Dr. Salekin is the recently elected president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy (SSSP). The SSSP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of research in the field of psychopathic personality. They also aim to encourage education in fields that contribute to psychopathy research.
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Introduction to the Special Section: What Do We Know About the Psychophysiology of Child Psychopathy and Conduct Problems?
Dr. Salekin conducted an interview with students from the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy discussing his career and advice for students with interest in the field. Read more below!
SSSP Student board interview questions Background & research
Growing up in British Columbia, I was fortunate to attend Simon Fraser University for my undergraduate studies where I was exposed to psychologists conducting cutting-edge research on psychopathy. Robert Hare had produced a number of academically oriented graduate students who were in the early stages of their own academic careers. David Cox, one of Bob Hare’s first graduate students, was one of my professors. He had just completed a study on psychopathy with British bomb disposal experts in Northern Ireland. We talked about sensation seeking and its potential for good, but also harm. Stephen Hart (also a recent graduate student from Bob Hare’s lab) had initiated his post-doctorate studies at Simon Fraser University and was developing a clinical screening method for the assessment of psychopathy. David and Steve’s offices were just down the hall from mine and I was exposed to their work early on, including the development of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV; Hart, Cox, & Hare, 2005). James Ogloff (also at SFU) had completed one of the first treatment studies on psychopathy with Steven Wong and his experiences also had an impact on my eventual career path.
In the last few years, I have generated several papers on specifiers for Conduct Disorder (Salekin, 2016a, 2016b BJP; PD:TRT; Salekin Andershed, & Clark, 2018; HoP) and published an in-depth review paper -- titled “What do we know about psychopathic traits in children?” (Salekin, 2017; JCPP). I also co-edited a relatively new special issue on the topic of CD and psychopathic traits with Henrik Andershed (Salekin, Andershed, Batky, & Bontemps, 2018; JPBA). It is through this work that I hope to provide a better understanding of the various phenotypic expressions of Conduct Disorder (CD). I believe the variants of CD can look quite different depending on the set of psychopathic traits that accompany CD. Also, there can be various configurations and it will be important to keep in mind the potentially different compositions of the disorder. Allowing for the examination of a broad range of psychopathic traits (GM, CU, DI) to specify CD could shed light on different processes that underlie CD. It is my hope that this work will lead to further productivity with respect to innovative etiological studies and treatment programs. Our research team (along with others [e.g., Henrik Andershed. Olivier Colins, Kostas Fanti]) aims to fill some of these research gaps.
There are many routes to getting a career in academia. I spent a lot of time in libraries reading books about psychology and especially about psychopathy. One book which impacted me early on was the influential “Mask of Sanity.” Following my undergraduate training, I stepped into a graduate program in Clinical Psychology. I completed courses in Abnormal Psychology, Learning, Motivation, Social Psychology, Biological Psychology, Psychophysiology, Research Design, Personality, Ethics, Structured Interviewing, Forensic Psychology, Child Psychology, History, Personality Assessment, Multicultural, Psychometrics, and Statistics. I then completed comprehensive examinations. This training provided the necessary groundwork for clinical practice and research. I was exposed to a wide range of cases, but whenever possible, I asked to work with kids who had externalizing conditions such as Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. My graduate school mentor, Richard Rogers, was helpful in getting me further involved in clinical practice and research on this topic.
There are many. I think the most memorable experiences are when you make a discovery, see patients benefit in some way (often times in treatment studies). And, there are the stories that you hear while working in this area. In the detention centers in which we work, and in our University disruptive behavior clinic, our research team more frequently than expected encounters kids with elevated psychopathic traits. Many of them, with respect to their interpersonal style, are very engaging. My graduate students and I often process, and check the plausibility of the information they provide, via file information and other collateral sources. We find that while some of the stories they tell are true, many turn out to be fabrications. In the future
I hope there is an improvement realized in the mechanisms for psychopathy. Currently, there is still far too little known about the brain and how it operates with respect to psychopathy. And, we are not always clear about the regions of the brain implicated in behavioral, cognitive, or emotional deficits (lack of fear). This was recently poignantly illustrated by LeDoux (2013, 2014), who suggested that “fear circuitry” requires reconsideration noting that some of the fear processing likely occurs in the prefrontal cortex. Sylco Hoppenbrouwers, Berend Bulten, and Inti Brazil’s (2016) paper, like Smith and Liliendfeld’s (2015), has been influential in critically rethinking mechanisms. My hope is that in the next decade, these types of questions and subsequent research will improve what we know about the causes of psychopathy and correspondingly improve interventions. The largest gains in our field will likely be made if we examine the broader construct of psychopathy, its underpinning dimensions, and their relation to conduct disorder (CD) and potentially Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Tips for students
It can be helpful to obtain some experience with clinical assessment and diagnosis as well as experience with psychophysiological measurement. The field is likely to continue to examine the biological aspects of psychopathy (heart rate, skin conductance response, and neuroimaging) so work in this area could be important. I also believe it will be important to think about psychological processes, and how these processes, affect a variety of the biological mechanisms.
I had a satisfying undergraduate and graduate school experience. I had great mentors and did not experience many roadblocks. So probably just the usual roadblocks (e.g., delays getting a study started). I think if you acknowledge, and appreciate, those that are helpful to you, you likely will not face a lot of setbacks. When you do face setbacks, it is good to stay calm, and plan how you can solve the problem.
