Neurocriminological Contributions to a Multilevel Approach in Assessment of Personalities Associated with Extreme and Repetitive Violence: Comparing Single, Double, and Serial Killers in a Forensic Sample

• In Event: Environmental, Psychosocial and Neural Factors of Antisocial, Violent and Psychopathic Behaviors

Abstract

Empirical understanding of individuals characterized by extreme and repetitive violence is currently lacking. Recently, the application of a multimethod personality assessment approach to a case study of an incarcerated serial killer (Schug, 2021) has demonstrated the utility of considering multiple forms of data (i.e., observation, self-report measures, projective testing, and neuropsychological testing) in the conceptualization of personalities associated with repeat killings. To date, however, this approach has not been extended to comparisons among single, double, and serial killers; or to larger samples of these individuals. Forensic psychological evaluation data (clinical interviews and a comprehensive battery of psychological tests including measures of personality and neuropsychological functioning) from multiple examinees accused of homicide were utilized for the present study. Participants’ performance data will be compared using a biopsychosocially-oriented framework (i.e., “levels” of behavior, conscious cognitions, unconscious structure and function, and biology) with an eye for examining inter-level consistency. Implications for a “next wave” of serial killer research that moves beyond singular forms of assessment will be discussed, as will the potential contributions of neurocriminological methods to treatment and prevention applications related to individuals on the outermost end of the violence continuum.

Author

• Robert A. Schug, California State University, Long Beach