Psychopathy is described as a severe form of a personality disorder, which manifests itself in an antisocial, impulsive lifestyle and manipulative and egocentric interaction with the environment....Show morePsychopathy is described as a severe form of a personality disorder, which manifests itself in an antisocial, impulsive lifestyle and manipulative and egocentric interaction with the environment. Recent research has shown that psychopathy is associated with many risk factors. Important associated risk factors are ethnic background and having police contacts. According to several studies, ethnic background is an important risk factor for developing psychopathy, whereas psychopathy is a risk factor for police contacts. The role of psychopathic traits as a mediator between ethnic background and police contacts is researched. In the research, 390 twelve to eighteen year-olds with a Dutch or Moroccan ethnic background cooperated, of which 210 had a Dutch background and 180 a Moroccan background. Eight prevocational education schools (“vmbo”) and one secondary vocational education (“mbo”) school (1st grade) cooperated in the research. The participants filled out questionnaires. To measure the interaction between ethnic background, psychopathic traits and contact with the police, logistic regression is applied. There is a significant relation between psychopathic traits and police contacts. Participants with more psychopathic traits are more likely to have police contacts. The relations between ethnic background and police contacts, ethnic background and psychopathic traits could not be confirmed in this study. There is no significant difference between participants with a Dutch or Maroccan ethnic background in relation to psychopathic traits, nor in relation to police contacts. No mediation model was found, as the relation between ethnic background and contact with the police, controlled for psychopathic traits, is not significant. It can thus be concluded that psychopathic traits is an important factor, however it cannot explain the relationship between ethnic background and contact with the police.Show less
Aim. The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of Moroccan ethnicity on the relationship between implicit and explicit self-esteem and psychopathic traits among adolescents in...Show moreAim. The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of Moroccan ethnicity on the relationship between implicit and explicit self-esteem and psychopathic traits among adolescents in the age of 12 to 17 years old, when corrected for gender and SES. The results can underpin significant factors that influence the developmental pathways of psychopathic traits. Method. Thee-hundred and thirty-one lower secondary school children in the Netherlands of Dutch or Moroccan ethnicity filled in an anonymous digitized questionnaire. Measures used were the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (IPY), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SRES) and the Family Affluence Scale III (FAS III), as well as the Implicit Association Task–Self Esteem (IAT-self-esteem). Parents were asked permission for participation. The data was collected by convenience based sampling. Results. The research shows that Moroccan ethnicity influences the relationship between implicit, but not explicit self-esteem and psychopathic traits regardless of SES and gender. This is not the case for Dutch ethnicity. This research also shows that boys have a higher prevalence for psychopathic traits than girls. These finding shows no difference between low and high SES and psychopathic traits. Discussion. The study is a first step towards recognition of risk situations that influence the development of secondary psychopathic traits in Moroccan Adolescents. Although Moroccan adolescents seem to differ from Dutch peers regarding the developmental pathways of psychopathic traits, more research is required. To provide effective treatment programs future research should focus on the specific development of psychopathic traits in girls and ethnic minorities.Show less
