Patients with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are deceptive, apathetic, and impulsive. Their social behavior is often inappropriate, and they fail to follow social norms, leading to frequent criminal behavior. Understanding the neural correlates of ASPD could alleviate issues for the patients, such as unstable living conditions, as well as financial costs for the justice system and society. Due to previous research and theoretical implications of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and its role in emotion-regulation and decision-making, it is likely that ASPD patients would show differences in the PFC relative to healthy individuals. Therefore, emphasis is placed on this region. By systematically reviewing articles which used fMRI to examine ASPD patients, this paper aims to understand if the brain activity in the PFC or functional connectivity within these regions differs between ASPD patients and healthy controls. Decreased activity was found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) in ASPD patients compared to healthy controls. Further, decreased functional connectivity was found in the frontoparietal control network, default modenetwork, and attentional network. Other prefrontal regions implicated include the medial frontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex. Most of these regions are important for cognitive control, enabling integration of information regarding, e.g., errors and conflict. Abnormal processing of such information can lead to the impulsive or inappropriate actions often seen in ASPD patients. The PFC seems to play an important functional role in ASPD, mainly the regions responsible for cognitive control, such as the ACC and dlPFC.

Psychopathy is a frequently reported personality trait among violent offenders, and psychopaths have a higher rate of recidivism than inmates without psychopathic features. This systematic review aimed to investigate whether structural brain differences, measured with magnetic resonance imaging, are observed in violent offenders with psychopathy compared to violent offenders without psychopathy or healthy non-violent controls. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search utilised the academic databases Web of Science and Medline EBSCO and included original peer-reviewed articles written in English and published between 2013 and 2023. Seven articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected for the review. The findings indicated that there are structural differences between violent psychopaths compared to non-violent psychopaths and healthy controls, such as reduced grey matter volume in the prefrontal cortical areas, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, and striatal and limbic regions. Further, the degree of structural brain differences in psychopaths correlated with the degree of psychopathic traits. The structural differences found in the brains of violent psychopaths can provide insight into the neurobiological basis and neural mechanisms of psychopathy and elucidate how changes in brain morphology relate to antisocial behaviour and psychopathic personality traits. In addition, the evidence of structural abnormalities in the brain of psychopaths may help develop targeted treatments that could reduce the risk of psychopathic individuals turning to crime and violence or committing repeated violent crimes.

This study investigated whether a defendant?s history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and/or personality disorder (PD) diagnosis affected juror decision-making in a child sexual abuse trial. The personality disorders in the study were borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (APD). Participants were 186 college students who read a summary of the trial and then made various juror decisions. The defendant?s CSA history, alone or combined with PD diagnosis, did not affect guilt ratings or sentence recommendations, indicating that jurors did not automatically assume that a defendant who had been abused as a child was guilty (as an adult) of being an abuser. However, when the defendant had a PD diagnosis, there were higher guilt ratings than when there was no PD diagnosis. PD diagnosis was the best predictor of guilt ratings, suggesting that jurors perceive defendants more negatively if they have borderline or antisocial personality disorder.

