Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)

Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R™) Robert D. Hare, PhD

• Purpose: Assess psychopathic (antisocial) personality disorders
• Age Range: Adult, Elder Adult
• Adminitration: Individual
• Time: Interview section: 1.5-2 hours; Collateral review: 1 hour

This second edition of the PCL-R supplants its predecessor as the accepted standard for conducting forensic assessments of psychopathy. Revisions are based on the large numbers of articles, reports, presentations, and dissertations that have appeared since the original instrument was published in 1991.

The PCL-R is a 20-item symptom-construct rating scale designed to assess psychopathic (antisocial) personality disorders in forensic populations (ages 18 years and older). The PCL-R Rating Booklet facilitates rating the 20-item scale; the Quikscore™ Form is used to record the ratings, obtain the scores, and profile the results. The ratings are based on responses to the semi structured interview and on a review of collateral information.

As in the original version, the PCL-R: 2nd Ed. provides a Total score that is important for the overall assessment of psychopathy. The Total score can be interpreted dimensionally in terms of degree of match to the prototypical psychopath, or it can be used categorically to help identify or diagnose psychopaths. This new edition retains the original two factors that reflect the two major facets of psychopathy: the callous, selfish, remorseless use of others (Factor 1), and a chronically unstable and antisocial lifestyle (Factor 2). The interpretive power of the PCL-R has been enriched through the evolution of four subfactors. Factor 1 and Factor 2 have been divided into two empirically derived and validated subfactors: Factor 1a, Interpersonal (4 items); Factor 1b, Affective (4 items); Factor 2a, Impulsive Lifestyle (5 items); and Factor 2b, Antisocial Behavior (5 items).

The PCL-R is highly reliable and has impressive concurrent, predictive, and construct validity. Ratings are made using a semistructured interview and a review of collateral information. Scoring is based on the degree to which a person\’s personality/behavior matches the Rating Booklet items. The Manual provides item descriptions, scoring procedures, extensive reliability and validity information, and normative data. New large-sample descriptive and validation data are provided for use of PCL-R with male and female offenders, substance-abusers, sex offenders, African American offenders, and forensic psychiatric clients.

Percentile and T-score tables are provided for male and female offenders, for male forensic psychiatric patients who have been assessed with the standard PCL-R procedure (interview plus file information), and for male offenders and forensic psychiatric patients whose assessments are based solely on file reviews. New research findings derived from confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory are presented along with the implications of these findings for research, clinical, and forensic purposes.

PCL-R, 2nd Ed. Introductory Kit includes PCL-R Manual, 2nd Ed., 1 Reusable Rating Booklet, 25 QuikScore™ Forms, and 25 Interview Guides.