Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

is crucial that the PCL–R (and other instruments) be

used in accordance with the highest professional and

ethical standards and that such use be subjected to

careful scrutiny by the stakeholders.

Robert D. Hare

See also Antisocial Personality Disorder; Hare

Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV);

Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV);

HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment; Psychopathic

Personality Inventory (PPI); Violence Risk Appraisal

Guide (VRAG); Violence Risk Assessment

Further Readings

Hare, R. D. (2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised

(2nd ed.). Toronto, ON, Canada: Multi-Health Systems.

Hare, R. D. (2007). Psychological instruments in

the assessment of psychopathy. In A. R. Felthous &

H. Sass (Eds.),International handbook on

psychopathic disorders and the law(pp. 41–67).

New York: Wiley & Sons.

Neumann, C. S., Hare, R. D., & Newman, J. P. (2007).

The superordinate nature of the Psychopathy

Checklist–Revised. Journal of Personality Disorders,

21,102–117.

Leistico, A. R., Salekin, R. T., DeCoster, J., & Rogers, R.

(in press). A large-scale meta-analysis relating the

Hare measures of psychopathy to antisocial conduct.

Law and Human Behavior.

Hervé, H., & Yuille, J. (Eds.). (2007). The psychopath: Theory,

research, and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

HAREPSYCHOPATHYCHECKLIST:

SCREENINGVERSION (PCL:SV)

The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version

(PCL:SV) is a 12-item symptom-construct rating

scale designed for use by expert observers to assess

the lifetime presence and severity of symptoms of

psychopathic personality disorder. It was derived from

the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised, or PCL–R.

The PCL:SV is intended for use with adult males and

females in a broad range of settings, including correc-

tional, forensic psychiatric, civil psychiatric, and

community settings. As its name implies, the PCL:SV

also can be used in conjunction with the PCL–R as a

screening test in correctional and forensic psychiatric

settings, with elevated scores on the PCL:SV trigger-

ing administration of a more detailed and compre-

hensive assessment using the PCL–R. Because of its

demonstrated association with future violence, the

PCL:SV is most often used as part of a comprehensive

violence risk assessment, using structured profes-

sional guidelines for assessing violence risk such as

the HCR–20, the Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20),

and the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment Guide

(SARA).

Description and Development

Development of the PCL:SV took place between 1986

and 1994, funded in part by the John D. and Catherine

T. MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on

Mental Health and the Law, under the direction of

John Monahan, School of Law, University of Virginia.

Its development culminated in the publication of the

test manual by Multi-Health Systems Inc. in 1995.

Originally written in English, the test has been trans-

lated into Swedish and German.

The PCL:SV was developed to address several rec-

ognized limitations of the PCL–R. First, scale length

was reduced from 20 items in the PCL–R to 12 items in

the PCL:SV by combining PCL–R items with overlap-

ping content. Second, PCL–R items defined in terms of

specific socially deviant behavior were excluded from

the PCL:SV. Third, PCL–R items reflecting antisocial

behavior were redefined in the PCL:SV so that they

could be scored without reference to an official crimi-

nal record (i.e., formal charges or convictions). Finally,

item definitions were shortened from an average of

about 200 words in the PCL–R to about 50 words in the

PCL:SV.

Each PCL:SV item reflects a specific symptom (i.e.,

clinical feature) of psychopathy. Part 1 comprises 6

items that reflect an arrogant and deceitful interpersonal

style and deficient affective experience. Part 2 com-

prises 6 items that reflect an impulsive and irresponsible

behavioral style and a history of criminal conduct in

adolescence and adulthood. Parts 1 and 2 are parallel to

Factors 1 and 2 of the PCL–R. Items are scored on the

basis of an interview and a review of case history infor-

mation; in some circumstances, it may be possible to

base ratings solely on case history information. Items

are rated on a 3-point scale according to the lifetime

presence and severity of symptoms (0 =absent,1 =pos-

sibly or partially present, and 2 =present); items may

also be omitted in the absence of relevant information.

350 ———Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)

H-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 350