Background and Aims: Executive dysfunction is pervasive in substance-dependent individuals (Verdejo-García, Bechara, Recknor, & Perez-Garcia, 2006). As many as four-fifths of individuals in treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) have co-existing lifetime psychopathology. Executive function deficits are tied to markers of decreased quality of life including increases in negative life events (Green, Kern, Braff, & Mintz, 2000), maladaptive social functioning (Kurtz, Moberg, Ragland, Gur, & Gur, 2005) and worsened treatment outcomes (Czuchry & Dansereau, 2003). Despite evidence of executive dysfunction across several mental disorders, few studies investigate how the co-occurrence of psychopathologies in SUDs impacts executive functioning. Methods: Here, we compare measures of executive function (i.e., the Iowa Gambling Test, Letter Number Sequencing Test, Stroop Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Continuous Performance Test, Towers Test, and Delay Discounting Test) in individuals with a) substance use disorder, b) substance use disorder and co-occurring major depressive disorder, c) substance use disorder and co-occurring antisocial personality disorder, d) substance use disorder and co-occurring major depressive disorder and antisocial personality disorder and e) no substance use disorder or co-occurring psychopathology. Results: Regression models of respective executive function measure outcomes as a function of education, income, age, and group membership indicated that the Delay Discounting Test and Continuous Performance Test were the only significant overall models (F(4, 313) = 12.699, p < 0.001 and F(4, 307) = 2.659, p = 0.033, respectively). Conclusions: Overall the Delay Discounting Test and Continuous Performance Test were the most sensitive to differences between substance use and psychopathology profiles assessed. / Master of Science

Introdução: A psicopatia sempre foi associada a comportamentos imorais e frieza emocional, além de risco de reincidência criminal. Embora a frieza dos psicopatas seja bem estabelecida, não há consenso sobre o nível de discernimento moral desses indivíduos, existindo teorias propondo que eles não apresentam desenvolvimento moral adequado enquanto outras propõem que o que lhes falta é querer agir, não saber discernir o certo do errado. Já quando analisamos a relação entre essas três variáveis, psicopatia, imoralidade e frieza, os dados são ainda mais díspares, não existindo consenso sobre a necessidade ou não da presença de emoções para o amadurecimento moral. O estudo de sujeitos infratores encarcerados é interessante nesse contexto, uma vez que permite o controle de variáveis de confusão envolvidas nessa inter-relação, como influências ambientais, vivência criminal, grau de psicopatia, uso de drogas e QI. Em se tratando de jovens infratores, há ainda a vantagem de se estudar uma amostra homogênea quanto à idade. Objetivos: Verificar se existe correlação entre os níveis de maturidade moral e os graus de frieza emocional e de psicopatia, tomando por base uma população de jovens em medida sócio-educativa de internação na Fundação Casa. Adicionalmente, verificar a capacidade de previsão de reincidência da tradução brasileira do PCL-R. Esperou-se correlação inversa significante entre o escore da Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) e reatividade autonômica e nível de julgamento moral. Quanto a estas duas últimas variáveis, estabelecemos como hipótese a independência entre ambas. Acreditamos ainda que infratores reincidentes iriam diferir de primários no grau de psicopatia. Métodos: Trinta jovens em medida sócio-educativa foram submetidos a avaliação: a) do grau de psicopatia com a escala PCL-R, separando fator 1 (ligado às relações interpessoais e frieza) e fator 2 (ligado a estilo de vida criminal, comportamentos antissociais); b) do nível de maturidade moral com o Socio-moral Objective Measure (SROM-SF); c) da frieza emocional, refletida na resposta psicofisiológica aferida pela atividade elétrica da pele (AEP) diante de estímulos visuais eliciadores de respostas afetivas provenientes do International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Resultados: Encontrou-se relação direta entre o fator 1 do PCL-R e a latência de resposta autonômica (teste de Spearman, p<0,005), e entre o fator 2 e o maior controle vagal (teste de Spearman, p<0,005). Não houve correlação entre a maturidade moral e o nível de psicopatia (teste de Spearman, p>0,05) ou frieza emocional (teste de Spearman, p>0,05). Os escores no PCL-R diferenciaram as populações de reincidentes e primários (teste t, p=0,0006). Conclusões: Conforme previsto, houve relação significativa entre o grau de psicopatia e a frieza emocional psicofisiologicamente aferida pela AEP. Além disso, a previsão de independência entre AEP e julgamento moral também se confirmou. Diferentemente da hipótese inicial, o grau de psicopatia não apresentou correlação com o nível de julgamento moral. Adicionalmente, verificou-se que a tradução brasileira do PCL-R demonstrou consistência ao prever a reincidência criminal na amostra estudada. / Background: Psychopathy has always been associated with immoral behavior and callousness. Although the latter characteristic is well established for psychopaths, there is no consensus regarding the level of moral discernment of these individuals: some theories suggest that they lack appropriate moral development, whilst others, that they lack only the willing to act properly. Regarding the relationship of these three variables - psychopathy, immorality