GREAT BOOK – UNDERSTANDING FEMALE OFFENDERS

“Groundbreaking and “trailblazing” are the first two words that come to mind after reading Understanding Female Offenders –– Psychopathy, Criminal Behavior, Assessment , and Treatment. (Smith, Gacono and Cunliffe, Academic Press 2021). Psychologists Jason Smith, Carl Gacono and Ted Cunliffe have authored a pioneering work that synthesizes assessment strategies and explains pitfalls in analyzing female psychopaths. This book lays out the differences and nuances in studying psychopathy in female versus male subjects. It presents valuable suggestions for psychologists about the proper use and administration of assessment tools, especially the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (“PCL-R”), Comprehensive System (CS) Rorschach instrument, and the Personality Assessment Inventory (“PAI”).

The authors are true “scientist-practitioners” who strongly advocate for researchers to embrace this practice model. Every section of this book is grounded in rigorous actual clinical application of assessment methodologies, followed by extracting trends, patterns and conclusions. No other work explores the trait variations between male and female psychopaths in such detail and clarity. It demolishes “myths” about female psychopaths and confronts researcher and societal biases that undermine research into psychopaths. The authors show the scarcity of solid research into female psychopathy, exposing the inadequacies and fallacies in many peer-reviewed reports.

Understanding Female Offenders is a seminal work that should be the foundation for all future research into female psychopathy. Its message regarding the underpinnings of quality research should resonate throughout much of the science of psychological research. This book provides valuable insights for practitioners, students, and laypeople impacted by or interested in the female psychopath.

https://www.elsevier.com/books/understanding-female-offenders/smith/978-0-12-823372-6