STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DARK TRIAD AND AGGRESSION IN WOMEN, SENTENCED FOR VIOLENT CRIMES IN BULGARIAN PRISON

Abstract

This article is devoted to a little-studied topic in criminal psychology - women who commit serious crimes. This study analyzes the relationship between the complex of personality traits “The Dark Triad” and  Aggression and in correlation with the aggression sub-types such as physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. The study was conducted on delinquent women that were sentenced to prison for violent crimes, including murder. The participants were 30 female prisoners from Bulgarian women's prison, aged between 22 and 69 years, (M = 47,36, SD = 11.71). The instruments that were used in the research are the Bulgarian adaptation of the Dark Triad Questionnaire and the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Correlation analysis shows that there are significant relationships between scores on the scales of the Dark Triad questionnaire and general aggression. Dark Triad traits are significant predictors of all types of aggression, especially between psychopathic traits and physical aggression. Based on the findings of the study, it can be designed psycho-educational programs to prevent criminal behavior, and psycho-re-educational programs to improve the behavior of delinquent women.