A review of the relationship between sociocultural factors and juvenile psychopathy

Juvenile psychopathy is becoming an increasingly important construct for clinicians and those in the judicial system alike. The importance of understanding not only the concept of juvenile psychopathy, but also the sociocultural determinants and risk factors is important for treatment and predictive purposes. A literature review of several social, demographic, and cultural factors that may contribute to the development of juvenile psychopathy was conducted. These factors are race, culture and ethnicity, gender, trauma, family, community influence, and peer influence. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.