Psychopathy is one of the oldest and most researched clinical constructs, and since the 1990s psychopathy assessments have been widely used in Western legal systems to inform consequential decisions such as sentencing, placement, juvenile transfer, parole, and rehabilitation. Although the forensic use of psychopathy assessments was initially promoted as an evidence-based practice, a substantial body of empirical research has raised serious doubts about their forensic usefulness. In this talk, Dr. Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen summarizes the scientific evidence from psychopathy research and argues that many of the central claims typically made about psychopathy rest on remarkably weak evidential foundations. 

Key speakers

Dr Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen - Assistant Professor of Forensic Epistemology and Philosophy of Science 

Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Forensic Epistemology and Philosophy of Science at the University of Toronto Mississauga and an Affiliated Scientist at the National Center for Ontological Research. His work lies at the intersection of psychology, epistemology, and law, with research published in top-tier journals such as The Lancet: Psychiatry; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; and Philosophical Psychology. Rasmus is the author of the book, Psychopathy Unmasked: The Rise and Fall of a Dangerous Diagnosis (MIT Press), which offers a critical review of contemporary research and the judicial use of the controversial diagnosis commonly known as Psychopathic Personality Disorder or “psychopathy”.

Event contact

Similar events

  • Research
    • Research Impact
    • Engagement
    • Health
    • Psychology

    CFBS Seminar Series - Psychopathy in Forensic Practice: Past Promises, Present Problems, and Future Challenges

    Join us for this CFBS online seminar to hear Dr Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen discuss scientific evidence from psychopathy research and argue that many of the central claims typically made about psychopathy rest on remarkably weak evidential foundations. 

  • Research
    • Research Impact
    • Engagement
    • Health
    • Psychology

    CFBS Seminar Series - Re-designing New Zealand Police’s Risk Assessment Instruments for Family Violence

    Join us for this online CFBS seminar to hear from Dr Apriel D. Jolliffe Simpson, Lecturer at Te Puna Haumaru the Centre for Security and Crime Science, Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri the School of Psychological and Social Sciences at the University of Waikato.

    Dr Jolliffe Simpson will discuss re-designing New Zealand Police’s Risk Assessment Instruments for Family Violence

  • Research
    • Research Impact
    • Engagement
    • Indigenous
    • Health

    6th Australasian Youth Justice Conference. Better outcomes. Wherever you are. Whoever you are.

    The Australasian Youth Justice Administrators (AYJA) invite you to participate in the 6th Australasian Youth Justice conference. 

    In collaboration with Department of Human Services SA, the Australasian Youth Justice Administrators (AYJA) will partner with the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology to deliver the 6th Australasian Youth Justice Conference:

    Better outcomes. Wherever you are. Whoever you are.

    Wed 30 September to Fri 2 October
    9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
    National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide. SA.
    Various ticket prices available