“The Mask of Sanity” (Cleckley, 1976) “Psychopathy: Theory and Research” (Hare, 1970)
“Without Conscience” (Hare, 1993) “The Handbook of Psychopathy” (2nd ed; Patrick, 2018)
“Educating the Human Brain” (Posner & Rothbart, 2006) “Mind and its Evolution” (Paivio, 2006) “Principles of Philosophy” (Decartes)
I don’t think so. I am pretty happy with my work.
I have had my share of successes with articles and funding, but our team also faces failures and misses. Recently, a graduate student of mine and I had a paper rejected from a premier psychology journal. I believe it is a really important piece of research, so this was disappointing, but it is part of the process. We will resubmit to another journal and hope for a better result. I suspect that eventually it will be published, and the information disseminated. Other comments or tips? Fully participate in, and enjoy, your graduate school experience. It is a fun ride and worth all, and every bit, of the effort! Ask the Expert: Dr Randall Salekin
by David Kosson on October 9, 2018 in Uncategorized Dr. Randall Salekin is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. Dr. Salekin has answered some questions on adolescence and psychopathic traits. 1. How did you get involved in the area of psychopathy research? Growing up in British Columbia, I was fortunate to be able to attend Simon Fraser University, where I was exposed to researchers conducting cutting edge studies on psychopathy. David Cox, one of Bob Hare’s first graduate students, was one of my professors. He had just finished a study with British bomb disposal experts in Northern Ireland, and Stephen Hart, who was on post-doc at Simon Fraser University (and also a recent graduate student from Bob Hare’s lab) was working on clinical interviewing methods for the assessment of psychopathy. David and Steve’s offices were just down the hall from mine, and fortuitously, I was exposed to their work, including the development of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). 2. Is it possible to identify psychopathic-like traits in adolescents? Can you give a brief description of these traits? I believe it is quite possible to identify psychopathic traits in children and adolescents although I think it is also important to keep in mind that they are only moderately stable during this stage. These traits include grandiose-manipulative characteristics (charm, arrogance), callous-uncaring traits (lack of remorse, lack of empathy), and daring impulsive features (risk-taking, proneness to boredom). Although some take issue with extending the construct to children, the condition has to have roots somewhere. However, like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD), there have been criticisms that the characteristics of the conditions are normative in children and adolescents. While these statements are, to an extent true, the aim of understanding personality pathology early is to determine when the traits are non-normative (for that age group) and then to provide some type of intervention or prevention that can reduce or eliminate the problem. Edward Barker and his colleagues (Barker et al., 2011) have noted prenatal risks that might be avoided to reduce the risk of psychopathy. 3. What type of interventions would you recommend for incarcerated adolescents with psychopathic-like traits? Although there is a long-standing belief that psychopathic individuals are not treatable, I have ar-gued that this is likely too pessimistic of a view. This does not mean that it is not difficult to treat, but rather that, if carefully tailored, the intervention could have some benefit. Several decades ago, Herbert Quay realized that you need to tailor the treatment to the individual. At the University of Miami, Quay designed a treatment for psychopathic youth that was able to accommodate their sensation seeking abilities. In this same vein, we have designed a treatment that is tailored to the specific sets of symptoms that they have. We contend that it is important to provide the youth with a little information about the potential mechanisms of psychopathic personality, and then focus on planning abilities and even some exercises that work on emotional processing of events. That said, there are probably other generic programs that would help reduce these symptoms (Family Functional Therapy, Multisystemic Therapy). 4. What are the challenges faced with providing intervention to youth with psychopathic-like traits? Although there has been some recent optimism about the treatment of psychopathy, I have learned that it is also important to acknowledge that there are barriers. Working with the youth them-selves can be difficult. Common barriers include motivation to change and potential deception and manipulation during therapy, as well as emotional deficits, and low levels of arousal which can lead to proneness to boredom. It would be naïve not to recognize these barriers. Treatment requires an extra level of thought regarding how to deal with the barriers. 5. Considering research is generally ahead of application in the field, what is one improvement in the field of psychopathy that you hope to see take place over the next five to ten years? I hope there is an improvement realized in the mechanisms for psychopathy. At present, there is still far too little known about the brain and how it operates with respect to psychiatric conditions. And we are not always clear about the regions of the brain implicated in deficits (lack of fear). This was recently illustrated by LeDoux (2013, 2014) who suggested that the fear circuitry needs to be reconsidered, noting that some of the fear processing likely occurs in the prefrontal cortex. Sylco Hoppenbrouwers, Berend Bulten, and Inti Brazil’s (2016) paper, like Smith and Lilienfeld’s (2015), has also been influential in critically rethinking mechanisms. My hope is that in the next decade, these types of questions and subsequent research will improve what we know about causes of psychopathy and correspondingly improve interventions. The largest gains will likely be made if we examine the broader construct of psychopathy and its underlying dimensions and their relation to Conduct Disorder and potentially Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). "The Bridge", a journal published by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, recently released an article featuring a discussion about Dr. Salekin's work and the traits underlying psychopathy, specifically how they relate to diagnosis and treatment. Read more here.
Salekin Lab helps youth to understand the science behind their behaviors. Read more here!
Dr. Salekin contributed to a recent Reader's Digest article that tackles the topic of psychopathic characteristics and how to possibly spot someone with these characteristics. Check out the full article here!
Read one of Dr. Salekin's recent articles that was published in The British Journal of Psychiatry here!
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