTs influence offending over

time. Second, variation in features of deterrence, such as risk, exists across individuals. Research on

the formation of such variation informs the developmental pathways that link individual character-

istics to cognition and subsequent behavioral outcomes. Third, if the capacity to be deterred is

dependent on the ability to adequately perceive the risks of offending, then research on the link

between PPTs and risk may contribute to the research on the association between PPTs and

offending.

Rational Choice and Deterrence

Rational choice and deterrence theories offer a relatively straightforward explanation of offending:

as benefits begin to outweigh costs, offending becomes more likely (Pratt et al., 2006). Specifically,

rational choice theory relies on the assumption that individuals weigh the rewards of offending

against potential consequences. Although broadly defined, rewards typically encompass concepts

such as thrill, monetary gain, social status, and other perceived benefits. In contrast, risk entails a

combination of social costs or legal sanctions, which factor into the perceived certainty and severity

Altikriti et al. 403