and callousness - data is even less consistent. Thus, it is important to investigate incarcerated offenders, since studies with such population allow one to control for variables that may confound this inter-relationship, such as environmental influences, criminal experience, psychopathy, drug use and IQ. The investigation of juvenile offenders has additional advantages, as they form a homogeneous sample regarding age. Objectives: To verify the correlation between level of moral judgment, callousness and psychopathy in juvenile offenders incarcerated in Fundação Casa. We also wished to verify the risk prediction of the Brazilian version of the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). We expected to find inverse correlations between PCL-R scores and electrodermal activity and moral judgment level. Regarding the last two variables, we expected that they should be independent from each other. Finally, we expected that primary offenders would be different from recidivist ones. Methods: Thirty incarcerated young offenders were evaluated regarding: a) the degree of psychopathy according with scores on the scale PCL-R, split between factor 1 (which reflects interpersonal relationships and coldness) and factor 2 (reflecting criminal lifestyle, antisocial behaviors), b) level of moral judgment level as assessed with the Socio-moral Objective Measure-Short Form (SROM-SF), c) emotional callousness as measured through psychophysiological responses (electrodermal activity EDA) to visual stimuli from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS). Results: We found a direct relationship between factor 1 of the PCL-R and latency of EDA response (Spearman test, p<0,005), and between factor 2 and greater vagal control (Spearman test, p<0,005). No significant relationship was found between moral maturity and level of psychopathy or callousness (Spearman test, p>0,05). PCL-R scores were able to distinguish primary from recidivist offenders (t test, p=0,0006). Conclusions: As predicted, there was a significant correlation between psychopathy levels and callousness as measured through EDA. Moreover, we also confirmed the prediction that there would be no relationship between EDA and moral judgment. However, different from what we expected, psychopathy level did not show any significant relationship with moral judgment. Additionally, it was found that the Brazilian version of the PCL-R demonstrated consistency in predicting recidivism in the sample studied.

Introdução: A psicopatia sempre foi associada a comportamentos imorais e frieza emocional, além de risco de reincidência criminal. Embora a frieza dos psicopatas seja bem estabelecida, não há consenso sobre o nível de discernimento moral desses indivíduos, existindo teorias propondo que eles não apresentam desenvolvimento moral adequado enquanto outras propõem que o que lhes falta é querer agir, não saber discernir o certo do errado. Já quando analisamos a relação entre essas três variáveis, psicopatia, imoralidade e frieza, os dados são ainda mais díspares, não existindo consenso sobre a necessidade ou não da presença de emoções para o amadurecimento moral. O estudo de sujeitos infratores encarcerados é interessante nesse contexto, uma vez que permite o controle de variáveis de confusão envolvidas nessa inter-relação, como influências ambientais, vivência criminal, grau de psicopatia, uso de drogas e QI. Em se tratando de jovens infratores, há ainda a vantagem de se estudar uma amostra homogênea quanto à idade. Objetivos: Verificar se existe correlação entre os níveis de maturidade moral e os graus de frieza emocional e de psicopatia, tomando por base uma população de jovens em medida sócio-educativa de internação na Fundação Casa. Adicionalmente, verificar a capacidade de previsão de reincidência da tradução brasileira do PCL-R. Esperou-se correlação inversa significante entre o escore da Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) e reatividade autonômica e nível de julgamento moral. Quanto a estas duas últimas variáveis, estabelecemos como hipótese a independência entre ambas. Acreditamos ainda que infratores reincidentes iriam diferir de primários no grau de psicopatia. Métodos: Trinta jovens em medida sócio-educativa foram submetidos a avaliação: a) do grau de psicopatia com a escala PCL-R, separando fator 1 (ligado às relações interpessoais e frieza) e fator 2 (ligado a estilo de vida criminal, comportamentos antissociais); b) do nível de maturidade moral com o Socio-moral Objective Measure (SROM-SF); c) da frieza emocional, refletida na resposta psicofisiológica aferida pela atividade elétrica da pele (AEP) diante de estímulos visuais eliciadores de respostas afetivas provenientes do International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Resultados: Encontrou-se relação direta entre o fator 1 do PCL-R e a latência de resposta autonômica (teste de Spearman, p<0,005), e entre o fator 2 e o maior controle vagal (teste de Spearman, p<0,005). Não houve correlação entre a maturidade moral e o nível de psicopatia (teste de Spearman, p>0,05) ou frieza emocional (teste de Spearman, p>0,05). Os escores no PCL-R diferenciaram as populações de reincidentes e primários (teste t, p=0,0006). Conclusões: Conforme previsto, houve relação significativa entre o grau de psicopatia e a frieza emocional psicofisiologicamente aferida pela AEP. Além disso, a previsão de independência entre AEP e julgamento moral também se confirmou. Diferentemente da hipótese inicial, o grau de psicopatia não apresentou correlação com o nível de julgamento