Abstract

Psychopathy is known to have a better discriminating capability than any other factors in predicting recidivism. In Western society including Canada, Britain, and the U.S., the meta-analysis of PCL-R, an assessment tool, has been known to have more excellence than any other criminal records, demographic variables or environmental factors, and presents even more excellence than subordinate criteria of MMPI, a self-report test in numerous studies. This study analyzed predicting capability of recidivism through PCL-R scores collected from 82 inmates in prisons in Korea, and 31 offenders on probation under intensive supervision in order to confirm the recidivism prediction capability of PCL-R in Korean offender population. As a result, PCL-R which was developed in the North America still predicts recidivism even of criminals in Korea. This fact suggests that PCL-R will be used very usefully within Korean justice system in which risk assessment issues are not dealt with importance.