The Utility of Physiological Measures in Assessing the Empathic Skills of Incarcerated Violent Offenders
| Autor: | Julie Palix, Milena Abbiati, Dominique Marcot, Ahmad Abu-Akel, Valérie Moulin, Elise S. Dan-Glauser, Christopher Hasler, Christine Mohr, Jacques Gasser |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Psychometrics media_common.quotation_subject Empathy Pathology and Forensic Medicine violence 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) offenders Humans Heart rate variability Applied Psychology media_common Prisoners 050901 criminology 05 social sciences heart rate variability Articles Criminals Aggression RMSSD empathy 0509 other social sciences Psychology 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Clinical psychology |
| Zdroj: | International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, vol. 66, no. 1, pp. 98-122 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology |
| Popis: | Since lack of empathy is an important indicator of violent behaviors, researchers need consistent and valid measures. This study evaluated the practical significance of a potential physiological correlate of empathy compared to a traditional self-report questionnaire in 18 male violent offenders and 21 general population controls. Empathy skills were assessed with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) questionnaire. Heart-Rate Variability (HRV) was assessed with an electrocardiogram. The RMSSD (Root Mean Square of the Successive beat-to-beat Differences), an HRV index implicated in social cognition, was calculated. There were no group differences in IRI scores. However, RMSSD was lower in the offender group. Positive correlations between RMSSD and IRI subscales were found for controls only. We conclude that psychometric measures of empathy do not discriminate incarcerated violent offenders, and that the incorporation of psychophysiological measures, such as HRV, could be an avenue for forensic research on empathy to establish translatable evidence-based information. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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