Dr. Edelyn Verona is Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Center for Justice Research and Policy at the University of South Florida, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Criminology. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications on the psychosocial and biological risk factors of crime, aggression, and psychopathy, and is the co-editor of a recently released book on evidence-based criminal justice practices. Currently, Dr. Verona’s interests lie at the intersection of psychology and the criminal justice system and intervention and prevention work, including adaptations of psychological interventions in correctional settings, the study and prevention of firearm violence, structural pathways to incarceration, and policy reform in the criminal justice system. Read more about her work or that of the Center for Justice Research and Policy.
- How did you get involved in psychopathy research?
I became involved in graduate school, through some work I started with my research advisor, Dr. Chris Patrick. I had an interest in aggression and violence, as well as working with incarcerated persons, and Dr. Patrick’s work was specifically on how individuals with psychopathy differ in their emotional and physiological responses. This prompted my work on understanding the differential manifestations of antisociality in persons high on externalizing versus those high specifically on psychopathy.
- Are there any differences in how women with psychopathy may manifest their symptoms in comparison to men with psychopathy?
Our lab group has written on this issue, and there do seem to be some differences, which can be interpreted broadly in terms of how sex and gender roles may affect manifestations of behaviors in the two genders. For example, we may expect to see more suicidality and emotional dysregulation among women with psychopathy than among men with psychopathy. (Some of Dr. Verona’s articles addressing gender differences related to psychopathy are listed below.)
- Is there anything that might differentiate justice-involved women with elevated psychopathic traits from justice-involved women with few psychopathic traits?
You are likely to see higher levels of co-occurring personality disorders and violence in the women with psychopathic traits, as well as attention seeking, compared to women who have fewer psychopathic traits. I don’t believe they will differ in terms of traumatic experiences.
- Considering research is generally ahead of application in the field, what is one improvement in the field of psychopathy that you hope to see take place over the next five to ten years?
Avoid using the psychopathy label so that we move away from a yes/no dichotomy to a richer understanding of the complex ways that psychopathic traits manifest across individuals in the population. Those who show psychopathy traits are going to look different from each other and have different backgrounds and pathways to their behaviors. The expectation that those with psychopathy will be completely devoid of emotions or will not show true bonding with others does not conform with the nuances we see in our research and clinical findings.
- What would you want victims or survivors know about your research?
The “prototypical” psychopath (a person who scores high across all features of psychopathy) is elusive and rare, and most people who do harm to others are not the “prototypical” psychopath. We need to focus on individual traits and behaviors and move away from the labels, which are interpreted by the public as something alien or extremely deviant. Although those who have psychopathic traits often cause harm to others, those without psychopathic traits can also cause harm to others.
Some of Dr. Verona’s papers addressing gender differences in psychopathy are listed here:
Hoffmann, A.M., & Verona., E. (2019). Psychopathic traits, gender, and sexual motivations: Putative paths to sexual coercion. Aggressive Behavior, 45, 527–536
Sprague, J., Javdani, S., Sadeh, N., Newman, J., & Verona, E. (2012). Borderline Personality Disorder as a female phenotypic expression of psychopathy? Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 127-139.
Mager, K.L., Bresin, K., & Verona, E. (2014). Gender, psychopathy factors, and intimate partner violence. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 5, 257-267.
Edwards, B., & Verona, E. (2016). Gendered contexts: Psychopathy and drug use in relation to sex work and exchange. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125, 514-527.
Schultz, N., Murphy, B., & Verona, E. (2016). Gender differences in psychopathy links to drug use. Law & Human Behavior, 40, 159-168.
