Enfoque
Introduction: In 1996, at the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization declared violence one of the biggest public health problems globally. In these days, the penitentiary system is facing new challenges regarding the typology of detainees and their needs concerning the facilitation of the social reintegration process. For a real intervention aimed at reducing the risk of recidivism, it is necessary to understand fundamental risk factors, such as psychopathy.
Methodology: In this research, the dimensions of psychopathy are analyzed through case studies, 3 inmates from a Romanian penitentiary convicted of crime committed with physical violence (robbery), mental violence (illegal deprivation of liberty) and sexual violence (rape) are selected after obtaining informed consent. The research methods are investigation, observation and applying psychological tests. The research techniques involve analysis of documents contained in the penitentiary file, instruments such as Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, Short Dark Triad, Aggression Questionnaire applied in order to identify the psychopathic traits and semi-structured interview on the commission of crimes and their adaptation to the penitentiary environment.
Discussion: From psychoanalytic theories, it is known that violent individuals perceive the world as a threatening place. Due to their hostile interpretation of the world, a violent person has a limited range of options for solving problems and face actual difficulties (disorganized attachment). Violent behavior is determined by a person’s mental representation of himself or others, by desires and motivations rooted in the experience of trauma. Additionally, a learned style of relating to others can underpin the manifestation of aggressive behavior. In the penitentiary, however, the antisocial elements specific to the psychopath facilitate the inmate’s integration and the easy identification of methods through which, in the absence of violent manifestations (characteristic of them in the non-custodial environment), he achieves his short and medium-term objectives.
Results: A detainee with a high level of psychopathy, through charm, manipulation ability and versatility does not pose adaptation problems in the penitentiary environment. On the contrary, such a detainee obtains rewards according to the legal system and participates successfully in social reintegration activities, often meeting the legal criteria to be proposed by the commission for conditional release before the end of the sentence. In clinical evaluation, elements such as the lack of guilt, remorse for the committed act and empathy with the victim are identified with difficulty. These are the premises from which psychotherapeutic intervention should start to adapt this personality structure to a socially desirable context.
Conclusion: The association between psychopathy and violent crime stops at the commission of the illegal act. After incarceration, these inmates minimize the seriousness of their deeds and use their psychopathic traits to adapt to the prison environment.