moral. Adicionalmente, verificou-se que a tradução brasileira do PCL-R demonstrou consistência ao prever a reincidência criminal na amostra estudada. / Background: Psychopathy has always been associated with immoral behavior and callousness. Although the latter characteristic is well established for psychopaths, there is no consensus regarding the level of moral discernment of these individuals: some theories suggest that they lack appropriate moral development, whilst others, that they lack only the willing to act properly. Regarding the relationship of these three variables - psychopathy, immorality and callousness - data is even less consistent. Thus, it is important to investigate incarcerated offenders, since studies with such population allow one to control for variables that may confound this inter-relationship, such as environmental influences, criminal experience, psychopathy, drug use and IQ. The investigation of juvenile offenders has additional advantages, as they form a homogeneous sample regarding age. Objectives: To verify the correlation between level of moral judgment, callousness and psychopathy in juvenile offenders incarcerated in Fundação Casa. We also wished to verify the risk prediction of the Brazilian version of the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). We expected to find inverse correlations between PCL-R scores and electrodermal activity and moral judgment level. Regarding the last two variables, we expected that they should be independent from each other. Finally, we expected that primary offenders would be different from recidivist ones. Methods: Thirty incarcerated young offenders were evaluated regarding: a) the degree of psychopathy according with scores on the scale PCL-R, split between factor 1 (which reflects interpersonal relationships and coldness) and factor 2 (reflecting criminal lifestyle, antisocial behaviors), b) level of moral judgment level as assessed with the Socio-moral Objective Measure-Short Form (SROM-SF), c) emotional callousness as measured through psychophysiological responses (electrodermal activity EDA) to visual stimuli from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS). Results: We found a direct relationship between factor 1 of the PCL-R and latency of EDA response (Spearman test, p<0,005), and between factor 2 and greater vagal control (Spearman test, p<0,005). No significant relationship was found between moral maturity and level of psychopathy or callousness (Spearman test, p>0,05). PCL-R scores were able to distinguish primary from recidivist offenders (t test, p=0,0006). Conclusions: As predicted, there was a significant correlation between psychopathy levels and callousness as measured through EDA. Moreover, we also confirmed the prediction that there would be no relationship between EDA and moral judgment. However, different from what we expected, psychopathy level did not show any significant relationship with moral judgment. Additionally, it was found that the Brazilian version of the PCL-R demonstrated consistency in predicting recidivism in the sample studied.

When society is viewed in a social constructive manner, the social worker is as affected as the general population by the media and the image it portrays. A prejudice or bias social worker will not be as effective in his work as his intentions are. The purpose of this thesis was to discover if there are any visible cultural differences in the usage and description of the concept of psychopathy or a psychopath himself in the media, more specifically, daily newspapers. There are three American newspapers and three Swedish newspapers examined in this study. The study is based on a quantiative content analysis of articles published between 1st of January 2008 and 1st of July 2012. The collected data is categorized where the articles can fall under one or more of five available categories. Even though no clear results occurred, some interesting indications are visible between American newspapers and Swedish newspapers, but more so between different American newspapers. Psychopaths, people with an Antisocial Personality Disorder, are most frequently mentioned as criminals or maniacs/madmen in both countries with a modestly higher percentage for the United States of America. / När samhället blir sett ur ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv, blir socialarbetaren lika påverkad som den övriga populationen av den bild som media förmedlar och framställer. En fördomsfull eller partisk socialarbetare kommer inte att uppnå den effektivitet i sin profession som syftet med yrket innebär. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka eller upptäcka om det finns några synliga kulturella skillnader i bruket och beskrivningen av psykopati som begrepp eller psykopaten som person i media, mer specifikt dagstidningar. I den här studien ingår tre amerikanska dagstidningar och tre svenska dagstidningar. Studien är baserad på en kvantitativ innehållsanalys av artiklar publicerade mellan 1:a januari 2008 och 1:a juli 2012. Den insamlade data är kategoriserad där varje artikel kan falla under en eller flera av fem förekommande kategorier. Även om det inte går att utläsa några tydliga resultat, föreligger indikationer som kan vara av intresse mellan amerikanska dagstidningar och svenska dagstidningar, men dessa är tydligare mellan de olika amerikanska dagstidningarna. Psykopater, människor som har en antisocial personlighetsstörning, beskrivs mestadels som kriminella eller galningar/dårar i båda ländernas dagstidningar med en viss högre procentuell representation vad gäller USA.

