Women and Girls with Psychopathic Characteristics

This chapter examines the utility of, and evidence for, extending psychopathy, both as a construct and as a risk assessment tool, to female populations. It discusses gender differences in relation to psychopathy and other personality disorders, risk exposure, and gender‐role socialization to understanding the expression of psychopathy among females. Research points to important gender differences in manifestations of personality pathology and personality traits; it provides insight into how biological and psychosocial gender differences might alter the appearance of psychopathic characteristics in females versus males. The chapter reviews the body of research assessing psychopathy in females via the psychopathy checklist‐revised and its descendants, with an eye toward detecting measurement bias and the potential for construct drift. Finally, it considers whether psychopathy may be a useful risk marker for serious forms of aggression and antisocial behavior among women and girls, and whether such information can inform decision‐making in clinical‐forensic settings.