Early release too easy for psychopaths

'True predators' 2.5 times more likely to gain parole, study shows
Tom Spears, The Ottawa Citizen

Canada's prisons are granting early release to psychopaths two-and-a-half times more often than they grant it to other criminals, a group of psychologists says.

Psychopaths can charm and manipulate their way past even a veteran prison or parole official, says Steve Porter. And the University of British Columbia psychologist wants special training for corrections officers to spot the weasel words and crocodile tears.
His study looked at 310 male criminals in Canadian prisons who applied for early release. All had served at least two years, most for violent crimes. Ninety of the 310 were classed as psychopathic.
Mr. Porter found psychopaths were about 2.5 times more likely to receive conditional release than undiagnosed offenders. (Psychopathic sex offenders were 2.43 times more likely to get out of jail early, while psychopaths imprisoned for non-sexual offences were 2.79 times more likely to get out early.)

Psychopaths are characterized by their outward charm and pathological lying, along with lack of genuine guilt and remorse.
"Despite their long and diverse criminal records and much higher risk posed to the community, psychopaths appear to be able to convince decision-makers throughout the correctional system that they can be reintegrated in-to society successfully," he wrote. "Psychopathic individuals are often remarkable actors known for their ability to charm and manipulate others."

"I don't want to pick on the (National) Parole Board," Mr. Porter said in an interview. "The parole board gets all kinds of information -- therapy reports and case management reports and so on. So psychopaths are probably putting on a good show for everyone."

The catch is that no treatment works for these men. They are far more likely to commit new offences than other criminals who are released.
"They are true predators," he says.

In fact, he believes, treatment may actually help them commit new crimes: It "may even teach them valuable lessons in how to identify vulnerable victims, and how to appear remorseful for their crimes and look successfully rehabilitated."

The problem, Mr. Porter argues, is that people are lousy at spotting liars.

"They can wear a mask that makes them appear very normal to the world," he said. "There's nothing about the appearance, and nothing obvious about the language of psychopaths, that will tip you off.

"Further, we need to acknowledge that psychopathy is largely unchangeable. It isn't possible to miraculously create a conscience in adults who have not had a conscience previously. It's the cold, hard truth."

Mr. Porter suggests training parole and prison staff in psychopathic personality and in detecting deception, especially in emotional displays.

"The trained observer can spot fake emotions, but it does not come naturally to most professionals."

The study is published in a research journal called Legal and Criminological Psychology. A co-author, Bob Hare of UBC, also wrote the popular book Snakes in Suits, about psychopaths in the business world.

In chilling parallel research, the Porter team recently found that psychopaths "possess an astonishing ability" to remember sad women in low-paying jobs, more than they remember people in higher-status professions and men in general -- "a kind of predatory memory."