Chasing Youth Psychopathy: A Review of the Research

Reviews the book, Handbook of child and adolescent psychopathy edited by Randall T. Salekin and Donald R. Lynam (see record 2010-17970-000). This book is written from the developmental psychopathology paradigm and attempts to integrate the diverse and sometimes fragmented field of research in youth psychopathy. The edited volume pulls together discussions of research on conceptualization, assessment, etiology, comorbidity, treatment, and prognosis of child and adolescent psychopathy. The reviewer compares this handbook to the current literature in the field. The Handbook of child and adolescent psychopathy references classic literature in psychopathy, including that by Cleckly, Hare, Karpman, W. McCord, J. McCord, and Quay. The book claims to be a reference for a variety of practitioners, researchers, and students; however, the emphasis of all but one chapter (“Forensic Issues for Child and Adolescent Psychopathy”) is on a review of extant research and implications for future research. Furthermore, although there is great variability in the clarity of writing across chapters, most are written at a level that undergraduate students or professionals in other fields may find difficult. In sum, the book generally is an interesting read that includes a nice summary of the field as well as providing education regarding relatively recent research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)