Inledning: I föreliggande litteraturstudie analyseras tre kvantitativa studier somundersökt sambanden mellan objektrelationer och antisocial personlighetsstörningoch psykopati hos kriminella män. Målgruppen överensstämmer väl med personermed kriminell livsstil. Föreliggande uppsats syftar till att utifrån den samladekunskapen öka förståelsen för de omedvetna emotionella processerna hospersoner med kriminell livsstil. En ökad förståelse antas kunna bidra till bättreanpassad behandling för målgruppen. Frågeställningar: Vilka objektrelationer finns hos livsstilskriminella män? Hurkan en större förståelse inom området bidra till bättre anpassade interventionerför målgruppen? Metod: Studierna har inkluderats genom databassökning och analyserats genomtematisering där generella och specifika aspekter av objektrelationer hosmålgruppen identifierats. Resultat: Resultatet visar att målgruppen generellt har enpersonlighetsorganisation på borderlinenivå. Specifikt är egocentrism denintrapsykiska aspekt som är mest karaktäristisk. Interventioner som visat sigframgångsrika med andra former av personlighetsstörningar inom kluster B antasvara användbara för målgruppen. Diskussion: Vidare forskning behövs om hur målgruppens egocentrism skahanteras i den terapeutiska situationen. Psykoedukativa inslag om egocentrismantas kunna bidra till att klienten idealiserar denna kunskap, vilket kan vändas tillett intresse för det egna inre. / Introduction: In this literature study, the relationships between objectrelationships and antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy among criminalswas analysed. The aim is to increase the understanding of the unconsciousemotional processes of people with a criminal lifestyle. An increasedunderstanding is believed to contribute to better tailored interventions for thetarget group. Issues: What object relations are found in men with a criminal lifestyle? How cana greater understanding in the area contribute to better tailored interventions forthe target group? Methods: The studies have been included through database search and examinedthrough thematization. General and specific aspects of object relations wereidentified. Results: The result shows that the target group generally has a personalityorganization at borderline level. Specifically, egocentrism is the characteristicaspect. Interventions that have proved to be successful with other personalitydisorders within cluster B are believed to be useful to the target group. Discussion: Further research is needed to examine how egocentrism should behandled in the therapeutic situation. Psycho-educative elements aboutegocentrism are believed to help the client idealize this knowledge and turn it intoan interest in his own mental states.

O propósito deste trabalho é investigar a natureza das pesquisas que tem como objeto o Transtorno de Personalidade Antissocial e o Comportamento Criminoso no Brasil. Partimos da hipótese de que nestas pesquisas há uma tendência a atribuir a fatores endógenos os motivos que fazem com que o crime seja cometido, excluindo a dimensão histórica. Centramo-nos na produção científica, pois entendemos que a ciência responde às necessidades objetivas de cada época e, sobretudo, pelo fato de que ela não é alheia aos processos postos em desenvolvimento pela totalidade social, sendo um elemento valioso para a compreensão da sociedade em que é produzida. Foram selecionados no Banco de Teses da CAPES os resumos de teses de doutorado e de dissertações de mestrado identificados a partir dos descritores Comportamento Criminoso, Transtorno de Personalidade Antissocial e Psicopatia. A amostra consistiu em 47 resumos, sendo nove teses de doutorado e 36 dissertações de mestrado. Destes 47 resumos, foram escolhidos dois para o estudo da pesquisa completa. O procedimento adotado foi a análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicaram a existência de duas tendências importantes. A primeira, monadológica, demonstra que nestas pesquisas o crime e a criminalidade foram relacionados a fatores individuais. Implicada nesta tendência foi possível verificar que: a. o comportamento criminoso foi associado, frequentemente, a alterações anatômicas e/ou funcionais do cérebro; b. há uma tendência a associar o crime ao diagnóstico de Transtorno de Personalidade Antissocial; c. há o desenvolvimento e a validação de instrumentos voltados para a identificação de indivíduos supostamente predispostos a cometer crimes. A segunda tendência, menos expressiva numericamente, mas também importante, é a economicista. A centralidade destes trabalhos está na correlação entre problemas econômicos e o aumento ou diminuição nos índices de criminalidade. Nestes casos, a ênfase recai em aspectos microeconômicos, não havendo referência aos fatores estruturais do modo de produção. Também houve trabalhos que desenvolveram críticas vigorosas à tendência monadológica. Isto indica a existência de um potencial de resistência a ela. O referencial teórico-metodológico é a Teoria Crítica da Sociedade, particularmente os escritos de Theodor Adorno / Investigating the nature of researches that aims the Antisocial Personality Disorder and Criminal Behavior in Brazil is the scope of this study. We came from the hypothesis that there is a tendency in these studies which assign to endogenous factors the reasons for crimes to be committed, not including the historical dimension. We focused on scientific production because we understand that science responds to the objective needs of each epoch, and especially by the fact that it is not indifferent to the processes that are put into action by the social totality, being so a valuable element to understanding the society in which it is formed. PhD theses abstracts and MSc dissertations, identified from the descriptors Criminal Behavior, Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy were selected in the CAPES Bank of Theses. The sample consisted of 47 abstracts, nine PhD theses and 36 MSc dissertations. Out of these 47 abstracts we have selected two for the study of full research. The procedure adopted was content analysis. The results pointed to the existence of two important tendencies. The first one, monadological, shows in those researches that crime and criminality were related to individual factors. Implicated in this tendency, it was also observed that: a. criminal behavior has been often associated with anatomical and/or functional changes in the brain; b. there is a tendency to associate crime to the diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder, c. there is the development and validation of instruments intended to identify individuals predisposed to supposedly commit crimes. The second tendency, less significant numerically, but also important, is the economistic. The centrality of these studies is in the correlation between economic problems and the increase or decrease in crime rates. In these cases, the emphasis is on microeconomic aspects, there is no reference to structural factors of the production mode. There have also been studies that developed vigorous criticism to the monadological tendency. It indicates the existence of a potential for resistance to it. The theoretical-methodological framework is the Critical Theory of Society, particularly the writings of Theodor Adorno

Introdução: A prática de atos infracionais e comportamento antissocial entre jovens podem estar associados a traços psicopáticos constitucionais (primários) ou ambientais (secundários) presentes no desenvolvimento desses indivíduos. O comportamento antissocial também está associado com a resposta autonômica diminuída diante de estímulos com saliência emocional. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar as diferenças de traços psicopáticos primários e secundários entre jovens infratores e jovens da comunidade com nível socioeconômico semelhante. Foi também objetivo a comparação dos padrões de resposta autonômica frente a estímulos visuais agradáveis, neutros e desagradáveis entre os grupos. Métodos: A escala Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) foi utilizada para identificar se jovens infratores do sexo masculino, que cumpriam medida socioeducativa de internação nas unidades da Fundação Centro de Atendimento Socioeducativo ao Adolescente (CASA) em São Paulo, apresentavam diferenças na sua pontuação total, e especificamente no fator 1 ou fator 2 da escala, quando comparados com outros jovens da comunidade, em condições socioeconômicas semelhantes. Para isso foram excluídos da amostra os jovens que apresentavam critérios para Transtornos mentais ou Retardo mental de acordo com a Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) e escala Wechsler de inteligência para adultos (WAIS- III), respectivamente. Foram também excluídos da comparação aqueles que apresentaram pontuação condizente com o critério de psicopatia no Brasil (igual ou maior que 23 pontos na escala PCL-R). A resposta autonômica foi avaliada por meio das medidas de latência, amplitude e labilidade da atividade elétrica da pele (AEP) diante de imagens agradáveis, neutras e desagradáveis do International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Resultados: 39 infratores e 31 jovens do grupo controle foram comparados em relação aos traços psicopáticos. Os grupos apresentaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas (p < 0,01) na pontuação média do PCL-R, sendo 13.4 a pontuação média entre infratores e 2.1 entre não-infratores. Foram encontradas também diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os grupos quando analisadas separadamente as médias de pontuação no fator 1 (p < 0,01) e fator 2 (p < 0,01) da PCL-R. Apesar dos grupos terem apresentado diferença estatisticamente significativa (p < 0,01) nos níveis educacionais, a ANCOVA realizada para comparar os resultados da média de pontuação na PCL-R entre os grupos, controlando para nível educacional, mostrou que a diferença nos resultados da PCL-R permaneceu estatisticamente significativa (p < 0,01). Na comparação da resposta autonômica foi possível a inclusão de 33 infratores com os mesmos 31 do grupo controle. Foram também encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas (p < 0,01) na amplitude da AEP, sendo que o grupo de infratores apresentou maior ativação autonômica para estímulos agradáveis, porém menor ativação autonômica para estímulos desagradáveis. Conclusões: nesta amostra, tanto a presença de traços psicopáticos primários - associados a características constitucionais - quanto de traços psicopáticos secundários - associados a características ambientais, foram maiores entre infratores. No entanto a proporção de cada um destes fatores foi a mesma entre os grupos, com predominância dos traços secundários em ambos os grupos. Portanto não se pode atribuir a delinquência juvenil nesta amostra a nenhum fator especificamente - constitucional ou ambiental-, ainda que os fatores ambientais tenham contribuído de forma mais significativa para os traços psicopáticos na amostra como um todo. Os padrões de ativação autonômica entre infratores indicam que as respostas emocionais destes jovens diante dos estímulos agradáveis e desagradáveis do ambiente são diferentes dos outros jovens da comunidade, apontando características singulares da reação emocional de jovens infratores. Os resultados sugerem a necessidade de intervenções amplas, não restritas a aspectos socioeconômicos, na abordagem da delinquência juvenil / Introduction: The perpetration of infractional acts and display of antisocial behavior among young people may be associated with constitutional (primary) or environmental psychopathic traits (secondary) present in their development. Antisocial behavior is also associated with impaired autonomic response to emotionally charged stimuli. The aim of this study was to analyze the differences in primary and secondary psychopathic traits among young offenders and youngsters with similar socioeconomic status in a community. Another objective was to compare the patterns of autonomic response to pleasant, unpleasant and neutral visual stimuli between groups. Method: The Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) scale was used to identify whether male young offenders, who were detained at the units of Fundação Centro de Atendimento Socioeducativo ao Adolescente (CASA) at São Paulo, exhibited total score differences, and specifically for factor 1 or factor 2 of this scale, when compared with other young people in similar socioeconomic conditions from the community. To this end, young people who met the criteria for mental disorders or mental retardation were excluded, ased on the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS- III), respectively. The comparison also excluded those who presented scores consistent with the criteria for psychopathy in Brazil (equal to or greater than 23 points on the PCL-R). The autonomic response was evaluated by means of latency, amplitude and lability of electrodermal activity (EDA) when presented with pleasant, unpleasant and neutral images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Results: 39 offenders and 31 nonoffenders were compared in relation to psychopathic traits. The groups presented statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) in PCL-R score averages, being 13.4 the average score in the group of offenders and 2.1 in the non-offender group. Significant differences between the groups were also detected when factor 1 (p < 0.01) and factor 2 (p < 0.01) PCL-R score averages were analyzed separately. Although the groups presented statistically significant difference in educational level, the ANCOVA used to compare the PCL-R scores averages between the groups, controlling for educational level, showed that the difference in PCL-R scores remained statistically significant (p < 0,01). In the comparison of autonomic response, it was possible to include 33 offenders with the same 31 from the control group. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) in EDA amplitudes were also found, and the group of offenders showed greater autonomic activation to pleasant stimuli, but less autonomic activation to unpleasant stimuli. Conclusions: in this sample, both the presence of primary psychopathic traits (due to inherited characteristics) and secondary psychopathic traits (due to environmental factors) was greater among young offenders. However, the proportion of each of these factors was the same between groups, with predominance of secondary traits in both groups. Therefore, one cannot specifically attribute juvenile delinquency in this sample to any factor - constitutional or environmental - although the environmental factors contributed more significantly to psychopathic traits in the sample as a whole. Patterns of autonomic activation among offenders indicate that the emotional responses of these young people when presented with pleasant and unpleasant stimuli in the environment are different from the other youngsters of the community, indicating particular features in the emotional response of young offenders. These results suggest that addressing juvenile delinquency requires far-reaching interventions, not solely restricted to socieconomic factors