Michael Woodworth and Stephen Porter. (August 2002).
In Cold Blood: Characteristics of Criminal Homicides as a Function of Psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol.
111, No. 3, 436-445. Overview This study examined the correlation between psychopathy and the characteristics of criminal homicides committed by offenders. Problem “It was hypothesized that the homicides committed by psychopathic offenders would be more likely to be primarily instrumental (I. e.
, associated with premeditation, motivated by an external goal, and not preceded by a potent affective reaction) or “cold-blooded” in nature (Pg. 436).” However, homicides committed by non psychopaths often would be “crimes of passion” associated with a high level of impulsivity / reactivity and emotionality. Method A sample of 125 Canadian offenders were selected for the study. The entire sample was examined in two different ways. First, dual coding was used on a random selection of 21 offenders. These people were asked questions and scored a number of points depending on their responses.
All file information on these offenders were made available to the blind coder. Second, a set of 33 cases were randomly selected for dual coding. These cases were different because all details were not made available to the blind coder. Results The results confirmed the hypothesis; “homicides committed by psychopathic offenders were more instrumental than homicides by non psychopaths. Almost all (93. 3%) of the homicides by psychopaths were primarily instrumental in nature compared with 48.
The Term Paper on Female Young Offenders Females Males Percent
Dressed in a baggy T-shirt, cotton pants and runners with long wavy hair falling around her shoulders, she looks like an ordinary teenager. Yet because of her crime she spent her sweet sixteen birthday locked up in one of British Columbia's closed custody units for youth. Janice which is not her real name because the Young Offenders Act prohibits publication of a youths identity is incarcerated ...
4% of the homicides by non psychopaths (Pg. 436).” Conclusion The authors’ conclusions from their study went to prove what they believed to be the outcome. Nothing was found to be shocking or a surprise when reviewing the end results. I feel the authors conclusions “hit the nail right on the head.” From the start I agreed with their theory and while reading through the study, I became more engrossed with the findings. These conclusions / results are significant to my research because the data collected for this study makes a great outline to follow for future studies. Also, I am able to relate these methods and procedures to future studies as well..
