Robert H. Bodholdt
U.S. Department of Justice, Bastrop, Texas

Henry R. Richards
Johnson, Bassin, & Shaw, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland

Carl B. Gacono
Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Austin, Texas

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief introduction -- or a
refresher -- to the revised version of the Hare ( 1991) Psychopathy
Checklist (PCL-R). Research examining the PCL-R has reached a stage
where it has become a subject for analysis and review, as in the case of
meta-analytic studies of the PCL-R and recidivism. Various issues associ-
ated with the introduction of a new assessment device have passed the
point of mere identification and provide the basis for what we hope is an
engaging review.

The clinician chooses assessment instruments and methods based on
the clinical setting, referral question, and patient presentation. In foren-
sic and correctional settings, where referral questions often involve
issues of prediction, advances in psychopathy assessment have accorded
the PCL-R a central role in many types of evaluations. Numerous and
replicated findings indicate that psychopathy acts as a robust predictor
of criminal activity and violent recidivism ( Hare, 1991 ; Quinsey, Harris,
Rice, & Cormier, 1998 ). Fulero ( 1995) wrote of the PCL-R: "state of the art
. . . both clinically and in research use" (p. 454). Altogether, one could
argue that clinicians working in settings where referral for evaluation of
psychopathy might be indicated have some obligation to be familiar with
the PCL-R and its use ( Gacono, Nieberding, Owen, Rubel, & Bodholdt,
2000 ).

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