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J Reid Meloy

Publications and source records attributed to J Reid Meloy.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Characterizing aggressive behavior in a forensic population.

The concept of a dichotomous versus a continuous aggression model continues to be debated within the research literature. The Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale (IPAS; M. S. Stanford, R. J. Houston, C. W. Mathias, et al., 2003) is a newly developed self-report instrument designed to classify an individual's aggressive behavior as predominantly premeditated or predominantly impulsive. The IPAS consists of 30-items that are scored on a 5-point Likert scale. This study used a nonrandom sample of convenience (N = 85) from a forensic state hospital. Principal-components analysis of the 30 items revealed 2 distinct factors (Impulsive and Premeditated Aggression), which accounted for 33% of the variance. The results of this study further validate the bimodal classification of aggression through its application to a forensic sample. The implications for general assessment, diagnosis, and treatment are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The RECON typology of stalking: reliability and validity based upon a large sample of North American stalkers.

A new typology of stalking, RECON (relationship and context-based), is proposed, based upon the prior relationship between the pursuer and the victim, and the context in which the stalking occurs. The static typology yields four groups: Intimate, Acquaintance, Public Figure, and Private Stranger. The typology was tested on a large (N = 1005) nonrandom sample of North American stalkers gathered from prosecutorial agencies, a large police department, an entertainment corporation security department, and the authors' files. Interrater reliability for group assignment was 0.95 (ICC). Discriminant validity (p < 0.01) was demonstrated on a variety of demographic, clinical, pursuit, threat, and violence characteristics among and between groups. Findings confirm and extend the work of other researchers, most notably the very high risk of threats and violence among prior sexually intimate stalkers, the very low risk of threats and violence among public figure (celebrity) stalkers, and the negative relationship between stalking violence and psychosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Validation of the psychopathic personality inventory on a female inmate sample.

This investigation evaluated the construct validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996), a self-report measure designed to assess psychopathy. One hundred and two incarcerated females were administered the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT), an oral alcohol and drug screening measure, a demographic interview, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and the PPI. There were significant correlations among the PPI, MMPI-2 scales, and the PCL-R. In addition, the correlations between the PPI and the separate PCL-R factors were not significantly different from each other, indicating that the PPI is assessing both facets of the psychopathy construct to some extent. A high correlation between the PPI and the DSM-IV criteria, which assesses adult antisocial behaviors, revealed adequate concurrent validity. Nonsignificant or negligible correlations between the PPI and the MMPI-2 scales provided some support for discriminant validity. The results are discussed with respect to the clinical and forensic utility of the PPI, the limitations of the study, and the need for further research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The role of psychopathy and sexuality in a female serial killer.

The case of Aileen Wuornos, executed in Florida for the serial killing of seven men, is studied to determine her degree of psychopathy and the presence or absence of sexuality or sexual sadism as a motivation or gratification for her crimes. The authors, one of whom evaluated the subject shortly before her death, determined that she evidenced a psychopathic personality (PCL-R score 32). She also met DSM-IV-TR criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. While her killings ostensibly were carried out during routine acts of prostitution, there was ambiguous evidence that her crimes were sexually motivated or gratifying. Her articulated motivation was robbery and elimination of the witness/victim. After carefully considering all available data, the authors concluded there was no convincing evidence of sexual sadism in either her personal history or her method of committing serial murder, and it remains unclear whether sexual gratification was to some degree a motivating factor in her commission of these offenses. The confluence of early childhood attachment disruptions, severe psychopathy, other personality disorder pathology, and a traumagenic abuse history likely contributed to her having serially murdered seven victims.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Some thoughts on the neurobiology of stalking.

The authors examine the crime of stalking, including the cognitive traits, emotional reactions, attachment pathology, violence patterns and sex differences of samples of stalking offenders. They focus on two common types of stalkers: 1) those who sustain pursuit of a former sexual intimate who has rejected them; and 2) those who pursue a stranger or acquaintance who has failed to return the stalker's romantic overtures. The authors discuss data from neuroimaging (fMRI) studies of romantic love which suggest that these forms of stalking may be associated with heightened activity of subcortical dopaminergic pathways of the "Reward System" of the brain, perhaps in combination with low activity of central serotonin. The authors propose that this set of neural correlates may contribute to the stalker's focused attention, increased energy, following behaviors, obsessive thinking about and impulsivity directed toward the victim. To further explore the neural systems associated with stalking behavior, they also discuss several biopsychological phenomena associated with romantic rejection, including the "protest response," "frustration attraction," "abandonment rage" and "mate guarding." They illustrate the parallels between stalking and addiction. They conclude that stalking may be associated with a specific set of biological components and they offer suggestions for further research into this pathological emotional/motivational state.

Brain↗
PubMed2004

A comparative analysis of North American adolescent and adult mass murderers.

Thirty adult mass murderers and 34 adolescent mass murderers in North America are compared on both offender and offense variables to delineate similarities and differences. Findings indicate a plethora of psychiatric disturbances and odd/reclusive and acting-out personality traits. Predisposing factors include a fascination with weapons and war among many of the adolescents and the development of a "warrior mentality" in most of the adults. Precipitating factors indicate a major rejection or loss in the hours or days preceding the mass murder. Results are interpreted through the lens of threat assessment for targeted violence (Borum, Fein, Vossekuil, & Bergland 1999), recognizing that a fact-based, dynamic behavioral approach is most useful for mitigating risk of such an extremely low-base-rate violent crime.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Indirect personality assessment of the violent true believer.

