Abstract
The present study evaluated how psychopathy interfaces with treatment involvement in predicting recidivism of a sample of individuals convicted of sexual offending (ISOs). The sample comprised offenders who were civilly committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC) and who were released and followed between 2 and 25 years. Attempts to treat psychopathy have met with mixed results, and there is significant controversy about the efficacy of treating individuals high on psychopathic traits. Redacted, de-identified treatment clinical files of 218 offenders were rated on multiple aspects of treatment including engagement in therapy and resistance to therapy to evaluate their relations with psychopathic characteristics. These offenders had been rated on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) as part of a prior grant. We found that the Affective facet of the PCL-R had the most disruptive effects on the engagement in and resistance to treatment. Moreover, offenders high in specific psychopathic facets who evidence the greatest therapeutic engagement and lowest therapeutic resistance had lower recidivism rates than those who were less compliant with therapy programs. In contrast, offenders high in psychopathy who reported low therapeutic engagement and high therapeutic resistance had higher recidivism rates. Finally, PCL-R facets evidenced more predictive validity in predicting both treatment involvement and recidivism rates in those offending against adults than children.