• DOI:10.1300/j173v07n01_11
• Corpus ID: 216088854

Predicting Dangerousness

@article{Mount2007PredictingD,
  title={Predicting Dangerousness},
  author={George R. Mount},
  journal={Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations},
  year={2007},
  volume={7},
  pages={131 - 133}
}

• G. Mount
• Published 6 March 2007
• Psychology
• Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations

Hostage negotiators, and law enforcement in general, are interested in obtaining information about the person they are dealing with that will help them better understand and deal with a crisis situation. One group of individuals who have a high risk for violence and other criminal behavior are known as psychopaths. Cleckley (1941) did one of the first definitive studies of this group. His definition consisted of 16 traits such as superficial charm and good intellectual functioning, not delusions or psychotic, not anxious, unreliable, lacking remorse, poor judgment, lack of insight, impersonal and shallow relationships, and the lack of any life plan. MacDonald (1963) proposed the clinical triad of fire setting, cruelty to animal, and bed wetting (enuresis) as indicators of psychopaths and serial killers. The relevant of these traits to serial killers has not met with much support but they are still considered to be part of the psychopath’s makeup. The “gold standard” for diagnosing psychopaths has been developed by Hare (2003) and his most recent publication is known as the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) 2nd edition. In his most recent