The violent true believer is an individual committed to an ideology or belief system which advances homicide and suicide as a legitimate means to further a particular goal. The author explores useful sources of evidence for an indirect personality assessment of such individuals. He illustrates both idiographic and nomothetic approaches to indirect personality assessment through comparative analyses of Timothy McVeigh, an American who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian who led the airplane attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. The risks of indirect personality assessment and ethical concerns are identified.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed2004

A research review of public figure threats, approaches, attacks, and assassinations in the United States.

The authors review extant research on threats, approaches, attacks, and assassinations of public figures in the United States. Despite the limited number of studies, data exist concerning: 1) threatening letters and approaches to celebrities; 2) attacks and assassinations of public figures, usually the President of the United States; 3) threats and approaches to legislative members of state and federal governments; and 4) threats, approaches, and attacks against federal judicial officials. Similarities and differences across the various studies are discussed. Consistent findings across the studies indicate that direct threats toward the target are unusual and are often correlated negatively with an approach or attack; a significant proportion of subjects are mentally ill and have criminal histories; many subjects evidenced a downward spiral in their lives in the months or year before their approach or attack; and if an attack occurred, it was predatory (instrumental, premeditated) rather than affective (emotional, reactive), and the weapon of choice was a firearm, usually a handgun. Operational guidance and further research recommendations are made.

Criminal Psychology↗
PubMed2003

Female stalkers and their victims.

Demographic, clinical, and forensic data were gathered in an archival study of 82 female stalkers from the United States, Canada, and Australia. Female stalkers were predominantly single, heterosexual, educated individuals in their mid 30s who had pursued their victims for more than a year. Major mental disorder and personality disorder were suggested, especially borderline personality disorder. They usually threatened violence, and if they did threaten, were more likely to be violent. Frequency of interpersonal violence was 25 percent, but there was limited use of weapons, and injuries were minor. Stalking victims were most likely to be slightly older male acquaintances; but if the victim was a prior sexual intimate of the female stalker, her risk of being violent toward him exceeded 50 percent. Unlike male stalkers who often pursue their victims to restore intimacy, these female stalkers often pursued their victims to establish intimacy. Common emotions and motivations included anger, obsessional thoughts, rage at abandonment, loneliness, dependency, jealousy, and perceived betrayal. Results are interpreted from a clinical and risk management perspective.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

The "polymorphously perverse" psychopath: understanding a strong empirical relationship.

The relationship between psychopathy and sexual offending has been empirically established, but it is little understood. The author proposes nine explanations to provide a conceptual basis for this empirical relationship: (1) search polygyny, (2) callousness and a lack of empathy, (3) a lack of attachment or bonding, (4) sensation seeking as a product of chronic cortical underarousal, (5) grandiosity, (6) entitlement, (7) a predominance of part-object relations, (8) a high frequency of predatory violence, and (9) the leaving by consensual sex partners when the psychopathy is identified. These explanations, constructed from anthropological, psychobiological, attachment, psychoanalytic, and aggression research, find some direct and indirect empirical support in the extant literature. They contribute to understanding the "polymorphously perverse" sexuality of the psychopath.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed2002

Fiery tongues and mystical motivations: glossolalia in a forensic population is associated with mania and sexual/religious delusions.

Comparisons are made between a nonrandom sample of 18 glossolalists and 130 non-glossolalists admitted to a maximum-security forensic hospital. The glossolalic mentally disordered offender exhibited a predominance of diagnoses in the manic spectrum, and was typically psychotic. The delusions, hallucinations, and crimes were predominately of a religious and sexual nature. Glossolalist perpetrators tended to be female. We review the extant research on glossolalia in both normal and clinical samples. and integrate our findings, the first study of glossolalia in a forensic setting.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Spousal homicide and the subsequent staging of a sexual homicide at a distant location.

The case of a 63-year-old man who killed his 52-year-old wife and then staged a sexual homicide at a distant location is reported. A review of all evidence, a forensic psychological interview, and psychological testing indicated that the murder was the result of a narcissistic rage reaction during which the subject beat his wife to death with a paint can, a clothing iron, and a rock. He then drove her body to a field 87.3 miles away, and positioned it in a manner that exposed her breasts and her underwear. He turned himself into the police two days later. There is no controlled empirical research on staging, although this single case supports the criminal investigative theory that staging exists, and is done to deliberately mislead homicide investigations (Douglas et al., 1992).

Craniocerebral Trauma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Empirical basis and forensic application of affective and predatory violence.

The objective of this paper is to address the empirical basis and forensic application of a bimodal theory of violence. The definitions of affective and predatory violence, the relevant animal and clinical research, and the current empirical evidence in neurochemistry, neuropsychology and psychophysiology are reviewed. Forensic evidence for the relevance of this bimodal theory is investigated. An appropriate methodology for data gathering, and two observational measures along with one self-report measure are explicated. Integration of this bimodal theory into forensic practice is suggested. Affective and predatory modes of violence represent an empirically valid bimodal theory of violence, find application in forensic psychiatry, and scientifically deepen the understanding of discrete violent acts for both retrospective and prospective psychiatric and psychological investigations. This bimodal theory of violence should have a place in forensic psychiatric practice.

Affect↗